Value Added Resource Week In Review 11-15-26

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


Comments

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

eBay is now inserting individual listings from recently acquired Depop directly into search results, giving its new subsidiary even more premium visibility that independent eBay sellers must pay additional advertising fees to access.

eBay Mixes Depop Listings Into Search, Raising Competition Concerns
eBay inserts Depop listings into search results, competing with its own sellers while sending shoppers offsite to buy.

ACE Property & Casualty Insurance is fighting to avoid footing the bill for eBay's $55.7M EcommerceBytes stalking scandal settlement, suing the company & former executives over a deal it says was reached without its consent.

Insurer Sues eBay, Ex-Execs Over $55.7M Cyberstalking Settlement, Claims Deal Was Made Without Consent
ACE Property & Casualty Insurance is fighting to avoid footing the bill for eBay's $55.7M EcommerceBytes stalking scandal settlement.

eBay is hiring to develop a lower-cost pickup and drop-off (PUDO) shipping solution for its core marketplace & recently acquired Depop, requiring a physical network and operating model the company says "largely does not exist today" in its US business.

eBay, Depop Building Lower-Cost Pickup & Drop-Off Shipping Network
eBay, Depop developing lower-cost pickup and drop-off shipping network as new job listings reveal US logistics expansion.

USPS closed fiscal 2026 with a $6.5 billion net loss despite higher shipping revenue, as package volume declined and Ground Advantage continued gaining share from other services. Days later, the Postal Service proposed another major pricing shift for 2027, including a permanent fuel surcharge starting at 11% and plans for future weekly adjustments tied to fuel prices.

USPS Plans Permanent Fuel Surcharge As Shipping Rates Set To Rise Again In January 2027
USPS plans shipping rate increases for January 2027, replacing its "temporary" 8% transportation-related hike with a permanent fuel surcharge.

The Postal Service is also proposing a 20% postage error fee, new shipping label compliance charges and higher fees for nonstandard and oversized packages.

USPS Proposes New 20% Postage Error Fee, Expands Package Compliance & Nonstandard Charges
USPS proposes a 20% postage error fee, new shipping label compliance charges and higher fees for nonstandard and oversized packages.

eBay is launching a new Condition Guarantee service for used electronics in the UK, allowing buyers to pay £5 to have eligible phones and tablets inspected before delivery in a move that closely mirrors rival Vinted's existing Electronics Verification program.

eBay Launches £5 Electronics Condition Guarantee In UK To Rival Vinted
eBay launches £5 Condition Guarantee for used electronics in the UK, rivaling Vinted with device inspections before delivery.

Mercari US GMV growth slows to just 0.3% as rival shipping promotions hurt fashion sales, leaving the marketplace behind its growth targets.

Mercari US Growth Stalls As Rival Shipping Promotions Hit Fashion Sales
Mercari US GMV growth slows to just 0.3% as rival shipping promotions hurt fashion sales, leaving the marketplace behind its growth targets.

eBay touts "new" Magical Listing AI technology with press release promoting features that have been available for months as more sellers are forced into camera-first listing, reporting the same accuracy and workflow problems that plagued previous rollouts.

eBay Promotes Existing Magical Listing AI As "New," Then Backtracks With Revised Press Release
eBay's latest Magical Listing announcement generated headlines about supposedly new AI technology, then the company quietly backtracked.

eBay-owned Japanese marketplace Qoo10 has confirmed a data breach potentially exposing customers' personal information, including names, addresses, geographic coordinates, physical characteristics and customer profiling data, but has not disclosed how many accounts were affected or how the unauthorized access occurred.

eBay-Owned Japanese Marketplace Qoo10 Confirms Customer Data Breach
eBay-owned Qoo10 confirms customer data breach that may have exposed geographic coordinates, physical characteristics & buyer profiles.

CarParts.com is facing the potential loss of a major third-party marketplace sales channel after an unnamed partner threatened to terminate its seller relationship if the automotive parts retailer follows through with plans to launch its own competing marketplace in December.

Marketplace Threatens To Drop CarParts.com Over Competing Platform
CarParts.com faces losing major sales channel after an unnamed marketplace partner threatens termination over plans to launch competing platform.

Etsy is apologizing after encouraging sellers to send unsolicited promotional messages to previous customers in violation of its own longstanding policies, retracting the advice three days later without addressing whether sellers who followed the instructions could face spam enforcement or other account consequences.

Etsy Tells Sellers To Violate Messaging Policy, Retracts Advice Three Days Later
Etsy urged sellers to break its own rules by messaging past buyers about holiday sales, then admitted the mistake without addressing potential penalties.

Updates

eBay warned sellers of another USPS rate adjustment that took effect on November 14.

Ex-TCGPlayer CEO Rob Bigler has revealed his new role as CEO at AutoTrader.ca.

TCGPlayer CEO Rob Bigler Exits After 3.5 Years Leading eBay-Owned Trading Card Marketplace
CEO Rob Bigler departs TCGPlayer following three years of labor disputes, seller complaints and major changes under eBay ownership.

VAR+ paid memberships are now $10/month or $100/year and include a monthly email briefing with additional analysis, key developments and what I’m watching across the ecommerce marketplace industry. Paid memberships help support VAR’s independent, ad-free reporting. See VAR+ options.

Thanks for reading! Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend and let them know where they can subscribe. 📧

Never miss a headline - make Value Added Resource a Preferred Source on Google! 📰

Week In Review

Liz Morton Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Liz Morton is founder and editor of Value Added Resource. She spent 17+ years operating ecommerce businesses before launching VAR. Her reporting focuses on seller experience, marketplace strategy and corporate accountability.


Recent Comments