Value Added Resource Week In Review 3-3-24

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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

eBay News

We kicked off the week with a pre-earnings look at highlights and lowlights from Q4 2023 and what's happening so far in Q1 2024, including leadership changes and corporate news, AI initiatives and new features, Promoted Listings and more!

eBay Q4 2023 Pre-Earnings Countdown & Highlights
eBay is set to announce Q4 2023 earnings February 27th. Take a look back at highlights from Q4 and what’s happening so far in Q1 2024!

eBay's Q4 2023 earnings report "leaned in" on consumer-seller strategy shift as active buyers & GMV remain relatively flat and Promoted Listings ads continue to drive revenue growth.

Could a long overdue pivot back to eBay's C2C roots be key to returning to GMV growth by Q3 or Q4 2024?

eBay Q4 2023 Earnings: Leaning In On C2C Pivot, Ads Continue To Drive Revenue Growth
eBay’s Q4 2023 earnings report bolsters consumer-seller strategy shift as active buyers & GMV remain relatively flat.

We had called out hints at this strategy shift last week with new job postings in the US and Canada, and some internal promotions announced this week for key strategic roles in Italy and the UK bolster the idea eBay may be pivoting away from narrow "high value, enthusiast vertical" strategy back to broader consumer to consumer focus.

eBay Internal Promotions For Leadership Roles In UK & Italy Bolster C2C Strategy Pivot
Recent promotions for strategic roles in Italy & UK highlight pivot back to C2C focus as questions linger about eBay’s business strategy future.

The deferred prosecution agreement eBay signed with the DOJ over 2019 cyberstalking scandal has been raising eyebrows with its enhanced compliance monitoring requirements, begging the question - why would there would be a focus on Mergers and Acquisitions due diligence in a settlement for felony cyberstalking and harassment of journalists carried out by eBay security personnel?

eBay Compliance Monitoring - What Does Cyberstalking Have To Do With M&A Due Diligence & Risk?
eBay’s deferred prosecution deal with DOJ raises question - what does Mergers & Acquisitions due diligence have to do with cyberstalking scandal?

eBay may be exploring ways to use blockchain technology to fight fraud and scams with transparent, decentralized user authentication and authorization - but users may balk at “reputational score,” which could determine whether they can buy, bid on or sell items on the platform.

eBay Explores Blockchain Solutions To Fight Fraud & Scams In New Patent Filing
eBay exploring using blockchain technology to fight fraud with decentralized user authentication & authorization, according to new patent filing.

The eBay for Business podcast will soon be rebranding to the eBay for Sellers podcast and this week's episode featured Chuck Van Pelt from the Seller Advocacy Team discussing new features out now or coming soon to the eBay mobile app.

eBay For Business Podcast Reveals New Features For Mobile App
eBay for Business podcast features Chuck Van Pelt from Seller Advocacy Team discussing new feature for the eBay mobile app.

Sellers who frequently process partial refunds to provide combined shipping discounts note recent changes to the refund process add additional steps to their workflow and could lead to buyer confusion.

eBay Refund Processing Changes Make More Work For Sellers, Risk Buyer Confusion
Unannounced change to eBay refund process creates more work for sellers, risks confusing buyers & adds unnecessary complexity.

A familiar glitch made the rounds through the eBay discussion forums and social media this week as sellers say listings that should be renewing are instead going missing, not to be found in either active or ended listings sections of Seller Hub.

Affected sellers reported the issue is an almost annual occurrence as eBay has just never quite figured out how to cope with the fact that February has less days than other months, plus leap day when applicable.

eBay Listings Disappearing - Is It A Leap Day Glitch?
eBay Leap Day “glitch” hits as listings that should be renewing go missing, not to be found in active or ended listings in Seller Hub.

Another glitch that is causing listings to end a day early has been going on for almost a month and could cause serious problems for sellers who may be charged additional listing fees if the issue is not resolved before March 31.

eBay Listing End Date Glitch Knocks One Day Off Good Til Canceled Timeframe
eBay sellers are observing an odd glitch impacting listing end dates, losing a day off the Good Til Canceled timeframe starting on February 10th.

Bob Kupbens is the new interim CEO at StubHub International in a full circle moment harkening back to his time at eBay as VP Seller Marketplace and Operations.

Ex-eBay VP Bob Kupbens Comes Full Circle As Interim CEO Of StubHub International
Bob Kupbens is the new interim CEO at StubHub in a full circle moment harkening back to his time at eBay as VP Seller Marketplace and Operations.

Other Ecommerce News

Amazon book sellers were once again thrown into turmoil as confusing email with less than one day notice puts future of textbook selling on the platform in possible jeopardy.

Amazon Textbook Sellers Thrown Into Turmoil With Short Notice Of New Restrictions
Amazon book sellers are in turmoil as confusing email with less than 1 day notice puts future of textbook selling on the site in question.

DM Cohen Inc. is suing Amazon over claims the company uses “dark patterns” to dupe consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime, with automatically-renewing subscriptions and a labyrinthine cancellation process for subscribers who want to end their memberships.

Amazon Investor Sues For Records, Alleging Prime Membership Dark Patterns Breach Fiduciary Duty
Investor DM Cohen is suing Amazon, seeking records of possible breach of fiduciary duty & mismanagement regarding Prime membership dark patterns.

Etsy's efforts to be the "go to" site for all your gifting needs continues with new Gift Teaser feature that allows buyers to send gift recipients a sneak peek message.

Etsy Continues Gifting Focus With New Gift Teaser Sneak Peek Feature For Buyers
Etsy’s efforts to be the “go to” site for gifting continues with Gift Teaser feature allowing buyers to send recipients sneak peek gift message.

Etsy seller "Babyjewlz" took to the community seeking help from other sellers when she noticed an inappropriate video had been attached to one of her listings without her knowledge or consent, revealing a possibly serious vulnerability in Etsy's systems.

Etsy Seller Says Inappropriate Video Added To Listing Without Her Knowledge Or Consent
Etsy seller “Babyjewlz” says an explicit video was attached to her item without her knowledge, revealing potential vulnerability in Etsy systems.

Updates

It's been over two weeks and the Listing Quality Report is still missing, but at least eBay is finally notifying sellers of the technical issue with a banner announcement on the page that says "We are experiencing an issue that is affecting the Listing Quality Report. While we are working on a fix we have temporarily removed the download report link."

eBay Listing Quality Report Missing, Download Errors
eBay sellers report issues with listing quality report either missing or still in seller hub, but throwing an error when trying to download.

Check out the updated agenda for eBay's Spring Seller Check In slated for March 7 and stay tuned for full coverage of the event!

eBay Spring 2024 Seller Check In Preview: Terapeak Gets A New Name, Comes To Mobile
eBay’s Spring Seller Check 2024 agenda reveals Terapeak research tools are getting a new name & finally coming to the mobile app.

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Week In Review

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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!


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