Every week, Hendrik Laubscher will be providing third party sellers with a selection of news stories that they need to be aware of. As a Prosper Show participant we strive to ensure that you can focus on your business while we handle all the industry news.The past week contained a harsh reality for eBay. The eBay post spin-off from PayPal is finally view-able in quarterly earnings (I will spare you my dear readers – it was not pretty). Etsy has added location to its search engine and has created seller unhappiness. Location is a sensitive topic for marketplace sellers as it has direct reaction to their listings. This is a developing story, as Etsy will need to make a change.. Then Amazon was found not guilty by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on the whole search engine case for when Amazon does not have a specific case.

MTM sued in 2011, and a federal judge in Los Angeles resolved the trademark claims in favor of Amazon.com before trial. In July, the 9th Circuit ruled that MTM’s lawsuit should be allowed to proceed. But after Amazon.com asked for a rehearing, the panel withdrew the previous decision and on Wednesday said MTM’s case fails.“Because Amazon’s search results page clearly labels the name and manufacturer of each product offered for sale and even includes photographs of the items, no reasonably prudent consumer accustomed to shopping online would likely be confused as to the source of the products,” the panel majority said in a 2-1 opinion.This is a very large win for Amazon as this ensures that they are able to proceed with their current practice of leveraging products that are not available. From a selling point of view – when last have you checked the fundamentals of your business – your data feed / listings? Read more here.

Etsy sellers are questioning the company’s decision to use seller location in search ranking in two international markets. Etsy announced Friday, “In order to create a better local shopping experience, we’ve been testing an updated search ranking to make locally-made items for buyers in the United Kingdom and Australia more prominent.” For Etsy sellers this is a nightmare as it would inadvertently create a geofence for customers  that are getting traffic from international listings. Do you know roughly how the search engine in your marketplace of choice works? Read more here.

eBay revenue fell 2% year-over-year – which was an increase of 5% on an FX-neutral basis (currency exchange). In a post-earnings conference call, CEO Devin Wenig used terms like “solid performance” and “a step in the right direction.” This was the first quarterly results in which eBay was a seperate entity and I would implore sellers to re-evaluate their business on eBay. Does the input in terms of investment and resources make sense for listing on eBay? Read more here.
Till next week. Onwards.