From the Editor – January 10, 2021

Online marketplaces eBay and Etsy just passively “raised” their fees for 2021. That’s because with higher shipping rates (USPS rate take effect in 2 weeks), they get a bigger commission on sales. That’s true whether sellers charge actual shipping costs or whether they build in the cost into items when offering “free” shipping.

Speaking of which, remember to do an audit of your listings to make sure you’re covering the higher cost of shipping (and commission fees, depending where you’re selling).

Before the USPS rates take effect on January 24, there’s something sellers should know. If you send small lightweight items in a regular letter envelope, there’s no increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp, which remains at 55 cents. However, the cost of a letter additional ounce is going from 15 cents to 20 cents. If you mail many such items, you can buy “Uncle Sam’s Hat” stamps for 15 cents each – Like a Forever stamp, it’s always valid for the rate printed on it (which is “Additional Ounce”).

It’s January, which means it’s time to vote in the Sellers Choice Awards. Thanks to everyone for nominating their choice of marketplaces to rate last month, you can now rate the top ten finalists on SurveyMonkey. We’ll aggregate the results and publish them in the next issue.

I’m always impressed most by the level of detail sellers provide in their comments about the pros and cons of each platform they use. In addition to getting a good overview of each, comments often provide flavor (and sometimes news tips) you don’t see anywhere else.

Whether you use one platform or several, we want to hear from you! Here’s the link to the 2021 Sellers Choice Awards survey via Survey Monkey.

In today’s issue, BigCommerce’s head of global product marketing describes how sellers can use its platform to host their businesses, including small businesses who don’t want to take on the technical aspects of running an online store such as PCI compliance and SEO. The Auction Professor is back with tips on researching your items to get the best price. Collectors Corner takes a look at how 2020 left a mark on collectibles, and we end with Letters to the Editor.

Thanks for reading, and please remember to participate in the 2021 Sellers Choice Awards.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.