Adobe predicts US holiday sales will grow 5.3% compared to last year - and more shoppers are using gen-AI services to research purchases. It also expects significant discounts this holiday season - up to 28% off listed price - on par with the 2024 holiday-shopping season www.ecommercebytes.com/69gq

The PRC has routinely pumped the brakes on USPS rate hikes, but the current administration, which eschews oversight, is in charge of naming a new head. Will the current PRC chairperson's departure spell bad news for sellers who rely on affordable shipping services? www.ecommercebytes.com/2hca

Etsy is making a significant change to its Etsy Insider loyalty program after discovering for itself that there's no such thing as free shipping. www.ecommercebytes.com/9nmy

eBay is again running a fall global marketing campaign that includes TV commercials. "eBay Stories" center on focus categories Fashion, Motors, and Collectibles. "It's about that winning feeling," according to eBay's head of Brand. www.ecommercebytes.com/wlz1

Sellers located in Washington state must now pay sales tax on ads. Amazon has begun complying with the new law, which could catch on in other states hungry to grow revenue. www.ecommercebytes.com/cy55

eBay told sellers that taking over payment processing in 2019 would result in lower selling fees. In today's letter to the editor, a seller said the reality has been the opposite and goes point-by-point explaining why that's the case for them. www.ecommercebytes.com/aooo

So Facebook fully removed the Search Engine Roundtable page - I don’t understand why. It’s been on Facebook for like 20 years - Facebook even gave it a custom url before other channels got it. Oh well. I guess less for me to manage. I thought it was some mistake and a human review would fix it.

eBay will reimburse UK sellers the cost of refunding INR claims if tracking ends up showing the item was delivered within 30 days of the case closure - be sure to read the fine print. www.ecommercebytes.com/kor7

eBay's October Seller Update includes a change favorable to US sellers. eBay also appears to have referenced an Auto Price Reduction feature by mistake. The lowdown on Wednesday's announcement here. www.ecommercebytes.com/o1ea

Amazon informed sellers they'll have to wait longer to get funds from their sales beginning next year thanks to its DD+7 policy (delivery date plus 7 days). Sellers who discussed Monday's notification generally panned the move. www.ecommercebytes.com/6tda

Amazon and 2 of its executives narrowly escaped a jury verdict and potential corporate *and* personal penalties if found liable after they settled with the FTC for $2.5 billion after the trial had begun. www.ecommercebytes.com/0yr6

eBay began rolling out a new feature for reporting sellers' cost of goods but ran into a system error and had to roll it back. In an unprecedented move, eBay is crediting sellers who were impacted $25 as a "gesture of goodwill." www.ecommercebytes.com/p40n

eBay sided with a buyer who submitted a photo in a SNAD claim that showed the item was identical to the item pictured in the seller's photos. An eBay supervisor agreed with the decision. The seller called it buyer's remorse disguised as SNAD. www.ecommercebytes.com/k8p3

The Canadian government blindsided citizens with news of radical cuts to service leading to an immediate strike by CUPW. Online sellers and buyers are once again impacted by postal disruption in and outside of Canada. www.ecommercebytes.com/a5w6

Get ready for a new auction platform called Snype launching in the fall. Can a top eBay powerseller build a better mousetrap? Rick Probstein thinks he has. www.ecommercebytes.com/phx9

A seller had to pay return shipping for a false SNAD claim. He noticed eBay no longer provides an option for reporting the type of abuse his buyer perpetrated - today's Letter to the Editor. www.ecommercebytes.com/gi5v

Amazon is investigating reports of fees displayed as Other but with no supporting documents to explain the charges. www.ecommercebytes.com/2ibn

Texas will begin charging sellers sales tax on eBay commission fees. As one person wrote, "taxed when you buy an item, taxed when you sell it." And many fear the new money grab will spread to other states, taking a serious bite out of their margins. www.ecommercebytes.com/48p5

Walmart will run a sale the same week as Amazon Prime Big Deal Days in October, but it's longer and will be open to all shoppers - and in-store. www.ecommercebytes.com/h5cd

eBay will acquire Nordic C2C social marketplace Tise to bolster its strategy of attracting and retaining enthusiast buyers. It's also the fruit of eBay Ventures' first investment, in 2022. The acquisition of Tise follows eBay's acquisition of Caramel in February. www.ecommercebytes.com/jjd4

Google and PayPal entered into a multiyear strategic partnership last week as industry players vie to dominate in AI Agentic shopping. The partnership may never have happened if eBay still owned PayPal. www.ecommercebytes.com/3z14

Sellers are facing peak fees as holiday shoppers seek deals and discounts during a time of economic uncertainty. USPS, UPS, FedEx, and USPS, as well as Amazon fulfillment services, are instituting peak demand surcharges in the coming weeks. www.ecommercebytes.com/5a6x

eBay is updating its API License Agreement for developers, including new restrictions to the use of AI content, and Etsy is updating its Payments, Privacy, and Cookies policies. www.ecommercebytes.com/30a9

Amazon will allow partial returns and made other changes to its returns policy. It's also ending the practice of commingling FBA inventory in its fulfillment centers; we spoke to a seller who says commingling ruined his ecommerce business 13 years ago. www.ecommercebytes.com/ytjx

eBay will begin sending shipping and delivery reminders to sellers, and it updated its VeRO portal, it announced in its September Seller Update on Thursday. In addition, it is working to add more personalized recommendations. www.ecommercebytes.com/myaw

A reader shared his experience with eBay's new one-on-one seller clinics with marketplace advisors and found the session to be beneficial. Today's letter to the editor. www.ecommercebytes.com/o14z

Amazon's AI Agent can now monitor sellers accounts, answer questions, and make and implement recommendations. Ex., Seller Assistant will proactively flag slow-moving products in Amazon fulfillment centers before they incur FBA long-term storage fees. www.ecommercebytes.com/bk34

Amazon will kick off its 2-day Prime Big Deal Days sale on October 7th exclusively for Prime members, the first such sale after restricting Prime membership sharing. Some are questioning the promotion's value to sellers. www.ecommercebytes.com/eiab

Sellers explore migrating toy listings to eBay as Amazon unleashes chaos in the category, including banning all used toys after previously allowing them to be listed in collectible condition. www.ecommercebytes.com/nget

eBay is encouraging sellers to sign up for faster access to their funds by running a sale on Express Payout fees for up to five payouts through September 20th. www.ecommercebytes.com/7mmz

Etsy is testing a new listings appeals process for sellers and announced some additional changes to support sellers during the holiday shopping season. It will also roll out a brand new Community Hub next month. www.ecommercebytes.com/tpfv

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy to speak at tomorrow's Accelerate seller conference at 4 pm PT in fireside chat with VP Selling Partner Services Dharmesh Mehta. They will "explore innovations that help businesses of all sizes succeed." amazonaccelerate.com

A seller says Facebook Marketplace will not release funds from a July sale shown as delivered just 4 days later and is asking for suggestions from fellow sellers on how to proceed. Today's letter to the editor. www.ecommercebytes.com/2b4s

An eBay buyer is allegedly defrauding sellers but is still an active customer despite his scorched earth approach. Why isn't eBay taking action against the buyer? www.ecommercebytes.com/dn1r

Two weeks from today: Join us as we discuss the Northern District of Illinois' "cottage industry," Schedule A litigation.

The PRC approved the USPS's request to raise rates on competitive shipping services during the busy holiday season. See what the public rep said about the practice of hitting holiday shoppers with higher rates. www.ecommercebytes.com/o62j

The good news: USPS is offering free Ground Advantage shipping boxes. The bad news: The free boxes are only available to Poshmark sellers. (This does not impact the free Priority Mail supplies USPS offers.) www.ecommercebytes.com/7cel

When a seller began getting faster eBay payouts, he investigated and found that eBay had begun charging him for expedited payouts. Make sure you review your invoice, he warned others. www.ecommercebytes.com/p0f4

Facebook Marketplace ended its shipping-label program in February, but is now returning the feature (a welcome addition, wrote one reader), but not necessarily to all sellers. www.ecommercebytes.com/wmjt

After snagging eBay's GM of Collectibles last year and welcoming sellers to list collectibles in used condition, Walmart has launched a new weekly live-shopping series to attract collectors. www.ecommercebytes.com/s7n9

Envy your friend's latest purchase? Covet no more. Amazon Lens Live lets you point your phone at a product and purchase the item on Amazon even easier than before. www.ecommercebytes.com/3zyn

In a change of direction, eBay is letting lower-volume sellers sign-up for one-on-one clinics with in-house marketplace advisors. It's a change from other invitation-only programs. Is it worthwhile to invest 45 minutes with an eBay advisor? www.ecommercebytes.com/h2c4

Amazon is imposing restrictions on its Prime Membership program but is offering a promotion to soften the blow. Will we ever learn how new limits on shared benefits coming in October end up impacting Amazon sales? www.ecommercebytes.com/scd2

A seller tried getting through to a human eBay customer service rep for help but found the only way to ask a question was through email. Any tricks to help this reader? www.ecommercebytes.com/n5mb

Etsy is consolidating its C-suite. Rafe Colburn, its current Chief Technology Officer, will expand his duties, becoming Chief Product and Technology Officer following Friday's departure of Nick Daniel. Colburn said he sees AI as an opportunity for Etsy. www.ecommercebytes.com/7vfh

A new PayPal subscriptions hub lets customers manage recurring subscription payments, and it's running a $50 limited time promotion - read more and watch a video to see how the hub works. www.ecommercebytes.com/beid

An eBay rep told a seller that even when buyers don't return items after filing a claim, the seller retains the defect for one year. Letter to the Editor - let us know your experience with eBay returns and defects. www.ecommercebytes.com/nhk4

People are sharing stories of getting charged surprise tariff-related fees, and it is causing some to change their shopping behavior. (Also be wary of scammers exploiting the situation.) www.ecommercebytes.com/8xh0

eBay is running a marketing campaign tied to its 30-year anniversary that includes a NYC pop-up shop and live auctions. eBay CEO Jamie Iannone and other executives celebrated Wednesday at a Nasdaq opening ceremony. www.ecommercebytes.com/pgb4

eBay is rebranding its Seller Meetups as it celebrates its 30-year anniversary and announced the retirement of longtime employee Jim "Griff" Griffith, the face of eBay for 3 decades. www.ecommercebytes.com/okiz