Author: Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.

Etsy’s Big News: Gifting Feature? Fulfillment Service?

January 21, 2024January 21, 2024 Ina Steiner

Could a new gifting feature spotted by an eagle-eyed reader be the “big news” Etsy teased out last Tuesday? We asked Etsy last week, but it did not respond to our inquiry and subsequently turned off the feature. Sellers began Read more

Amazon Lays Off Members of Buy with Prime Team

January 21, 2024January 21, 2024 Ina Steiner

CNBC reported that Amazon is laying off employees in the “Buy with Prime” unit, a program first announced in 2022 that lets merchants offer Prime benefits on their own off-Amazon stores. We asked Amazon if that indicated adoption was less Read more

Could Months-Long Postal Delays Be Coming to a City Near You?

January 21, 2024September 5, 2024 Ina Steiner

Online sellers are being impacted by what has become a months-long problem at a USPS processing facility in Texas. The owner of Upper Room Candle Company told local television station KHOU that her Houston-area customers aren’t getting their packages, but Read more

How Sunday’s USPS Rate Hike Impacts eBay Shipping Label Rates

January 19, 2024January 19, 2024 Ina Steiner

eBay issued a reminder of the USPS rate change going into effect on Sunday (January 21, 2024), providing sellers with information on how the new rates would impact postage purchased through its eBay Shipping Labels program. eBay also noted the Read more

eBay Fields Questions from Sellers in Wednesday Chat

January 17, 2024January 17, 2024 Ina Steiner

eBay held its monthly chat session on Wednesday, which was devoted to the theme, “Starting 2024 off right and setting your business up for success in the new year.” It kicked off with a hello from the eBay Growth Advisors Read more

PayPal to Unlock Data to Help Merchants by Using AI – Is Digital Currency Also on the Agenda?

January 17, 2024January 17, 2024 Ina Steiner

PayPal CEO Alex Chriss joined CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” host David Faber to reveal more about its Innovation Day on January 25th, which he had teased on Tuesday, inviting followers on LinkedIn to join him for an exclusive preview Read more

USPS Asks Residents to Clear Snow and Ice for Mail Carriers

January 17, 2024January 17, 2024 Ina Steiner

Online sellers may appreciate the USPS campaign to get people to clear the paths to their mailboxes of snow and ice. Getting orders delivered on time is nerve-wracking enough as it is, but winter weather brings greater challenges to sellers Read more

Amazon Sellers Lack Control over Buyer-Facing AI Features

January 16, 2024January 17, 2024 Ina Steiner

Amazon continues to embed AI into its marketplace, both to help sellers list faster and to give buyers useful, more digestible information. The latest feature is an artificial intelligence tool that can answer shoppers’ questions about a product, a company Read more

PayPal CEO Teases a January 25th Announcement

January 16, 2024January 16, 2024 Ina Steiner

PayPal CEO Alex Chriss teased news he said will be coming on January 25th. PayPal will announce a “first look” at what’s coming to market in 2024, he said in a post on LinkedIn using the hashtag #PayPalFirstLook: “25 years Read more

Etsy Says It Has Obligation to Report to UK Tax Regulator

January 14, 2024January 14, 2024 Ina Steiner

Etsy said it is required to report information about UK-based sellers’ 2024 sales to the UK tax agency HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) next January. In its post published on the Seller Announcement board on Friday, Etsy wrote: “Digital platforms Read more