Daniel Schmidt 
Fraudsters posing as Amazon took £86,837 from UK victims between 5 and 14 October, Report Fraud says, with people aged 50 to 79 making up 60 per cent of reports. Here is how the fake account calls work and how to get money back.
Austrian marketplace refurbed is launching in the UK in November with 12-month warranties and 30-day free returns on refurbished phones, laptops and tablets. Here is how it compares with Back Market and musicMagpie, and what UK buyers are entitled to.
Online marketplaces including Amazon, eBay and Temu are expected to be told to collect VAT for business sellers with platform sales above £90,000 in the 28 October Budget. The Treasury could raise up to £1bn, reportedly earmarked for business rates cuts on the high street.
CBP published a final rule on October 22, 2026 moving formal-entry compliance for covered international mail shipments to January 20, 2027. A companion notice lets filers use Entry Type 13 without complete partner agency data while a broader low-value shipments rule moves through comment.
A final CPSC safety rule for lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes, e-scooters and hoverboards is unlikely to reach the Federal Register before June 30, 2027. The hearing record, the cost-benefit math and a thin commission point to mandatory compliance in 2028 at the earliest.
Amazon will hire more than 300,000 US workers for the 2026 holiday season, up about 20% and its first increase in three years, with seasonal pay averaging $20 an hour. From January 2027 seasonal staff working 30 hours a week get day-one healthcare, as UPS, Dick’s and most of retail hire fewer.
USTR confirmed on October 7 that the 2018 Section 301 actions against China did not terminate on their four-year anniversaries and will remain in force. The decision lands 33 days before 178 product exclusions are scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 9, 2026.
India’s 150 percent wine import tariff starts falling on October 20, 2026, when the New Zealand-India trade agreement enters into force, but only above a US$5 per bottle threshold. Three months of flat Scotch prices since the UK deal show state excise, not customs duty, decides what Indian shoppers pay.
Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days runs 48 hours from October 6, with Walmart Deals spanning October 5 to 11 and Target Circle Deal Days matching Amazon’s two days exactly. Adobe forecasts about $9.9bn of US online spending in the window, which opens on the same day as CBP’s CAPE Phase 3 tariff-refund channel.
USDA’s updated SNAP staple food stocking standards take effect for retailers on November 4, 2026, raising the bar to 28 distinct varieties and 84 stocking units per store. More than 250 retailers and 12 Republican senators have asked Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to defer enforcement.