Etsy visitors may notice the marketplace looks a little different these days.
That’s because Etsy changed the way shoppers browse the site, making the experience theme based—not category based, like it had been—in hopes of providing a better shopping experience.
Heather Burkman, a member of Etsy’s marketing and merch team, announced the new Etsy “Browse pages” last week, noting that shoppers “rarely use” categories when they buy on the site. Read More

Mailing packages could cost you a little more at the end of January if the U.S. Postal Service has its way.
The agency proposed a postage rate increase to the Postal Regulatory Commission on Thursday. Under the proposed hikes, Priority Mail would increase an average of 6.3 percent, Priority Mail Commercial Base would go up an average of 3.7 percent, Commercial Plus—a service for big-volume shippers—would increase an average of 3.8 percent, First Class Mail stamps would go up 1 cent and mailing a post card would cost 33 cents. Read More

eBay’s contemporary new logo design made its debut this week, but it isn’t the only change users should expect in the coming weeks and months.
Devin Wenig, president of eBay Marketplaces, reports the marketplace will unveil several changes soon. U.S. eBay users will notice them as soon as the end of the month. Read More

When an Etsy seller learned that a large retailer was selling products that looked an awful lot like her own handmade designs, she decided to fight for her copyright—and won.
Savannah Carroll, whose Etsy shop Sleepy King features her woodland creature designs on plush toys, embroidered art and accessories, learned of the infringement from a fan in Norway. Read More

Internet sales tax laws are the most “awful,” according to an e-commerce advocacy group.
NetChoice, a coalition of e-commerce businesses and online consumers, put Internet sales tax laws at the top of its Fall 2012 iAWFUL, or Internet advocates’ watchlist for ugly laws. Read More

Busy merchants who sell on Etsy might at times wish they could add more hours to their days to complete their business tasks. They may not be able to, but they can pass along some of their work to others through a new seller portal made just for them. Read More

Shoppers like using email when deciding what to buy and interacting with companies. In fact, they seem to prefer email marketing offers to those on social sites—at least slightly.
That’s according to a recent study commissioned by Oracle. “The Connected Consumer 2012: Evolving Behavior Patterns” study finds that email is very important to buyers when deciding what to buy, and it was the top way consumers interact with companies. Read More

Shoppers will be busy buying both online and off this holiday season, but online retailers will see the biggest gains from consumer spending.
The National Retail Federation finds that, overall, holiday season sales will increase 4.1 percent compared to last year, reaching $586.1 billion. Read More

Etsy is making changes to its Search Ads—which sellers can buy to have their items display at the tops of search results—in hopes of a good selling season for its merchants.
Jaclyn Fu, a member of Etsy’s marketing team, says changes will take effect in the coming weeks and should make ads more powerful and easier to manage. Read More

Amazon will hire more than 10,000 temporary employees in the U.K. to keep up with the busy holiday season expected this year.
The employees will man Amazon’s fulfillment centers, officials announced on Monday. Last year, the retailer shipped more than 2.1 million shipments in one 24-hour period during its busiest shipping day of the holidays. Read More