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eBay and Etsy are relatively confident despite tariff pressures

Like virtually every sector in the business world, the secondhand industry is grappling with the ramifications of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.Β  However, based on the comments made by eBay and Etsy earlier this week, both don’t appear to be overly concerned.Β  The companies recently reported Q1 2025 earnings results, both addressing the pressing topic of […]

I'm a former Thiel fellow who dropped out of college. I now run a $1.3 billion logistics company.

Sean Henry
Sean Henry is the founder of Stord, a logistics company that helps ship 50 million packages every year.

Stord

  • Stord, a commerce enablement platform, is now valued at $1.3 billion.
  • Founder Sean Henry said his entrepreneurial journey began at age 7, selling electronics online.
  • Stord operates a fulfillment network, shipping nearly 50 million packages annually.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sean Henry, the founder of the commerce enablement platform, Stord. It's been edited for length and clarity.

When I look back on my life now, at 28, I can easily see that I was always an entrepreneur.

The dots usually connect in hindsight. But in the moment, being an entrepreneur often feels a bit like you're in a perpetual existential crisis. You're always wondering what you're supposed to do next.

I grew up on a farm in Woodstock, Georgia. My dad grew up in a trailer park in Columbia, South Carolina. He was a field engineer at BellSouth, a telecommunications company, and stayed there for almost 40 years.

You might think someone like that would be pretty risk-averse. But the best thing both my parents gave me is the belief that I can do anything. You can see it in my siblings, too β€” there's an actress, a nurse, a lawyer, and a high school English teacher among us.

My founder story began back in elementary school. When I was 7, I was selling items on eBay and Craigslist. I'd post signs around local neighborhoods that said things like, "We'll buy junk electronics" or "I can fix phones and computers." I bought everything from broken phones and computers to used-but-working devices, then cleaned them up, repaired them, or broke them down for parts β€” batteries, chargers, chips β€” and resold them.

By middle school, I started selling phone cases, too. By high school, I had entered into automotive parts, in part, because I could afford my own car by then. I remember my teachers being mad at me because I was always on my phone in class responding to emails and customer service messages.

I tried re-investing the $30,000 in savings I had racked up into other endeavors. I attempted to build an app that lets spectators in sports arenas message people in sections from the opposing team. That didn't really take off. I was trading stocks with my dad on the side. At one point, I even tried my hand at being a YouTuber by making videos about e-commerce.

How I ended up in logistics

Somehow, I kept coming back to the customer shipping experience.

The summer before I entered college at Georgia Tech in 2015, I interned at HUEHOCO, the German metal processing giant. I worked at several of their factories over time, five of which were abroad in Germany, Mexico, and Canada.

I noticed that this massive global company with 14 factories worldwide was overspending on every shipment.

I launched Stord the year I started college to improve the shipping experience for brands and consumers. I wanted to level the e-commerce playing field so that it wasn't only controlled by Amazon, Walmart, and Target.

You, as a consumer, probably see Stord more than you realize. When you see that delivery promise, the shipping insurance offering, or when you get that post-purchase landing page β€” that's all Stord.

We have an orchestration layer of software that helps manage, route, and execute the network. Then we run a physical fulfillment network with 10 of our own fulfillment centers and also partner with over 50 fulfillment centers.

There's one question I always ask myself

I went all in on building Stord while I was at Tech. I hired new employees, we raised a $2.5 million seed round β€” on top of checks from accelerators and angel investors. I dropped out before my fourth semester. Six months later, I won the Thiel Fellowship. It's a two-year deal that requires you to drop out of college.

There's a lot of talk about the value of college these days, especially for young entrepreneurs. I'm a dropout, and I gave my family an analogy to explain my case. Entrepreneurship is like professional sports. If you had an offer from the NBA, I don't think you should go to college, and delay the NBA just because you want the degree first.

Stord is now valued at $1.3 billion. Last year, we delivered 30-35 million packages to 11.5% of unique US households. This year, we expect to ship almost 50 million packages to nearly 20% of US households.

We exist in markets in the EU, UK, and Canada and plan to launch a few more. In light of the tariffs, we've seen an influx of interest in e-commerce brands looking to move inventory to our US and Canada locations. Over the past few months, we've helped brands divert millions of units. In the short term, I suspect we'll see a lot of brands holding more inventory closer to their primary markets.

There's a simple question I ask myself that brought me to where I am today: Why not you? Once you realize that everything in life was made up by someone no smarter than you, everything changes. You think, "If I give this all my energy, why couldn't I transform this industry?"

Read the original article on Business Insider

Hard hit by tariffs, Americans are turning to Goodwill and eBay

Image of a fur coat in color with secondhand tag, with boxes of items and yard sale sign around the coat in black and white
Β 

hidesy/Getty, Svittlana/Getty, wwing/Getty, AnthonyRosenberg/Getty, Cunaplus_M.Faba/Getty, Ava Horton/BI

Secondhand shopping can be pretty hit or miss. In the hit scenario, you find a delightfully low-priced treasure and wind up with an item that's cheap, unique, and, if you care, environmentally friendly. In the miss situation, you sift endlessly through items, only to come up empty-handed. Or, worse, you make a 45-minute drive to check out that old but "rust-free" truck you found online, only to discover the seller just painted over the decay.

Luckily, an increasing number of resale transactions are landing in the "hit" column. Companies are working to improve the secondhand shopping experience, especially online. Brands are embracing the resale trend. More consumers are willing to try it, too. In an era when people want their possessions to say something about themselves, and as we constantly cycle through microtrends, thrifting has gone from "ick" to "cool."

Now, in the face of escalating economic uncertainty, secondhand shopping may have even more appeal. There are no tariffs on vintage items. If a recession does hit, more people might find themselves seeking out the lower prices β€” and raiding their own closets to see if there's anything of value they can put up for sale.

"What secondhand provides is not just a very sustainable and economical way to shop, but once you've bought something, it's a way to monetize it, so you can actually tap into the value of your closet and circulate," Manish Chandra, the founder and CEO of the peer-to-peer secondhand marketplace Poshmark, said. "And those economics have never been stronger than today."

Consumers like deals and discovery. Secondhand shopping is an increasingly popular way to scratch both of those itches.


Resale has been around forever. In the analog world, there have long been garage sales and shops such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army. eBay was one of the first companies to hit it big on the internet, and now, there are loads of resale platforms online, from ThredUp and Poshmark to Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. People have even taken things into their own hands by creating "Buy Nothing" groups. Consumers' love affair with cheap stuff seems limitless, and secondhand is an avenue for it to flourish.

"It's a cousin to the fact that the US consumer perpetually needs a deal," Dylan Carden, an analyst specializing in consumer technology and specialty retail at William Blair, said.

We've seen over the last decade the destigmatization of secondhand.

More recently, there's been a growing acceptance of secondhand among consumers and younger generations in particular. The imagined shopping experience is no longer a dusty, smelly shop on Main Street you begrudgingly go to with your grandmother on a Saturday afternoon. It's a little fun time on the internet where you can find some neat stuff to brag about getting a deal on.

"We've seen over the last decade the destigmatization of secondhand," said Alon Rotem, the chief strategy officer at ThredUp, an online thrift and consignment platform.

A July survey from Morning Consult found that about half of US consumers said they shopped secondhand within the previous three months, and a quarter said they sold something secondhand during the same time period. Clothing and apparel is the most popular category for secondhand commerce, followed by books and games, furniture and home decor, and shoes. Per a recent report from ThredUp and the retail analytics firm GlobalData, the US market for secondhand apparel grew by 14% in 2024, its strongest annual growth since 2021, and is expected to hit $74 billion by 2029.

"There is a trend toward vintage shopping, secondhand shopping, resale thrift hauls, etc., etc., powered by social media trends as well as economic pressure that is driving more consumers to maybe more casually dabble in secondhand," said Claire Tassin, a retail and e-commerce analyst at Morning Consult, who added that the segment's growth is thanks to "introducing new people into this market."

Secondhand has a broad appeal. Parents of young children tend to like it since their kids are growing so fast β€” and don't yet have strong opinions about what they wear. Lower- and middle-income consumers shop secondhand as a way to save money and get access to pricier things they perhaps couldn't afford firsthand. High-end shoppers participate, too, and often prize one-of-a-kind used and vintage items. David Rosenblatt, the CEO of 1stDibs, a luxury e-commerce marketplace, told me that half of their buyers have a household net worth of over $1 million, and their average order value is close to $3,000. 1stDibs' fastest-growing category is jewelry. Secondhand shopping is helping boost a variety of platforms as well: Facebook's Marketplace is so popular it's keeping people on the platform who would otherwise quit. And according to eBay, users globally searched "vintage" over 1,200 times a minute on average in 2024.

The secondhand ecosystem is vast in terms of price points, business models, and appeal.

Hannon Comazzetto, the CEO and founder of AirRobe, a startup that partners with luxury brands to help their customers resell and rent their merchandise after purchase, said her company has been successful in convincing brands that consumers' ability to resell their items will make them buy more in the first place.

The secondhand ecosystem is vast in terms of price points, business models, and appeal. There are online and offline, peer-to-peer and consignment marketplaces. Many big-name brands have broken into secondhand, whether by offloading their returned or used inventory on partner platforms or undertaking endeavors of their own. REI, for example, launched Re/Supply in 2018 for customers to trade in their gear and buy used merchandise. Nick Jendrzejewski, the manager of recommerce at REI, said in an email that 650,000 members used Re/Supply in 2024 alone. "REI has transformed its used gear business from occasional in-store 'garage sales' to a comprehensive recommerce experience,'" he said.

Despite the growing popularity, secondhand selling is not a slam-dunk business. Resale can be challenging logistically and hard to make a profit on. If it's a peer-to-peer model, such as eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Poshmark, the business is relatively simple in that you're just matching buyer and seller and letting them negotiate among themselves. You're not taking inventory risk, Carden said, "but the problem is you need scale," which can be hard to achieve. If the company owns the inventory, such as ThredUp, The RealReal, and even Goodwill or Savers, it can't control what it gets and whether that will be a match for consumers' interests and trends. Merchandise has to be sorted, stored, and, in some cases, verified. "You get cheap goods, sometimes for $0, but you need to sort through all that stuff," Carden said. "Most of it's going to be relatively useless, and then you have to price it."

Jendrzejewski acknowledged that operating REI's resale business is "challenging." Every item that comes through is one-of-a-kind and requires individual inspection. Unlike with new product lines, they can't forecast and order specific quantities. "This creates natural fluctuations in both product supply and product mix that we work continuously to balance," he said.


It sounds a little odd to say, but the trends that have propelled fast fashion are the same ones that have driven resale growth in recent years. As Chandra, from Poshmark, said, the two categories are "in some ways, tied at the hip."

Consumers are cycling through trends and goods at a faster pace than ever, in large part because of social media. We want things cheap and fast, which is possible thanks to the internet and smartphones that let consumers treat shopping like a low-stakes lottery. People are buying things directly from what they see on Instagram or TikTok. Constantly improving algorithms serve them items they might want, even on secondhand websites and apps themselves. People increasingly say they care about sustainability, but that doesn't mean they shun fast fashion and the likes of Shein and Temu.

"That shows you it really is value is No. 1, because they're finding short-term value in fast fashion, they're finding longer-term value in secondhand, and they're really trying to reconcile those two paradoxical forces," Rotem, from ThredUp, said.

On the seller side of the equation, offloading stuff β€” including for a potential profit β€” is getting easier. On Poshmark, people can seamlessly snap pictures of their clothes, upload them, and sell them right away. ThredUp sends clean-out kits for people to box their stuff up, send it back, and get paid. 1stDibs vets and approves all of the roughly 7,000 sellers on its platform, the vast majority of whom are professional sellers, and gives them access to an international group of potential buyers.

Platforms are also leveraging technology β€” including AI β€” to make life easier for both sides of the buyer-seller equation. Steve Dool, a senior brand and marketing director at Etsy-owned Depop, said in an email that the company recently announced a partnership aimed at helping sellers edit and improve their photos using AI. (It also removed fees from Depop sellers in the US last year, perhaps a more important boost.) Chandra pointed to Poshmark's "smart list" tool, which generates listing details for sellers. On the buyer end, the RealReal is trying to use AI to identify counterfeits. ThredUp has released an AI tool that lets buyers upload images of looks and search for items with that vibe in its inventory. "It's making discovery easier, more fun, and ultimately bringing it closer to the experience of shopping new, which is one of the more powerful drivers there," Rotem said.


Like basically every part of the business world, the secondhand industry is weighing the impact of President Donald Trump's widespread tariffs, the stock market's downturn, and increasing worries about a recession. Based on my conversations with insiders, it's sort of a mixed bag.

On the one hand, a recession is bad, full stop. It means consumers pull back on spending, especially discretionary, focusing more on wants instead of needs. A lot of what people get on the secondhand market falls into the wants category. Concurrently, a scenario where people are strapped for cash means more might turn to resale to make an extra buck and start looking around their houses seeing what they may be able to sell on eBay or Depop. The result: Demand may fall just as supply goes up.

"It might become more competitive on the seller side for fewer consumers who have the discretionary funds to spend," Tassin said.

Even the luxury market could run into a problem. The stock market is down, which makes wealthy people a little more antsy about their money. "When people feel poorer, they're less likely to buy luxury," Rosenblatt, from 1stDibs, said. Over half of their sales are furniture, and a lot of their success tends to track the luxury housing market.

The introduction of the tariffs may lead to some shifts in consumer behavior as consumers become more price conscious and look to other retail options like resale.

On the other hand, tariffs aren't a terrible deal for America's secondhand market. With limited exceptions, what people buy secondhand is already here. Shopping for used items may be a way to avoid tariffs and the inflationary pressures they may cause. Per the ThredUp and GlobalData report, 59% of consumers said they'll seek out more affordable options, including secondhand goods, if tariffs make new apparel more expensive.

"The introduction of the tariffs may lead to some shifts in consumer behavior as consumers become more price conscious and look to other retail options like resale," Dool said.

A more aggressive US trade policy may also give secondhand sellers a win in their war against fast-fashion competitors. In May, Trump is set to close a tax loophole that allows importers to avoid paying duties and taxes on shipments worth less than $800, known as the "de minimis" exemption, which is an important factor in how companies such as Shein and Temu are able to offer such low prices. "We think that that is an unfair advantage for fast fashion," Rotem said, adding that ThredUp has lobbied for the loophole to be closed.

Tassin said the tariffs could lead to a "potential boom" for secondhand shopping, given how much new clothing is imported to the US. She's a secondhand aficionado, and she's already started to notice tariff-related advertising from some of the sellers and platforms she follows letting customers know they won't be affected.

Still, none of the resellers I spoke to for this story were especially jazzed about the prospect of tariffs. As much as they're relatively insulated from import taxes, specifically, they're not immune to the potential economic harm they may cause. The economy gets bad enough, and people close their wallets on every front they can.


I should confess that I'm not a secondhand shopper. Don't get me wrong, I love a thrift store, but I refuse to shop at the ones in New York City because they are wildly overpriced. I've tried some of the online platforms, but the experience is just too hard. I get overwhelmed by all the options, and eventually, I get bored. I would rather not buy anything and repeat an outfit for the 20th time than spend two hours digging through various resale websites to find a dress for an event I'd rather skip in the first place. I can't imagine much of what I own is nice enough to sell. And even if it is, I'm not sure it's worth the energy.

The resale industry is betting that people like me will become converts, just like millions of consumers before. We'll get a taste for it after finding a real steal of a deal, or spend enough time scrolling that we finally click to buy. And then we'll buy again and again. And then, eventually, we'll start selling. And then we all join the circular economy or become part of the giant American yard sale. Maybe it's because we care about the environment. Maybe it's because that new-old chair really is a great find. Maybe it's because, in terms of price, used is often the best deal you're going to find.


Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.

Read the original article on Business Insider

eBay backs WunderGraph to build an open source GraphQL federation

A fledgling open source startup that’s setting out to tackle API sprawl in the GraphQL ecosystem has secured the backing of e-commerce giant eBay. WunderGraph, as the company is called, today said it has raised $7.5 million in a Series A round of funding to β€œscale its open source GraphQL federation.” Investors include eBay’s VC […]

CollX raises $10M to grow its card collection marketplace

CollX, a company offering an online trading card marketplace, has raised $10 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Austin-based Brand Foundry Ventures and Philadelphia-based 114 Ventures, both of which were previous investors in the company. Other investors such as Next Coast Ventures, FJ Labs, and Ben Franklin Technology Partners also participated […]

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eBay makes it easier to find fast-shipping items and local listings

eBay announced on Thursday that it has updated its platform to help buyers find fast-shipping items and local listings, thanks to changes to Search item cards and additional usage of AI. The company is making it easier to identify items with fast delivery, as search item cards now display delivery range estimates for all fast […]

Β© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

I started flipping Amazon pallets to earn extra income, and now I run a multimillion-dollar e-commerce business

Amazon pallets
Lizeth Cuara started flipping pallets of Amazon returns to make extra income.

Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

  • Lizeth Cuara bought her first pallet of Amazon returns in 2015 for $5,000 to flip for a profit.
  • Cuara worked long hours listing items on the platform and learned the business from YouTube.
  • The hustle helped her launch her own retail business which brought in $5 million in sales last year.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Lizeth Cuara, CEO of Misty Phases, a luxury postpartum wear line. Business Insider has verified the financials with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I grew up in Compton and was living paycheck to paycheck, working in property management in LA. I didn't feel valued in my job and was looking for a way out.

My friend suggested I try flipping Amazon return pallets as a side hustle. He had seen friends do it and thought it would help me leave my job.

The pallets were filled with customer returns like shoes, electronics, and lotions. My friend said you could resell these items on platforms like eBay and make a profit. He knew the warehouses that sold pallets but didn't know more about how it worked.

This was in February 2015, I was 30 years old and had saved $10,000 since I started working at 17. I decided use my savings and buy two pallets. The worst thing that could happen was returning to the same job and living as I had been.

Learning how to flip Amazon returns pallets

Within days of having that conversation with my friend, I went to a warehouse in LA to buy my first pallet. The seller was hesitant; he'd seen people fail in this business. I persuaded him to sell me two $5,000 pallets.

I began sorting through the pallets with no idea what I was looking for. I kept whatever looked new. My friend had said people sold the items on eBay, so I searched 'how to list something on eBay' on YouTube.

I downloaded the eBay app and photographed each item on my phone. I uploaded them with the name and price, using YouTube as my guide. I sold items on the first day. Then I had to learn how to ship the items and get paid via PayPal. It was a process of trial, error and YouTube.

I initially focused on getting good reviews so buyers would trust my little eBay store. I also had to be careful not to list anything that was restricted by eBay so my account didn't get banned. There were strict and detailed rules about what you can list.

The products sold quickly at prices slightly lower than what people could find on Amazon. I didn't have to do marketing because people were already searching for them on eBay. Once I learned how to post, ship, and price items, it became about listing as many items as possible daily. The more I listed, the more I sold.

It was time-consuming, but I started making money from the pallets right away. With PayPal and eBay, your funds are available almost immediately, so I was able to live off that income. In my first month, I brought in $10,000 in sales, and within a few months, I hit $15,000.

Flipping pallets was lucrative but unpredictable

I was earning more than my old job, but the business was unpredictable. A $5,000 pallet could yield $3,000, break even, or bring in $15,000. One month in, I knew I was going to quit my full time job. Selling pallets was more work, but I enjoyed learning the process even if the days were long. I only slept a couple of hours every night and was constantly working.

My first step in scaling the business was learning I could buy larger pallets of all one item.

Within weeks of purchasing my first pallets, I went back to buy more. My initial seller told me I could go to a second warehouse that had products from Amazon sellers that were abandoned or defective. Those pallets would have repetitive items where I'd only have to create one post on eBay, but they were pricey.

I bought mixed pallets about twice a month until I could afford the more expensive pallets of repetitive items.

After the first few months, I began spotting patterns in the inventory. Certain types of products consistently sold well that weren't big brands. I learned they were called white-label goods. By researching on Amazon, I found that these lesser-known brands were generating impressive sales.

The pallet business was profitable, but lacked consistency. I couldn't rely on this model long-term.

About eight months after I started selling the pallets, I started researching how to develop and manufacture my own products.

Launching my own products

I used the money I had generated from eBay as seed money to create products. Having savings gave me the freedom to experiment with samples and overcome setbacks.

My first products were lotions, teas, waist trainers, and sauna belts. Through my experience with the pallets, I knew people wanted these items. I hired a marketing agency and promoted my products using Facebook ads and influencer marketing.

To my surprise, the products did exceptionally well. They were featured by Univision and CBS in their lifestyle segments.

Manufacturers often require large orders when you're making products. The downside is that not every product will succeed. In my experience, it's best to launch with three or four products because only one or two will likely perform well. I always advise against putting all your money into a single product.

The upside is that when you order in bulk, your cost per item goes down, which helps with margins. Plus, owning an original product means less competition and more control over pricing.

I learned invaluable lessons about pricing, demand, and customer behavior. These lessons helped me launch my luxury postpartum wear line Misty Phases based on my own traumatic birth and recovery.

I knew how to manufacture products, run Facebook ads, and sell on Amazon and my website. I started Misty Phases at the end of 2022, and it generated over $5 million in sales in 2024.

Betting on myself was the best decision

Buying Amazon return pallets was one of the best decisions I ever made. They provided seed money, insight into e-commerce, and a crash course in entrepreneurship. Now, I'm a single mom and I own a home in California.

There are risks and challenges in flipping pallets, but it's an incredible way to learn the ropes of selling online, test product ideas, and build capital for bigger dreams. The key is dedication and hard work.

Even now, I know that if everything came crashing down tomorrow, I'd go back to buying pallets in a heartbeat.

Read the original article on Business Insider

People are hawking used iPhones with TikTok pre-installed at astronomical prices on eBay and Facebook Marketplace

An iPhone with the TikTok app installed.
An iPhone with the TikTok app installed.

Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

  • Some people are selling their secondhand iPhones and advertising them as having TikTok pre-installed.
  • TikTok isn't available for download in the US Apple and Google Play stores.
  • Now, iPhones with the apps are listed on eBay and Facebook Marketplace with prices well above retail.

People on eBay and Facebook Marketplace are finding a new way to market their used iPhones β€” by capitalizing on TikTok being removed from US app stores.

Sellers on these marketplaces have listed used iPhones well above their retail prices, and advertised in the listing that the devices have the banned social media app pre-installed.

According to BI's scan of eBay early on Friday morning, hundreds of listings for secondhand iPhones featured keywords like "iPhone," "TikTok installed," and "unlocked. At press time, the search term "iPhone TikTok" yielded more than 45,000 results on the shopping platform.

The same is true of Facebook Marketplace, where a search of the term "iPhone TikTok" yielded hundreds of listings.

Some listings also indicated that the products would come shipped with CapCut, the video editing app by ByteDance, installed. To prove that the apps are installed, several sellers included screen recordings and screenshots of the phones, showing the apps on screen.

While most are newer models like the iPhone 14, 15, 16, and Pro variants, some sellers are also trying to let go of older models like the iPhone 7. One eBay listing put up a used iPhone 7 for sale for $3,000.

And it isn't just the volume of listings that's notable β€” it's the prices, too.

For one, an "iPhone 14 with THE LATEST UPDATE of TikTok & CapCut" on Facebook Marketplace was listed early Friday for $20,000. And an "Apple iPhone 8 Plus - TIKTOK & CAP CUT - Gold (Unlocked)" was listed for $3,363 on Friday.

BI also saw eBay listings priced in the six figures β€” including one for a black Apple iPhone 15 Pro "with Tik-Tok and cap-cut," listed for more than $4.9 million.

For reference, the iPhone 7's pricing started from $649 when it was released in 2016, per Apple's press release that year.

According to Apple's prices at press time, the iPhone 14 to 16 models cost between $599 and $1,599.

And some buyers are already making moves on eBay. At press time, one listing on eBay, an iPhone 15 Pro Max going for $461, had received 61 bids.

Representatives for eBay and Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Online marketplaces are abuzz amid TikTok turmoil

BI's scan of both platforms on Friday morning showed that most of the TikTok-loaded iPhone listings on eBay and Facebook Marketplace were posted this week.

TikTok went dark for its 170 million US users on Sunday, a day before the Supreme Court's deadline for the app to stop its US operations and adhere to its divest-or-ban law.

But hours later, its operations were restored. On Monday, shortly after his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed anΒ executive orderΒ to pause the ban, which gives TikTok another 75 days to devise a game plan.

While users who already had TikTok installed on their devices can continue using it, Apple pulled the app from its app stores in the US on Sunday, preventing new downloads.

A Sunday notice on Apple's website read: "TikTok and ByteDance Ltd. apps are no longer available in the United States, and visitors to the United States might have limited access to features. Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates."

Google Play, too, has removed TikTok from its platform.

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas β€” who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence β€” and Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska wrote in a joint statement on Sunday praising tech companies for complying with the TikTok ban.

"We commend Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft for following the law and halting operations with ByteDance and TikTok, and we encourage other companies to do the same. The law, after all, risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company who violates it," the statement said.

Trump said he would be open to Tesla CEO Elon Musk or Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison buying TikTok to keep it operating in the country and said that the US should own half of the app.

Representatives for TikTok did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider

eBay acquires Caramel to reduce risk and complexity of online car sales

E-commerce giant eBay has announced plans to acquire Caramel, a startup that helps car sellers and buyers complete the final steps of the transaction β€” including verification, financing, paperwork, ownership transfer, insurance, and more. As eBay has grown through the years, it has had to evolve to remain competitive β€” last year, for instance, the […]

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Facebook Marketplace to display eBay listings to appease EU regulators

Meta is set to start displaying eBay listings in its own Facebook Marketplace classifieds platform, in an effort to appease European regulators. Back in November, Meta was hit with a €798 million fine by the European Commission (EC) in Europe for breaching antitrust rules. The EC contended that Meta created β€œunfair trading conditions” by connecting […]

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Luigi Mangione-themed merch is popping up all over the internet — and platforms are slapping down many listings

luigi mangione
Luigi Mangione has emerged as something of a folk hero in certain corners of the internet.

Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

  • Retail sites like Amazon are taking action against Luigi Mangione-inspired merchandise.
  • eBay prohibits items that glorify violence, but it doesn't ban the phrase "Deny. Defend. Depose."
  • Mangione has emerged as a folk hero of sorts in certain corners of the internet.

Retail platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay are slapping down merch listings that glorify Luigi Mangione β€” the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

In the wake of Thompson's murder, some people on social media were unsympathetic, given their grievances with the American healthcare system. And after Mangione was arrested, he emerged as something of a folk hero β€” and heartthrob β€” in certain corners of the internet.

That sentiment soon made its way into the merch space. On Etsy, products were being offered with Mangione's likeness and the phrase "Deny, Defend, Depose," BI sister site Morning Brew reported.

Luigi Mangione shirt for sale on eBay
Luigi Mangione-related shirts have popped up for sale on eBay.

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Those words were etched onto bullet shell casings found at the scene of the killing, police said β€” and are similar to a 2010 book scrutinizing the insurance industry titled "Delay Deny Defend."

Many of the Mangione-themed items offered for sale came from drop shippers, Morning Brew reported β€” or sellers who print products on-demand after they're ordered. Some of the items included cups, sweatshirts, and hats, The Washington Post said.

Morning Brew reported that similar items were for sale on sites like RedBubble and TikTok Shop, while Amazon and Etsy were taking down many listings that referenced Mangione or the shooting.

An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the products in question were removed because they violated Amazon's rules against offensive and controversial items.

"Free Luigi" shirts on eBay
A "Free Luigi" shirt is among the Luigi Mangione-themed items popping up on Etsy.

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An eBay spokesperson told BI that items that "glorify or incite violence" are prohibited from its marketplace. That includes items that celebrate the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, the eBay spokesperson said. The company doesn't prohibit the sale of items with the phrase "Deny, Defend, Depose," the spokesperson said.

It appeared some of the platforms were playing a game of cat and mouse with sellers β€” with various listings still live as of Wednesday.

The eBay spokesperson said the company is "continuing to sweep the marketplace for other prohibited items," including one listing that was still live as of Wednesday β€” which the spokesperson said was being removed because it featured an image of a gun.

A Redbubble spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement that its "strict community guidelines prohibit, among other things, the glorification or promotion of violence, while still allowing legitimate discussion of current events."

Every design includes a reporting function so that potential violations can be flagged by the community, the spokesperson added.

Etsy and TikTok Shop didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI.

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