Indonesia is changing its tax requirements for marketplaces and sellers.

The Indonesian authorities intend to oblige marketplaces to withhold taxes from sellers' income and immediately transfer them to the government.
The rate is 0.5% of the turnover, and it will affect small and medium-sized sellers with revenue ranging from ~\$30,000 to ~\$300,000 per year.

The following platforms are subject to the new regulations:

📍TikTok Shop
📍Tokopedia
📍Shopee
📍Lazada
📍Blibli
📍Bukalapak

Platforms are already expressing discontent — the innovation will increase the load and risks. But the authorities insist: online trade is growing, and the budget is sinking. The idea is not new: they tried to implement it back in 2018, but then it didn't work out.

If the trend continues, other countries may follow the same path — especially emerging markets.

Shopee is changing its return policy starting.

Amazon cleans out 24 billion product listings.

Amazon has been working behind the scenes on a project called “Bend the Curve” since last year. As part of this initiative, the company plans to get rid of more than 24 billion product listings. The listings will include duplicate products, out-of-stock items, and listings that haven’t been updated in more than two years.

The marketplace logically decided that storing data on unnecessary products was a useless burden on its servers. When the company was headed by a new CEO, Andy Jesse, the management took on a cost-cutting strategy.

The wedding party of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez has been moved to an isolated part of Venice over security concerns and protests from locals, Reuters reported.

⚙️ Marketplace Updates: New Features, Algorithms & Rules — May–June 2025

📦 E-commerce is evolving fast. Marketplaces roll out updates almost weekly — and if you’re not keeping up, you risk losing traffic, margin, or even your listings. Here's a quick summary of what's changed recently across major platforms:

🛒 Amazon
— AI-generated content tools are now built directly into Seller Central. You can automatically generate product titles and descriptions based on keywords.
— FBA fees have been reduced for lightweight items under 1 lb — good news for accessories and small goods.
— Stricter enforcement on reviews: accounts are getting flagged for “incentivizing” feedback.

📱 TikTok Shop
— Introducing Live Product Bundles — sell timed bundle offers directly during livestreams.
— Expanding logistics with Fulfilled by TikTok now active in the UK, US, and Southeast Asia.
— Algorithm now favors content with unboxing + reaction moments — these drive higher conversion rates.

🧺 Temu
— Launching a program for branded products from small manufacturers — focus on “low price with style.”
— New sorting algorithm prioritizes time spent on listing pages, not just click-through rates.

🧾 eBay
— Testing “**Verified Brand Pages**” — storefronts with added trust signals and social proof.
— New trend-tracking API lets you monitor top-searched items in your category in real time.

🌏 Shopee
— Simplified international seller onboarding — no local legal entity required via partner integrations.
— Internal traffic ranking now splits into 3 key factors: product relevance, store rating, and shipping time — often more influential than price.

🎯 Takeaway:
Every update is either an opportunity or a risk. Sellers who adapt early always win the algorithm game.

Jeff Bezos sells $5.4 billion in Amazon stocks to diversify.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the world's third-richest person, sold 25 million shares of the company for $5.4 billion on Friday, June 27, according to a regulatory filing. It's part of the billionaire's strategy to diversify his holdings.

The filing coincided with Bezos' wedding to Lauren Sanchez, which is valued at $50 million. The sale came at the peak of Amazon's stock price, which topped $223 a share, approaching an all-time high.

Amazon founder sells 25 million shares as company shares surge, with some proceeds going to Blue Origin and philanthropy.

Jeff Bezos began to actively "be friends" with Trump amid their rift with Musk.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos has begun actively building relationships with Donald Trump, according to The Wall Street Journal. In June 2025, they spoke on the phone at least twice.

According to the WSJ, Bezos is interested in strengthening his company's position as a NASA contractor, with Elon Musk's SpaceX currently taking over most of the government contracts.

Amid the cooling of relations between Musk and Trump, Bezos decided to take advantage of the moment: he not only discussed the prospect of a lunar mission with the president, but also invited him to his wedding in Venice.

How Russian animation earns money abroad.

The Russian animation studio Platochka, known for the animated series Tsvetnyashki, has reached an agreement with the American marketplace Amazon to sell soft toys based on the main characters of its flagship project through this platform.

In 2024, the company has placed its content on Amazon Prime Video, a streaming service owned by the marketplace, and its English-language YouTube channels have generated revenue of over \$100,000.

Ebay, Aliexpress and other foreign marketplaces may be blocked in Russia.

Foreign marketplaces will also have to comply with the law on the platform economy. If Ebay, Aliexpress and others do not follow it, they may be blocked. Such a mechanism is provided for in the final version of the bill.

In order to avoid being banned, foreign sites will have to open a branch, place a contact form for Russian users, and comply with other points of the law, including identification of sellers and pre-trial dispute resolution.

Mira Murati's AI startup pays engineers up to $500k a year.

According to Business Insider, the Thinking Machines Lab startup, founded by OpenAI's former CTO Mira Murati, pays some specialists $450-500k a year. And these are only base salaries — without bonuses, commissions, and shares.

For comparison: at OpenAI, engineers are paid an average of $292k a year, a maximum of $530k. In Anthropic, the average threshold is slightly higher at $387,500.

Amazon has deployed a millionth robot in its operations.

A new generative AI model will increase the efficiency of the robot fleet by 10%.

Technological advancements are helping to reduce delivery times and costs for customers.

More than 700,000 employees have been trained in learning programs that are preparing them for the future.

The UAE authorities have refuted claims that TON investors can allegedly obtain a golden visa, according to the local news agency WAM.

Earlier, information about the possibility of obtaining a "golden visa" to the United Arab Emirates for a period of ten years by holders of the Toncoin cryptocurrency appeared on the TON website. On this news, the token's exchange rate increased by 12% in a moment.

According to the platform, applicants can apply for a visa by investing $100,000 in TON for a period of three years and paying a $35,000 fee.

Cryptocurrency holders are promised a return on their investment, regardless of the market conditions for Toncoin.

The application process will take approximately seven weeks.

Shein fined €40m in France for fake discounts.

The Chinese online retailer was caught running excessive promotions, which consisted of briefly increasing the price of goods, “creating a false impression of a good deal.”

They even calculated that in 57% of cases no one intended to reduce the price, in 19% of cases the discount was lower than stated, and in 11% of cases the cost actually increased.

TikTok is developing a new app.

This is being done due to the potential blocking of the service in the US, reports The Information with reference to sources. The working name of the application, which will be an analogue of TikTok in the US market, is “M2”. It is expected to be released on September 5.

According to the law passed by Donald Trump, TikTok must either be blocked in the United States or transferred to local investors by September 17.

Donald Trump has introduced new tariff rates for Asian countries.

The US President announced an increase in duties to 25% on all categories of goods. This decision is intended to correct a “significant imbalance” in trade, although market participants call it a threat to global supply chains and relations with allies.

In addition, the new rules also provide for additional sanctions for transit shipments intended to evade duties, and automatic increases in tariffs in the event of retaliatory measures by affected countries.

Bezos sold shares on July 3 and 7 at a price of almost $224 per Amazon share.

Jeff Bezos sold Amazon shares for almost $666 million in two days in July. Including sales in June, he earned more than $1.4 billion for them.

Bezos adopted a trading plan to sell up to 25 million shares by the summer of 2026 in May, when Amazon's stock price was at $190, and it has since increased by more than 15%.

🔥 Shein Files for IPO: What It Means for Sellers

On July 9, Shein *confidentially* filed for an IPO in Hong Kong — and this isn’t just about going public. It’s a strategic move: the company is pressuring UK regulators to ease restrictions and clear the way for a London listing.

📈 Why should sellers care?

✅ Investor trust = brand growth
Going public signals that Shein is becoming even more *legit, transparent, and global*. That means more funding for logistics, marketing, and seller support programs.

✅ Market expansion is coming
An IPO isn’t just about capital — it’s about acceleration. Shein is already testing local marketplaces and FBS models. Going public in Hong Kong or London will supercharge its global expansion and open up new partnership opportunities.

✅ Stricter supply chain standards
Regulators are closely watching where products come from, how they’re made, and who’s making them. Expect Shein to raise the bar. Sellers with clean, transparent operations will win.

💬 The key:
The Hong Kong IPO is Shein’s Plan B. But even that unlocks massive potential. If they manage to push the UK regulator to agree, Shein could become the *first Chinese company listed in London since 2021*.

📌 What this means for sellers:
Stay alert — these moves directly impact how you can work with Shein. An IPO isn’t just financial news, it’s a sign of new opportunities: more countries, more traffic, and new sales formats.

Google: 50% of the code in the company is created with the help of AI.

According to the company's internal data, currently 50% of all code created in the company is written with the involvement of AI. Programmers accept 37% of suggestions from artificial intelligence, and also use it for 8% of fixes after code review and in 2% of cases for adapting copied code.In many cases, employees simply formulate the task in natural language, and the model itself generates the necessary code. This allows developers to focus on the architecture and design of the code rather than on routine tasks.

In the future, Google plans to use AI for analyzing outdated code, finding bugs, and automatically updating software without human involvement.

A Chinese woman spent more than 2 million yuan on purchases on marketplaces.

The woman does not even open the boxes with the orders, but simply continues to buy everything in a row. 66-year-old Wang from the Jiading district has been ordering goods online for years, so her house and garage basement are littered with unopened parcels.

According to her, there are so many things that it is no longer possible to sleep in her own home, so she had to rent a separate apartment to store the parcels, writes the South China Morning Post.

Today marks 30 years since the launch of the Amazon website. On July 16, 1995, the history of the global e-com and the founder of marketplaces began. Jeff Bezos opened the company's first office right in his garage. The computer desk was made from a door and boards, and the logo was spray-painted right on the wall.

In Hanoi, a woman was arrested for selling bags, watches, jewelry, and diamonds through Facebook and Zalo without registering or paying taxes since 2020.

According to the investigation, the evasion amounted to over \$33 million.

The Vietnamese authorities have tightened their control over e-commerce. In 2024, a new law on content labeling and transparency came into effect. Since July 2025, all marketplaces have automatically deducted VAT and income tax. And now, there has been the first high-profile arrest for gray trade on social media.

OpenAI AI Takes Second Place at International Programming Championship.

At the AtCoder World Tour Finals 2025, OpenAI's OpenAIAHC took second place, losing only to Polish programmer Michal Saniewski.

No AI has ever achieved such success before. Saniewski himself called it "a victory for humanity." The AI held the lead for most of the tournament thanks to its high speed of generating solutions.