From the Editor – November 7, 2021

It seems that sneakers are not for wearing these days and toys are not for children. Brands have found a way to charge adults and teens much higher prices by modifying average products, like Mattel’s $ 120 “Gucci” Hot Wheels toy car.

eBay followed StockX by capitalizing on this trend in the sneaker market – not too long ago sneaker authentication was unknown – and a small number of other categories, such as luxury watches and watches. hand bags. eBay tells Wall Street that if its buyer base shrinks (active buyers were down 5% at the end of September), its strategy of targeting “high value buyers” who will spend more on its platform will pay off.

But focusing on sneakers and a few other categories is not suitable for sellers who list different products. In a recent AuctionBytes blog post on Etsy’s New Holiday TV Ads, one reader said that as an eBay seller, he wanted eBay to advertise – “not just sneakers or watches. top of the line”.

The reader said, “I haven’t seen an eBay listing in years, but when I did, the focus was very narrow and didn’t reflect the breadth of what’s available. And yes, at the very least, they should decorate the pages with holiday reminders! “

Some of the other things sellers are talking about:

eBay requires that some buyers agree to pay immediately as soon as the seller accepts their best offer.

PayPal requires sellers to provide a “verifiable online” tracking number to prove delivery in order to benefit from seller protection.

Amazon is cracking down on sellers who advertise discounts or discounts on other sites in order to get incentive product reviews in its market.

Speaking of bad seller behavior – in today’s issue, Kenneth Corbin talks about a government crackdown on bogus reviews and deceptive endorsements.

Don Heiden, the auction professor, is back with a column on things to to avoid sell on eBay. Michele Alice has a guide to vacation catalogs and what makes them collectable, and we end with Letters to the Editor.

Black Friday is just 19 days away and Christmas 48 days away. And a reminder as daylight saving time ends this weekend: put fresh batteries in your smoke detectors and test them.

Thanks for reading.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and editor-in-chief of EcommerceBytes and has published articles on ecommerce since 1999. She is a widely cited authority on market selling and is the author of “Turn eBay Data Into Dollars” (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book “Blogging Heroes” (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send topical tips to [email protected] See the disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.