Value Added Resource Week In Review 7-9-23

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

eBay News

As Goldman Sachs works to offload it's partnership with Apple, Managing Director Abhinav Anand, one of the biggest names behind the Apple Card, has left the company to head up Global Payment Products & Risk at eBay.

Discover, Goldman Sachs Alum Joins eBay As Head of Payment Products & Risk

Abhinav Anand joins eBay as Global Payment Prod & Risk as Goldman Sachs tries to offload Apple partnership, consumer business.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Ever since eBay began managing payments in 2018, sellers have been wondering if eBay earns interest "on the float" while payments are processing or being held for various reasons.

The short answer used to be "no", backed up by eBay's help and policy pages - but recent changes to those pages indicate that may no longer be the case.

Does eBay Earn Interest On Seller Funds?

Unannounced edits to help pages indicate eBay may now earn interest on seller funds waiting for payout or on hold.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

eBay has found yet another way to divert buyers away from the listing they are on toward competitor listings by adding a "find similar" button that uses machine learning and image recognition to find visually similar items based on seller provided pictures.

eBay Adds “Find Similar” Button To Seller Pictures, Directing Buyers To Competing Listings

eBay adds “find similar” button to seller photos on View Item page, directs buyers to competing listings.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

eBay's monthly community chat on July 12 will include the Social Product team answering questions about eBay's new Social sharing tool for stores.

eBay July 2023 Community Chat - Social Media Beta

eBay’s July 2023 community chat will include Social Product team answering questions about Social Media tool for stores.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Sellers experienced server errors and timeouts when trying to create or edit eBay listing drafts this week.

eBay Drafts Listing Errors 7-6-23

eBay sellers experience server errors, timeouts when trying to create or edit draft listings.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Sellers are also saying that eBay organic views and sales have dramatically dropped again and reporting appears to be broken.

eBay Organic Views & Sales Reporting Broken Again

Sellers report eBay organic views & sales have dramatically dropped again & reporting appears to be broken.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Other Ecommerce News

Q2 2023 earnings reports are just around the corner - so far we have eBay and Meta/Facebook on July 26, PayPal on August 2, and Walmart on August 17.

Q2 2023 Ecommerce Earnings Call Roundup

Q2 2023 earnings calls are just around the corner - track important ecommerce marketplace earnings dates here!

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

UK Etsy sellers can now purchase Evri shipping labels directly through the platform, but buyer & seller beware - complaints about Evri's service abound.

Etsy Integrates With Evri For UK Shipping

UK Etsy sellers can now purchase Evri shipping labels through the platform - but is this really good news for sellers?

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Etsy sellers are once again experiencing a glitch where orders that are processed on the buyers side and paid for are not showing on the seller's side to be able to complete and ship the order.

Etsy Phantom Order Glitch Continues

Etsy phantom order glitch comes back to haunt sellers as paid orders do not appear in activity summary or order list.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Walmart's ecommerce marketplace team just got a powerful new leader, poaching ex-Amazon B2B Marketplace General Manager Mohit Puthuraya to head up B2C Marketplace Success and Growth.

Walmart Taps Amazon B2B GM To Power B2C Growth

Ex-Amazon B2B Marketplace GM Mohit Puthuraya to head up Walmart B2C Marketplace Success & Growth.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Updates

USPS Ground Advantage shipping officially replaces First Class Package, Ground Retail, and Parcel Select Ground service on July 9th.

USPS Introduces Ground Advantage To Replace First Class Package Service

USPS Ground Advantage to replace First Class Package service, promising simple pricing & reliable service.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

eBay added the ability to switch listings to the new service early even though the pricing isn't effective yet, causing even more confusion and concern.

eBay USPS Ground Advantage Causes Confusion & Concern

eBay USPS Ground Advantage updates leaves sellers confused about what changes need to be made & when.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Price increases for other USPS services also go into effect on July 9 with Forever Stamps going up to $0.66 and First Class mail prices going up ~5.4% on average.

Another USPS Price Increase Coming In July 9, 2023

USPS proposes to raise First Class Mail prices 5.4%, effective July 9, 2023.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

A year after the Colorado Retail Delivery Fee Bill went into effect, the state is making adjustments to exempt retailers with less than $500,000 annual sales and allowing retailers to elect to pay the fee on behalf of their customers.

Will Colorado Retail Delivery Fee Bill Impact Ecommerce?

Colorado plans $0.27 retail delivery fee on all deliveries subject to state sales tax - how will it impact online sellers?

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

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