How we verify and date every fact
Ecommerce and marketplace terms change constantly. Here's exactly how we try to make sure what you're reading is still true.
Three dates, not one
Every platform-specific page shows three distinct dates: published (when the page first went live), last updated (when the substantive content last changed), and last verified (when an editor last re-checked every factual claim against its current source, even if nothing changed as a result). The last-verified date is the one that matters most for anything about fees, requirements, or policy.
Freshness tiers
| Tier | What it covers | Review cadence |
|---|---|---|
| Evergreen | Conceptual/strategic content unlikely to change with platform updates | Light annual pass |
| Annual | Slow-moving factual content (tax concepts, business formation) | Once per year or on known regulatory change |
| Quarterly | Platform-specific content that changes at a moderate pace | Every quarter minimum |
| Monthly | Fast-moving promotional/seasonal content | Monthly, more often in Q4 |
| Continuous | Fees, eligibility, restrictions, advertising products, UI screenshots, policies | Monitored continuously, not just on a calendar |
Sourcing hierarchy
- Official marketplace documentation (Seller Central, Walmart Marketplace/Marketplace Learn, eBay Seller Center, Etsy's legal/help pages, TikTok Shop Seller Center).
- Official government/regulatory sources.
- Official carrier/payment/technology documentation.
- Credible industry research (Marketplace Pulse, Digital Commerce 360, Modern Retail, Retail Dive).
- Reputable secondary publications — always labeled as secondary, with a note to verify against the primary source.
Seller anecdotes and forum posts are never used as the basis for a stated policy fact.
What "in development" means
This site's full content architecture maps several hundred resources. The highest-priority (P0) resources are fully written today; everything else exists as a real, titled page with a summary and section outline, clearly marked In development, so the complete map is browsable even where the full guide isn't written yet. See the full topic map.
A note on the fee and policy figures on this site
Where a marketplace hub cites a specific fee percentage or dollar figure, we've noted the source and verification date directly on that page. Marketplace fee schedules change — sometimes without much notice — so treat every number on this site as a well-sourced planning estimate, and always confirm against the marketplace's own current fee schedule before pricing a live product.