Value Added Resource Week In Review 8-13-23

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

eBay News

Authentication workers at eBay-owned TCGPlayer are celebrating multiple wins this week as the National Labor Relations Board rejected eBay's appeal to overturn their union vote, forcing the company to finally acknowledge TCGUnion-CWA and agree to come to the bargaining table.

eBay's latest testing of a new View Item Page design alarms sellers by moving descriptions to a separate tab, requiring buyers to make an additional click in order to see important seller-provided item details.

Latest eBay View Item Test Hides Seller Descriptions In New Tab

Sellers alarmed as eBay View Item Page test moves descriptions to separate tab, requiring additional click to see details.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

It appears eBay may be feeling the heat from increasing user complaints about glitches on the platform, prompting Chief of Staff Seller Experience, Valeri Yee, to stop by the eBay for Business podcast to discuss how eBay handles new feature rollouts and technical issues on the site.

Curiously, Valeri chose to focus on a very small technical issue that impacted a limited number of users over Memorial Day weekend instead of the widespread and significantly more disruptive malfunction that randomly increased seller inventory causing massive out of stock cancellations that same weekend.

How Does eBay Handle New Feature Rollouts & Glitches?

eBay’s Valeri Yee gives insight into how glitches are handled on the site, but glosses over major Memorial Weekend Meltdown.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Sellers were stymied by an odd bug that resulted in a page not found error when using search filters due to a URL coding error from the Seller Hub Overview page.

Ironically, it fell to a savvy seller in the eBay community to test and identify the source of the problem, contradicting Valeri's assurances of how seriously eBay takes finding and fixing coding bugs.

It's disappointing but not surprising eBay has still not corrected the simple coding error, despite being given a free step by step guide showing them exactly what they need to do.

eBay Sellers Stymied By Search Filter Bug Resulting In Page Not Found Error

eBay sellers stymied by search filter bug due to URL coding error from Seller Hub Overview page.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Sellers have also still had no remedy for a glitch that is causing markdown sale promotions not to work on some listings, leading to buyer complaints when the proper discount is not applied at checkout.

eBay Markdown Discount Sales Not Applied In Cart For New Listings

eBay sellers report markdown discount promotions are not working properly for new listings, leading to buyer complaints.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

UPDATE: eBay has finally officially acknowledged they were performing testing that would have impacted Impressions and the "user experience" from July 18 - 28.

Did eBay Promoted Listings Test Tank Impressions July 18?

eBay sellers scrambling for answers to sharp drop in Promoted Listings impressions - could item page testing be to blame?

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Other Ecommerce News

TikTok is building up it's ecommerce operations, aiming to take significant market share in pre-owned luxury goods, sneakers and collectibles in the US - should eBay be worried?

TikTok Looks To Pre-Owned Luxury, Collectibles & Sneakers To Build US Ecommerce Offering

TikTok takes aim at pre-owned luxury goods, sneakers & collectibles to build US ecommerce operations - should eBay be worried?

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Amazon has officially announced there will be another Prime Deals event in October, confirming seller reports from June.

Amazon Confirms Fall Prime Big Deals Event For October

Amazon has officially announced plans for Fall Prime Big Deals in October, confirming seller reports from June.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Some longtime Amazon sellers were startled this week by what appeared to be a glitch mass gating most of their products and preventing them from sending new inventory in to FBA.

As Amazon starts to extend Delivery Date Based Reserve policies, sellers in the UK and Europe are worried about cash flow crunch - will media and regulatory scrutiny cause them to reverse course?

Amazon Sellers In UK & Europe Face Cash Flow Crunch With Delivery Date Reserves

As Amazon starts to extend Delivery Date Based Reserve policies, sellers in the UK and Europe worry about cash flow crunch.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Amazon leadership including Jeff Bezos and 20 members of the board and management have been hit with an investor lawsuit over "massive losses" and expansion that has exposed the company to increasing regulatory scrutiny.

Amazon Hit With Investor Lawsuit As FTC Scrutiny Heats Up

Amazon leadership, including Jeff Bezos, named in investor suit over losses & expansion that exposed co to regulatory scrutiny.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

Etsy is updating child safety rules and prohibited content policies for listing images that feature minors, effective September 8.

Etsy Updates Child Photo Prohibited Content Policy Effective September 8

Heads up Etsy sellers - new child safety rules for photos featuring minors go into effect September 8.

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

And finally, Depop has announced an update to their seller protection policies that will require sellers to use shipping labels purchased from the platform, leaving sellers wondering if Etsy will follow suit.

Will Depop Seller Protection Updates Make Their Way To Etsy?

Depop seller protection update will require shipping labels to be purchased from the site, will Etsy will follow suit?

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton ~ Founder

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