EcommerceBytes has shut down after 27 years, with a farewell notice on its site saying only that publication has ceased. David and Ina Steiner launched the site as AuctionBytes in 1999 and renamed it in 2011, running it as a two-person business covering marketplace policy changes for online sellers. The closure comes roughly six weeks after the Steiners settled their civil suit against eBay for $55.7M over the 2019 campaign in which eBay employees sent live insects, a bloody pig mask, and a funeral wreath to their home to stop their reporting. The notice gives no reason for closing and instead makes a case for reporter shield laws, noting that sellers who depend on platforms for their income routinely asked to stay anonymous out of fear of retaliation.
