Value Added Resource Week In Review 9-24-23
Welcome to the Value Added Resource ecommerce news week in review!
eBay News
eBay is pulling out the stops with end of quarter discounts from major brands in the Brand Outlet hub to try to goose Q3 GMV, but as usual, fake discounts using strikethrough pricing manipulation abound unchecked.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
eBay Germany has launched a new eBay Lokal hub to promote local buying and selling through the platform.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Smart targeting for eBay Promoted Listings Advanced Cost Per Click ads is here, allowing sellers to "set it and forget it" with eBay completely managing ad bidding and keyword optimization.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
However, users are increasingly reporting server loading errors that are impacting delivery of both 3rd party ads and 1st party Promoted Listings ads on the site as well as other page loading problems.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Sellers also report problems accessing the sales report page in Seller Hub, receiving an error message that says "we ran into a problem and can't show your sales metrics information right now."
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Other Ecommerce News
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has announced USPS will not be adding peak surcharges this year as he touts readiness for holiday season shipping.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Amazon is backing down on plan that would have assessed additional fees on for sellers who use Seller Fulfilled Prime without using Amazon logistics services.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Amazon announced this week that buyers will now be shown a "sales trend" to highlight how many buyers recently purchased a particular product, but sellers are concerned the new feature may encourage competitors to use black hat tactics to try to game the metric.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Etsy is funding a €5 discount for eligible European buyers, looking for end of quarter GMS bump and enticing sellers to try the new Share and Save social media promotion program.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Etsy seller MagicalMomentsShoppe sparked a lengthy and revealing conversation this week in the community forums with one simple question - what's not working on Etsy?
Liz Morton ~ Founder
TikTok is moving fast to expand their ecommerce market share, introducing Refurbished Electronics in the UK.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
TikTok Shop is also preparing to make a big Black Friday splash with steeply subsidized discounts as it looks to steal holiday thunder from Amazon and Walmart.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
And Nike is quietly expanding on their limited in-store refurbished program, making restored sneakers available to buy online at up to 50% off retail prices.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Value Added Resource is proudly reader supported - learn more about our commitment to an ad-free user experience.
As many of the items I sell are £10 or less, this makes it not worth the bother and I'll probably have to give it away to the charity shop.
Add that to the "buyer protection" fee they've added on - and the costs are making it untenable for people trying to clear the house, or make a few bob from old bits and pieces. Not happy at all and there doesn't seem to be a way of opting out.
The sooner these sleazebags at the top can be got rid of, or some community-run buy/sell/swap sites come up - the better. We don't need ebay.