EcommerceBytes

Dear Ina, eBay gets more ridiculous every day. Today I had a listing (pictured below) taken down by AI because of the "Cosmetics Policy" - the email from eBay explains that used cosmetics are not allowed. My items are, of course, brand new. I've sold 100+ of this brand with no issues. I submitted an appeal because of this obvious mistake. Shortly thereafter the appeal was denied. It is sad that a mistake this obvious gets through AI and an appeal. Apparently there are no checks and balances.

Amazon requires sellers to have insurance, and on November 2, 2026, it is updating its commercial liability insurance requirements. It is lowering the threshold at which sellers will be required to obtain insurance for those selling products “in categories with enhanced safety listing requirements.” And it will change how sellers based in Mainland China can obtain their insurance.

eBay made a major change to its clothing category in June and began enforcing it in August.

TikTok Shop is testing a program similar to Amazon's Prime membership program, and one industry executive says it's not doing it for growth, but to retain existing customers.

eBay announced its September Seller Update for 2026, including new features sellers have already encountered. eBay described the changes by placing them into three buckets: Grow your business; Trust and protection; and Optimize your business. In the first bucket was the new eBay Bundle Discounts feature; notably, a former eBay executive turned seller discussed its pros and cons in a YouTube video.

Companies may try to obfuscate bad news, sometimes through the use of euphemisms and creative wording. We've seen online marketplaces announce rate hikes as a move to "simplify" pricing, but using soft language doesn't make changes any less impactful to sellers' businesses. The FTC called out Amazon for doing that in a new lawsuit filed on Monday, according to Bloomberg reporter Spencer Soper.

How many times have you watched a YouTube video and heard the content creator utter the words, “check the link in the description”? Often these plugs are for Amazon products for which the YouTuber receives affiliate revenue if the viewer clicks on a link in the description underneath the video and buys the item. You may hear those words less now that Amazon has joined the YouTube Shopping affiliate program: “You can tag products from Amazon directly in your videos, Shorts, and livestreams.

Dear Ina, This is getting old and it has happened more than once. I have an item and I see that several have been listed and sold on eBay. eBay says, "have one, list it" so I do. In this case a VHS tape of Banned In America (which other sites have no problem with). It not only lists, but even relists, so it has been listed for months. The policy violation for this documentary, Violence. Why does eBay tell me to list something it obviously knows I can't?

eBay is disabling the direct-messaging feature on its discussion boards because of scam emails that it said were very effective in tricking users. eBay published an announcement on the Selling discussion board to warn sellers on Tuesday (September 1, 2026). (It only impacts the community section of eBay and is unrelated to messaging between buyers and sellers.) "We're seeing an increase in Direct Messages with phishing attempts targeting users on community.ebay.com," eBay wrote.

Amazon now offers Sub Same-Day delivery options (SSD) that allow many buyers to get their orders in 2-5 hours for certain products. Amazon automatically moves eligible products it selects for SSD to dedicated fulfillment centers located near 2,300 metro areas.