In today’s evolving business world, where retail and the Internet are the ultimate example of a compatible marriage, Fulfillment by Amazon fuses the home-based, small-business entrepreneur with the power of a corporate marketplace, but at what cost? FBA seems like the peak of the home-based business. Read More

The latest eBay changes announced in the 2013 Spring Seller Update means a simplified fee structure for merchants and an attempt to reduce the number of unpaid items. Today’s announcement includes changes that give sellers with eBay Store subscriptions up to 2,500 free fixed-price or auction-style listings per month, allow merchants whose listing include a Best Offer option to continue accepting offers until a shopper actually pays for a product, aim to reduce the number of unpaid items on the site and more. Read More

Finding your way around the finance world can be a bit tricky. There are a lot of different terms, and you’re already busy managing your stock levels, orders and everything else that comes with running an online business. How are you supposed to be an expert in financial terms, too? Read More

Q: I’d like some suggestions on how to handle shipping charges now that eBay charges fees on shipping. I sell all kinds of things and shipping can vary by location. I charge as high as I think it will be, and refund the buyer if I’ve overcharged. Read More

As eBay continues to rework its search engine, it may be considering a move to tie sellers’ placement in eBay search to how much they are willing to pay in final value fees. eBay forum posters last week discussed what such a move would mean after some sellers received a survey in which eBay asked: “How would you feel if you could bid on your final value fees, which would improve your ranking in search results?” Another version of the survey asked: “How would you feel if you had an option to pay an approximate 25-percent fee premium to guarantee a ‘top 5 listing’ in search results?” “It sounds like eBay is considering turning search placement into a pay-per-click auction like Google AdWords,” says an eBay discussion board poster going by the name serious_coder. Read More

Postage rate hikes. Selling fee increases. Rising gas prices that affect the cost of… well, everything. It seems that the costs of running an online business are continually going up—free shipping, anyone?—while selling prices are getting pressured downward. Between these two opposing forces, online sellers may find their profits being squeezed. Read More

Private sellers on eBay U.K. and eBay Ireland who list high-ticket items may have to pay more in eBay fees starting next month. eBay announced the change today, noting it will increase the final value fee cap for private sales on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie starting July 10. Read More

June is here, and with it come several changes announced in February as part of eBay’s Spring Seller Update—including changes to the Top-rated Seller program and to the eBay return policy Changes to the Top-rated Seller program take effect on June 20. Read More

In Beyond eBay, Part 1, we discussed four eBay-alternative sites for auction sellers looking for greener pastures. Those included auction marketplaces and a couple of emerging sites for real-time auctions. Now we’ll take a look at a couple of marketplaces that cater to artisans and vintage sellers, as well as social marketplace Yardsellr, in case you want to see what lies beyond eBay. Read More

With new stringent policies taking effect on eBay, hundreds of eBay sellers told The Online Seller they were looking for alternative venues on which to sell their items. Some readers said they would try their luck on Yardsellr, a social marketplace; others mentioned Etsy, an online marketplace for homemade goods. Read More