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/.

USPS Suspends Mail to Israel, Iraq, Iran

June 18, 2025June 18, 2025 Ina Steiner

The USPS is temporarily suspending mail to three countries beginning June 20, 2025: Israel, Iraq, and Iran. The Postal Service said it places such suspensions in cases “where the foreign postal operator has indicated that they are unable to process Read more

eBay Explains Why It Charged Ad Fees Months Later

June 18, 2025June 18, 2025 Ina Steiner

An eBay moderator explained last week why eBay had charged Promoted Listing ad fees in June for months-old orders. Quoting the team who handled the issue, she wrote the following: “We recently discovered a system error which led to missed Read more

Etsy to Let Sellers Offer Tailoring and Repair Services

June 17, 2025June 17, 2025 Ina Steiner

Etsy has made some major changes to its policies, including what sellers can sell and what services they can offer, according to online seller and consultant Cindy Baldassi (aka CindyLouWho2). She’s been breaking news over the past week as she Read more

Amazon’s New Stolen-Goods Policy Sparks Seller Discussion

June 16, 2025June 16, 2025 Ina Steiner

Amazon already restricts the sale of stolen goods, but it’s implementing a new standalone policy that goes into effect on June 30, 2025, because of new government regulations: New policy reinforces our existing restriction against sale of stolen goodsEffective June Read more

Shippers Say USPS Nonstandard Fees Are Punitive

June 14, 2025June 14, 2025 Ina Steiner

The Package Shippers Association and the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) said in filings on Friday that they object to USPS changes coming July 13th that add significant (and ambiguous) costs to items with “non-standard” characteristics. In 2022, the USPS Read more

Some Sellers Hit Hard by Amazon Change to Shipping Options

June 12, 2025June 12, 2025 Ina Steiner

Amazon is removing the “price band” shipping rate option effective June 30, 2025. Numerous sellers said that would be a problem for the types of items they sell. One seller explained the issue in a nutshell: “Our products come in Read more

Etsy Among Sites Impacted by Widespread Internet Outage

June 12, 2025June 12, 2025 Ina Steiner

Etsy is experiencing technical issues that may be related to those impacting many major sites on Thursday afternoon, including at least some Google services. The Etsy website is accessible, but shoppers searching on Etsy are taken to a page that Read more

Amazon Gives Sellers a Deal for Using MCF to Fulfill Walmart Orders

June 11, 2025June 11, 2025 Ina Steiner

Walmart had given its sellers official permission to use Amazon MCF (Multi Channel Fulfillment) when it updated its Shipping & Fulfillment policy last month. Now Amazon is running a promotion to attract Walmart sellers to the Amazon fulfillment program. Amazon Read more

eBay Launches Livestreaming, Open Box Program, and Save Seller Feature in UK

June 11, 2025June 11, 2025 Ina Steiner

eBay launched its livestreaming eBay Live platform and its Certified Open Box program in the UK. Eve Williams, General Manager of eBay UK, posted the news on the Seller Announcement board on June 10th. “We’re excited to introduce a new Read more

Amazon Runs Seller Wallet Promotion for Prime Day

June 10, 2025June 10, 2025 Ina Steiner

Amazon is running a promotion to encourage sellers to use the Amazon Seller Wallet ahead of Prime Day. The primary benefit, according to the marketplace: lowering costs of cross-currency transfers. “Get your business ready for Prime Day by cutting costs Read more