Value Added Resource Week In Review 9-29-24

Liz Morton

Published: Sep 29 2024 Updated: Oct 3 2024

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

We dodged a bullet here in Tallahassee with Hurricane Helene, but thoughts are with those along Florida's Big Bend and Gulf Coast, North Carolina, Tennessee and other areas across the Southeast that have been devastated by the storm. 🙏

eBay News

This week, eBay held their annual online seller conference eBay Open. CEO Jamie Iannone kicked off Day 1 with a keynote presentation heavy on platitudes about how much eBay loves its sellers, but short on announcements of anything really new, innovative or exciting.

Day 2 had keynotes on marketing, payments, Promoted Listings, and trust plus a big announcement about eBay's 30th anniversary in 2025!

Rumors were swirling before the event that eBay might be getting ready to announce fee-free selling for some sellers in the US and while those rumors did not pan it, it is looking increasingly likely that eBay may be planning on expanding fee free selling to private sellers across more categories in the UK very soon.

This week's episode of the eBay for Business Podcast will surprisingly be the last, with host Jim "Griff" Griffith making the announcement the show will not go on with parting words at the end of this week's Fall Q&A roundup.

Privacy conscious eBay users are sounding the alarm about a seeming security blunder as login screen reveals the first name associated with any account ID with no password needed.

In corporate news this week, eBay TCGPlayer workers recently traveled to Las Vegas to demonstrate outside of the Workday Rising Conference, calling on Workday CFO and eBay Board Member Zane Rowe to urge eBay to finally hammer out a collective-bargaining contract with unionized workers at the company.

eBay also announced two new additions to the c-suit this week:

Gigi Ganatra Duff has been named Chief Communications Officer, taking on all aspects of eBay's global communications team including internal and external communications, social media, public affairs, ESG communications, eBay Foundation, and content.

And eBay has finally named a permanent Chief Legal Officer after Marie Oh Huber's departure in June, announcing Samantha Wellington will join on October 7 to oversee all global aspects of eBay's legal department, including Government Relations, intellectual property, employment, litigation, regulatory and corporate work across our financial services, marketplaces, and product and technology organizations.

Also on the legal front, eBay was in court this week, seeking to force the publishers of EcommerceBytes, Ina and David Steiner, to disclose the identities of some of their news sources as part of their defense in cyberstalking civil lawsuit that could potentially cost the company over $100 Million in damages.

Other Ecommerce News

A group of Amazon sellers has filed a class action lawsuit against Walmart as well as named and unnamed Fraudulent Sellers, alleging the company profited from and failed to prevent a form of online organized retail crime perpetrated through the Walmart Marketplace.

Sellers have noticed Etsy seems to have a strange habit of stretching the truth in on site messaging about discount frequency and amounts - and they're worried it could reflect badly on their businesses and create negative buyer experiences.

Ireland's media regulator has named Etsy along with other online retailers, social media platforms & tech companies in EU Digital Services Act illegal content reporting compliance review.

And Bonanza is jumping on the pay per click wagon, introducing a new ad product to gain visibility on Home, Search, & Post-Sale Confirmation pages - but watch out for non-refundable deposit and possibly questionable FTC compliance.

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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!