Value Added Resource Week In Review 12-29-24

Liz Morton

Published: Dec 29 2024 Updated: Jan 3 2025

Welcome to the last Value Added Resource ecommerce news week in review of 2024!

As the clock winds down, check out the top headlines from this week, take a look back at this year's top stories and what you need to know heading into 2025.

Ecommerce News

eBay UK is inviting select sellers to participate in a free Account Assurance trial program, promising dedicated assistance with select account restrictions and proactive help with compliance and policy issues as GPSR requirements take effect.

Fashion sellers will need to contend with a more complex listing structure in 2025 as eBay expands condition grading requirements to include pre-owned fair, good, and excellent.

Online sellers were relieved to hear the Canada Post strike has ended, but business disruptions caused by the event are ongoing as shipping services to the country are still suspended by several carriers.

eBay has added new insights to the listing form in effort to hook sellers into using Promoted Listings General cost per sale advertising.

UPS dropped a big Christmas Eve surprise, notifying shippers who use their Mail Innovations service that rates will be increasing by ~25% on January 1st.

eBay Ventures joins MaRS IAF, Twinpath, Techstars and notable angel investors in $1.4 million in funding for Ecomtent, a London-based startup focused on helping sellers and retailers optimize for AI-powered search.

Top Stories of 2024

This year saw mass layoffs at many tech and ecommerce companies including eBay in January, Mercari in June, Etsy-owned Reverb in September, and BigCommerce in November.

Several companies saw leadership shake ups this year as well, with eBay's Chief Business Strategy Officer Stefanie Jay stepping down in February and Chief Legal Officer Marie Oh Huber leaving in March, replaced by Samantha Wellington in September.

eBay also promoted Aaron Johnson to Chief Ethics Officer, named Jateen Patel Chief Analytics Officer, and welcomed new Chief Communications Officer Gigi Ganatra Duff to the company while losing multiple key business development leaders to competitors like TikTok, Temu, and Walmart.

After notorious activist investor Elliott Management took a sizeable stake and board seat earlier this year, Etsy has recently announced a slew of executive changes, losing their Chief Technology Officer and naming new Chief Financial Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Growth Officer.

Reverb Chief Product Officer Bradford Shellhammer left the company in October to take on the CPO role at Rent The Runway.

And Mercari US CEO John Lagerling is resigning at the end of the year, with Founder/Japan CEO Shintaro Yamada taking over leadership of the US marketplace effective January 1.

2024 was a year of experimenting with new fee structures for several marketplaces - with mostly disastrous results.

Mercari shifted the fee burden from sellers to buyers in March, leading to lower sales as buyers abandoned the site due to sticker shock when seeing additional fees reflected out checkout.

Poshmark speed ran their own version of this test, splitting fees between buyers and sellers and quickly reverted back to the old fee structure 3 weeks later after massive user pushback.

And eBay dropped selling fees for private sellers in the UK in most categories in October.

What's In Store For 2025

Mercari has backtracked on fee changes it made in March, announcing new fee structure that splits fees between buyers and sellers will take effect January 6, 2025.

eBay is planning to remonetize the private UK sales that are currently fee free with new payments terms that will delay payouts to sellers until after delivery, yet to be specified buyer fees coming in the back half of Q1 and mandated use of Simple Delivery Managed Shipping.

eBay will also likely continue Promoted Listings push and pursuit of growth in China in effort to quell investor concerns about slowing performance heading into the new year.

Multiple major legal cases will continue into the new year as well, with the eBay cyberstalking case still winding its way to a 2025 trial date.

eBay won dismissal of the EPA's lawsuit seeking to hold them liable for chemicals, pesticide and illegal emissions-control cheat devices sold on the platform on Section 230 grounds in September, but the DOJ has appealed the decision, setting the stage for a possible reversal next year.

Amidst ongoing contract negotiations and new NLRB complaints filed by unionized workers at subsidiary TCGPlayer, and an investor recommended Values Assessment, eBay is facing additional labor relations issues with an investigation into potential employee rights violations related to 401-K underperformance and a lawsuit filed by sneaker authenticators alleging the company violated Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Laws.

A class action lawsuit filed by a group of Amazon sellers alleging Walmart profited from and failed to prevent a form of organized retail crime perpetrated through the Walmart Marketplace will also continue into 2025, raising questions about the limitations of Section 230 and whether commercial digital platforms should be held liable for criminal conduct committed on and through their marketplaces.

And finally, online sellers know the beginning of a new year is when many shipping carriers institute rate changes - like the USPS increase for Competitive products like Ground Advantage, Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express that will be effective January 19.

Was 2024 a successful or challenging year for your ecommerce business? What do you hope to see from online marketplaces in 2025?

I always love to hear from readers - leave a comment or contact VAR.

And as always thank you for your ongoing support and readership and I wish you continued success as we head into a new year!

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Week In Review

Liz Morton Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Liz Morton is a seasoned ecommerce pro with 17 years of online marketplace sales experience, providing commentary, analysis & news about eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Shopify & more at Value Added Resource!