The recent flood of third-party sellers offering items for sale on Amazon has left some the e-tailer’s older marketplace merchants feeling left behind and unappreciated. So they’re taking their wares and going over to Walmart’s website, where they have fewer competitors and pay smaller commissions. [More]
marketplace
Humana Leaves Exchange, Will Not Sell Individual ACA Health Care Plans For 2018
By 2.15.17
The challenge of purchasing individual health insurance is about to get even more challenging, with less competition and less choice, for consumers in nearly a dozen states. Humana, one of the four national-level insurers operating in the country, has announced that it’s quitting the marketplace exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act next year. [More]
Glitch Caused Facebook’s New “Marketplace” To Show Ads For Drugs, Animals, Adult Services
By 10.4.16
Shortly after launching on Monday, Facebook’s Craigslist competitor, Marketplace, became overrun with ads for drugs, exotic animals, adult services, and other illegal items in violation of the company’s own policies. Today, the social media network blamed a glitch for allowing the posts to become public. [More]
Facebook Creeps Into Craigslist Territory With “Marketplace”
By 10.3.16
You’ve like seen it for years: “friends” using Facebook as their own personal garage sale to persuade you and others to purchase their belongings, apartments, cars, and other items on Facebook. Now, instead of seeing those posts littering your news feed, or in area “buy, sell, or trade” groups, the social media giant has created its own dedicated Craigslist clone, dubbed Marketplace. [More]
Barnes & Noble Shuts Down Third-Party Marketplace For Over A Week, Shrugs
By 7.8.15
Twenty years ago, you would not have been allowed to set up your own little kiosk in the accessories department at Walmart selling the same sunglasses at slightly lower prices. Yet that’s exactly what e-commerce sites let third-party sellers do, and it usually works smoothly for everyone. Unless you’re a seller on Barnes & Noble’s Marketplace site, which shut down with no warning more than a week ago. Sellers are still locked out. [More]
Amazon Launches New Marketplace To Sell Specialized Supplies To Businesses
By 4.28.15
Amazon is gunning for businesses – connecting them with sellers of everything from lab equipment to food service supplies. The online retail giant launched its latest marketplace Tuesday, aiming to provide businesses with the same shopping service the company offers everyday customers. [More]
How Do Credit Rating Agencies, Like Standard And Poors, Work?
By 8.9.11
We’ve been hearing a lot about rating agencies, and Standard and Poors in particular. You might have the general idea that the ratings they give bonds are a lot like your credit score. The lower the bond rating, the lower the credit score, the harder and more expensive it is to borrow money. But how exactly do these places work? And how might their judgment be corrupted? Marketplace’s Paddy Hirsch explains in this video using his trusty whiteboard and dry-erase marker. [More]
Interactive Graph Of Bank Failures Like Watching Nuclear Impact Zones
By 9.28.10
The one joy of WSJ’s otherwise mirthless interactive graph showing bank failures across the country from Jan ’08 to present is that when you slide the time scroller back and forth, it looks like, as Marketplace’s Paddy Hirsch just tweeted, looks like a series of nuclear impact zones. [More]
Xbox Live Marketplace Card Already Used, Even Though It Was Opened Only Moments Ago
By 9.22.10
Tyler says that on four different occasions now, the Xbox Live points and subscription cards he’s bought have been invalid when he redeems them. He had a friend at Gamestop help him out with the invalid subscription card, but he’s stuck with useless paper when it comes to the points cards. [More]
Consumerist On Marketplace: Bank Gives You 24 Hours To Fix Overdrafts
By 9.20.10
I was on Marketplace on public radio this morning, chiming in about Huntington Bank’s new 24-hour grace period they’re giving customers who overdraft. If you deposit the funds you’re lacking within a day, no fee, but if you don’t, you’ll get a $23 charge. This program is automatic, you don’t need to be enrolled in overdraft protection. Sounds nice and innovative, but I’d rather the bank deny the charge and get no fee instead. Here’s the audio: [More]
Everything Is Five Bucks, And Completely Random, On Fiverr
By 3.24.10
Fiverr is a website where people post gigs they’re willing to do for five dollars. Does it work? I dunno, but it’s a lot of fun to read through the offers: someone will burn a small paper effigy of your enemy, or send you a sock puppet, or turn a photo into a cross-stitch pattern for you. My favorite is, “I will give you $10 if you find two people to give me $5 for $5.” [More]
Don't Trade Your Toddler For A Gun
By 1.14.10
Owning guns is fun! Bartering is fun! Trading your two-year-old for a gun, however, is just gonna land you in jail. And if that kid ever finds out what you did, she’s gonna be pretty angry with you when she grows up. And really, lady, a toddler can cause just as much damage if you just give it time.
“Woman allegedly tries to trade 2-year-old daughter for gun”
What Does "Hostile Takeover" Mean?
By 11.20.09
Does the phrase “hostile takeover” give you a mental picture of Vikings swarming into an office building and taking over by brute force? The term is in the news due to proposed takeovers of Cadbury and Barnes & Noble, but that’s not quite what the term means. Marketplace’s Paddy Hirsch and his trusty whiteboard explain.
VIDEO: Derivatives Are Sort Of Like A Pre-Ordered Turkey
By 10.25.09
The business and financial news are full of something called “derivatives.” But, okay, what is that? You’re not the only one who’s wondering. That’s why Paddy Hirsch from the public radio program Marketplace put together a whiteboard, some stick figures, and a bunch of metaphorical turkeys to explain it all to us.
VIDEO: What Happened To All Of Those Toxic Assets?
By 7.14.09
Hey, remember the TARP program? If banks are now paying back TARP funds, then what happened to those toxic assets? Are they sitting in a canyon in Wyoming for the next 10,000 years? Not exactly.
Don't Put These Items On Your Credit Card If You Can Help It
By 7.9.09
A few months ago, we reminded you that your credit card company is building a psychological profile of you. But what about a short, convenient list of things that get credit card companies‘ notice? Marketplace has you covered.
Are Cellphone Exclusivity Deals Bad For Consumers?
By 6.16.09
Yesterday, four U.S. Senators sent a letter to FCC acting chairman Michael Copps requesting an investigation into whether exclusivity deals between handset makers and national carriers are ultimately good for consumers, and they plan to hold a hearing on the issue on Wednesday, June 16th. They join a growing number of people and organizations, including the Rural Cellular Association (RCA), who say exclusivity deals benefit no one but the carriers and manufacturers.
