The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, declared that content creators can use custom web links, allowing their followers to make payment for the subscription services using Facebook’s native payment model. If someone uses your Facebook’s custom link to sign up for the subscription, instead of Apple’s in-app subscription, you get to keep the money. This new feature will enable creators to give their fans access to restricted content and charge them on a recurring basis for the same, without having to pay a hefty commission fee to Apple. 

The feature is available for users based in 27 countries and is for only those who meet Facebook’s eligibility criteria. The battle between Apple and Facebook is due to the high fees charged to the content creators. Facebook wanted to create a payment ecosystem that would allow content creators to get full profit, paying only a small amount of tax, instead of a high commission fee.

Facebook Pay – The Company’s Native Payment System

The feature was launched to help creators keep a major portion of the money paid (in fact, the whole amount, minus taxes) to themselves. It shirks the 30% of the tax on Apple’s in-app store transaction. It is believed that Facebook is in the gray zone after launching the web custom link, however, the social networking platform believes that it has never done anything that goes against the iOS policy. 

The creators had to pay a high fee to Apple’s app store every time they sold a digital item, an event, a subscription service, or any other online service through Facebook. At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, Facebook announced that it would reduce or eliminate the high commission charges for content creators by 2024. Apple did not accept it, but it did join Facebook for a short while. 

In a latest Facebook post, Mark Zuckerberg clarified that Apple’s high commission fee is too much for any creator, as it is charged every month. The social site is supporting “own the relationship with your subscribers” by launching Facebook Pay.

Apple’s app store does not allow any app that would allow people access to any alternative form of payment for buying items from the app store. In the case of Facebook, it is not the app developer (Facebook) that sends people to make payments on Facebook’s native payment platform, but the content creators that will be directing their fans to make payments on the web. Facebook’s representative mentioned that this announcement has nothing to do with the user’s ability to apply for a creator subscription using Apple’s payment system.

Zuckerberg mentioned the importance of launching new features that allowed content creators to get the best reward for their work. Now that they are moving to the metaverse, it is time to unlock golden opportunities for the content creators to get paid for their hard work, and in full. Earlier, creators had to pay 30% of the revenues they earned as a transaction fee on Apple’s native payment system. They could keep only a small portion of the revenues. So, to make the ecosystem more profitable, the social networking platform has launched this innovative feature.

How Does it Benefit Content Creators?

In addition to the reduction of taxes, content creators are now entitled to receive a bonus of $5 to $20 for every new subscriber that signs up for their services (whether through Apple’s payment system or Facebook’s custom web links). The creators can use earning calculator for a breakdown of the revenues and fees they pay to Apple and Google. Another interesting addition is the ability to save and download subscribers’ email addresses directly from Facebook. 

Social media is clearly taking advantage of Apple’s strict payment policies and privacy rules that do not allow people to communicate outside the app. Even though this restriction was lifted recently (in June), it has not made a big impact on users. People still cannot use an alternative payment method for subscription-based services. The high fees of the App Store have always been a controversy for Apple. You must have heard of the long-term battle between Epic Games and Apple? It has been going on for a year now. The company took Epic Games Fortnite off its platform since it launched its own payment system.

Bottom Line

Facebook has shown its creators how they can save tons of money using its Facebook Pay system. The platform has visualized the revenue summary, giving details of the amount they paid to Apple and Google, and how much they can save with this new Facebook Pay system. With this innovative feature, Facebook is expected to gain more popularity among content creators that are often on the lookout for a payment alternative that could save them the high commission fee.

China’s Single Day allows people an opportunity to celebrate their single and happy life with shopping. Celebrated on 11th November, it is a perfect occasion for all the singles looking to buy some exclusive items. The event is back this year with an exciting range of products available for the singles. In 2020, the Chinese eCommerce industry earned $74 billion through the event. Once again, it is expected to generate billions.

According to a report by RADII, Alibaba launched “metaverse” for this year’s Single’s Day event. The report suggests that this feature is rolled out before Single’s Day as this eCommerce giant is trying its best to keep up-to-date with the latest technological advancements. The country is growing rapidly, and Alibaba has participated in this growth by launching Metaverse Art Exhibition, an online platform designed to help people interact on a virtual level. Earlier, Alibaba had shared a couple of pictures of its digital employee named “AYAYI”. People are predicting that it was the company’s step to encourage the new Art Metaverse launch. This digital employee is supposed to take the role of a guide, giving a warm welcome to people participating in the Alibaba Metaverse.

The Alibaba’s Metaverse Art Exhibition

Those visiting Alibaba’s Metaverse Art Exhibition will get a golden opportunity to explore the finest artwork by popular brands, including but not limited to, Alienware and Burberry. Using the last year’s learnings, as well as, the non-fungible trend (NFT) coupled with the live streaming services, the company is all set to break another success record this year. The specialty of the Metaverse app is that it has encrypted assets, which means if someone owns an artwork or something valuable in Metaverse, it is protected with blockchain. 

This is done to ensure protection for the sellers and avoid copyright issues. Although it could prove to be the most positive news for vendors and customers, the concept has attracted skepticism. Facebook has also released a similar kind of feature, called the metaverse. Zhihu, the Chinese question and answer website, has received mixed reviews where some commentators have up-voted this new feature, while the rest of them do not appreciate Metaverse. It is believed that metaverse is expected to create a space where one could buy and sell products in peace while consuming fewer resources. Facebook has been focusing on its Metaverse strategy while rebranding its name to “meta”.

Tmall to be a Part of Metaverse

This art exhibition is going to be launched by Tmall in its official mobile app. As mentioned above, the exhibition will be conducted and run by Ayayi, who will play the human virtual idol. This unique avatar is designed and developed by Ranmai Technology. It might be a digitized bot, but this interesting avatar looks similar to a human. 

Consumers and brands in China have shown great interest in engaging with virtual bots ever since the technology started. Ayayi, despite being new to the industry, has already garnered the attention of more than 114,000 people in no time. Not only consumers but many luxury brands have also shown interest in this digital avatar, with Guerlain being one of those. 

Burberry to Participate in the Single’s Day Exhibition

This exhibition is all about the collection of eight products by many popular brands, one of which is Burberry. Despite being an exhibition of only limited products, the collection is offered at affordable prices so that there is no entry barrier.

Burberry is a pioneer and one of the reputable names in the digital innovation field. So, it goes without saying that it is part of this Single Day’s exhibition. Earlier, the company collaborated with Mythical Games to launch a Sharky B avatar dressed in the company’s monogram print. The surprising part is the brand had put 750 units of the characters for sale. The collection was sold out within 30 seconds. 

For this art exhibition, Burberry is all set to introduce the deer mascot that will be flaunting the Burberry scarf. In the Single’s Day exhibition, the company will launch a thousand pieces of deer NFT. The limited-edition scarf is priced at $454. This exclusive piece of artwork can be used as wallpaper and emoji. Most importantly, the customers will be entitled to get the scarf physically.

Bottom Line

The Metaverse Art Exhibition is all set to bring many limited-edition products for customers. People can’t wait to be part of this China’s biggest exhibition and explore a vast range of products from luxury brands. The virtual bot will welcome each visitor and guide them through the exhibition, which is going to be an exciting experience for all customers.

HomeLight, a real estate technology platform that transforms the home-buying and selling process for top agents and clients, announced that it would expand its flagship financial products, HomeLight Trade-In and HomeLight Cash-Off, to more agents, homebuyers, and sellers in Arizona.

This expansion has followed 700% product growth since January 2020. It is supported by a $363 million Series A funding round in September 2021.

These products were extensively used in a historically competitive year. According to transactions that were closed between December 2019 and now, HomeLight Trade-In(tm), homes sold for 5% more than their valuations, closed 5x faster, helped clients save 3.5%, and allowed them to purchase a home for less than the traditional way of listing on the market. In addition, buyers have been able to save up to 4.4% on offers powered by the HomeLight Cash Deal compared to loans.

Locations of HomeLight’s Headquarters and Offices

HomeLight’s headquarters are located in Scottsdale, AZ, at the SkySong Center, a high-growth area for technology-based businesses within the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center. The company’s headquarters was previously located in San Francisco, CA. This was where it was founded in 2012.

HomeLight’s headquarters in Scottsdale is its largest office. It serves as the operational hub for customer service, sales, and title and escrow. HomeLight intends to hire 300 people in the area over the next six to twelve months.

Governor Doug Ducey stated that HomeLight’s move from San Francisco to Scottsdale was a proud moment. He said, “This has made Scottsdale the largest office of the company. The rapid growth of HomeLight demonstrates Arizona’s top environment for innovation and technology. We are pleased with this expansion and the additional 300 jobs that it represents. We look forward to continuing to support HomeLight’s growth in the future.”

David D. Ortega, Scottsdale Mayor, said that HomeLight deserves congratulations for its continued success. He said, “Scottsdale has established itself as the ideal location for HomeLight to grow and innovate in the real estate market. I’m always thrilled when smart companies take advantage of the great foundation that Scottsdale’s booming tech sector provides.”

Drew Uher, HomeLight’s CEO and Founder, stated, “In a real estate marketplace that is more competitive than ever before, top agents, homebuyers, and sellers are looking to innovative tools and services such as HomeLight Trade-In and Cash Offer to help their transact with speed and certainty.

We couldn’t be happier to grow our roots in Arizona and tap into the skilled workforce of the greater Scottsdale region. Our goal is to partner with the top Arizona agents to provide exceptional service for clients throughout the transaction process.”

The HomeLight Cash offer, made by top agents to their clients, allows them to make an all-cash offer on their next house. HomeLight Home Loans verifies clients’ income and assets in order to determine their purchasing power.

Once the agent and client have found a home, HomeLight makes an offer for all cash and holds the property until financing is secured. Then, HomeLight will sell the client’s home at the buyer’s price plus a small fee once the loan is closed.

The HomeLight Trade-In, which solves an important problem for homeowners and agents, allows them to sell and buy at the same time while still capturing their full market value. HomeLight buys the property for approximately 90% of its expected value.

This frees up equity to be used when it is needed before listing the house. HomeLight then places the property on the market and works with the agent to sell it. The company pays the client a small fee if the home sells at more than HomeLight’s purchase cost.

Martin Sears, a Phoenix-area agent in the HomeLight network and the owner of West USA Realty Estrella Branch, stated that “as more people flock to the Copper State,” and added, “I’m excited to offer HomeLight cash offer and HomeLight trade-in to help my clients compete in today’s market by offering them opportunities to make contingency free offers.” “With HomeLight’s technology, we believe we can put more Arizonans on a path to the American dream of homeownership.

HomeLight’s growth and relocation come after last month’s $363million fundraising spherical. This raised the corporate’s value to $1.6billion, according to PYMNTS. The new spherical was allocated to increase HomeLight’s Money Supply and HomeLight Commerce In. It also allowed HomeLight to hire additional staff and create new workplaces in the U.S. The corporate has raised approximately $530 million.

Drew Uher, HomeLight’s founder, and CEO spoke to Karen Webster of PYMNTS. He stated that he founded the company with the goal of providing “the contingency free actual property transaction of long term.” The Money Supply product allows buyers in need of a mortgage to create a money supply for a property. This makes them more aggressive and increases their chances of securing the purchase.

HomeLight Commerce In frees the customer from the entire itemizing process. This is in accordance with the announcement. HomeLight purchases the dwelling of the customer – usually for 90% of its expected worth – then lists and sells it with the agent.

HomeLight – The Fastest Growing Real Estate Tech Firm

HomeLight is today building the future in real estate. Our vision is for a world in which every real estate transaction can be simple, straightforward, and satisfying.

HomeLight’s platform is trusted by the best real estate agents. It allows them to provide better results for homebuyers and home sellers at every stage of the real estate process.

This includes enabling all-cash offers, unlocking liquidity to purchase a new home, and ensuring certainty through modern closings. As a result, HomeLight’s platform facilitates thousands of agents’ billions in residential real estate transactions each year.

HomeLight was founded in 2012 and had offices in Scottsdale and San Francisco. It also has New York, Tampa, and Tampa offices. HomeLight has received backing from prominent investors such as Zeev Ventures and Menlo Ventures.

Snapchat shares plummeted 25% after Apple declared a few critical privacy changes in Apple’s App Store. The owner of Snapchat mentioned that its shares witnessed a decline since Apple’s new privacy policy has affected Snap’s digital advertising. These changes were introduced on Apple’s App stores causing a significant disturbance in the ad management. Not only Snapchat but many companies have been facing issues in managing their digital ad campaigns after this announcement. The share price of Snapchat dropped to $57 from $75, as a result. The company experienced a loss of $72 million in the third quarter.

Snap reported that they had predicted some form of disruption in their regular operations after Apple’s policy changes, but they were not expecting this. It has become harder for Snap’s ad partners to measure and manage their ad campaigns for iOS users.

Currently, they are focusing on launching some first-party ad tracking tools to help their partners measure the ad performances. The goal is to find a way out of this chaos. Analysts had expected Snap’s revenue to be around $1.36 by the end of this year. Now, they are predicting their revenues to be between $1.17 and $1.21 billion by December 31.

Snapchat is a California-based social networking app that has been gaining a lot of attention from the youth. The company reported steady growth ever since it started. They have been launching a new and exciting range of features that give a personalized experience to their users. For example, they recently launched My Places which offers personalized recommendations to people regarding where to eat, which restaurants are the best, where they should travel, and more. The company mentioned that it earns a major portion of its revenues from selling digital ads on the platform. Apple’s announcement, however, has led to labor shortages and disruptions in the supply chain.

With Snapchat, Facebook’s shares declined by 6% while Twitter’s shares dropped by 7%. The news has not only impacted Snap but all social networking channels and digital ad publishing platforms. This new privacy policy rolled out in June, has restricted digital advertisers and brands from tracking iOS users without their permission. Apple launched a new ad campaign measurement tool, which made it impossible for the brands to track iPhone users and the performance of their ads.

Snap further mentioned that they are expecting this disruption to linger through the last months – the most profitable period for social media since brands increase their marketing efforts for the holiday. Snap has suppliers that publish ads in the fashion, beauty, and consumer-good niches. The revenue of Snapchat in the third quarter was $1.07 billion, less than the estimated $1.1 billion. Snap reported a growth in its daily active user metrics by 23%, higher than the estimates. The daily active users are expected to grow to 318 million in the fourth quarter. 

The CEO Evan Speigel said that the company would focus more on its augmented reality services to improve users’ shopping experiences. They are expected to launch advanced augmented reality tools that allow buyers to try on clothing, beauty products, and other fashion items before they make a purchase. Spiegel believes that augmented reality is “one of the most exciting long-term opportunities” as millions of people are already trying it.

Once again Amazon topped the top three list of eCommerce businesses, but this time, the company is not going to brag about it. Amazon was on the list of the top three impersonated businesses between July 2020 and July 2021, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The reports suggest that every 1 in 3 users filed a complaint against the scammers pretending to be Amazon. 

In this one year, the number of reports against giant retailers increased fivefold. Approx 6000 people said that they lost money to scammers with an average loss of $1000, while 96,000 people filed a report against Amazon impersonators. Apple ranks second on this list. Victims have reported that the scammer presents a scheme where they guarantee iPads and other gifts to the user. The users end up giving these scammers access to their iCloud accounts in the hope of winning an iPad.

Common Tricks Used by Amazon Scammers

Impersonators use different methods to trick the victim into sending their details or giving these scammers access to their devices. For instance, they might send an email suggesting an unauthorized transaction from the victim’s account. They scare the user and ask them to send their bank account or credit card details so that they check and fix the issue. 

Scammers pretend to refund more than the required money and ask the user to send the remaining funds back. They pretend to be the executives from Amazon asking the customer to return the extra refund amount or their Amazon account will be terminated. That’s how they charge them extra. Some hackers use this trick to track customers’ credit card and bank details.

Another popular trick is asking the user to share the number on the back of their gift cards. They tell the user that it’s the blocking code, which will be used to block hackers. They collect these numbers and redeem the amount. The scammer might also say that you’ve won prize money or a gift item from an Amazon giveaway. To claim that, you need to enter your credit card details. Such giveaways never occur and even if they do, nobody asks you to share your financial details to claim the prize. Victims have said that it was the scammer who initiated the fraud and stole from them. While it may be true for most cases, some people get into this trap due to their carelessness. They find fake Amazon customer service numbers online for assistance and end up revealing their personal and confidential data to scammers.

Who is at Higher Risk of Fraud?

The Federal Trade Commission showed that older people were more likely to fall prey to Amazon scammers and they were also at a higher risk of losing twice as much money as young people. The FTC mentioned that people lost up to $27 million to Amazon frauds in a year. The news may come as a surprise to online buyers, but a report by GoBankingRates suggests that purchase frauds are the second most common type of fraud after employment scams. 

As mentioned above, there are many ways a scammer can trap the user. However, the most common method is sending fake alerts for an unauthorized transaction from your account and pretending to be an Amazon customer representative who can fix the issue. Here are a few ways you can avoid such scams and ensure safe online shopping.

Tips for Avoiding Amazon Scams

Avoid clicking on any URLs that appear fake or that you don’t recognize. Likewise, do not call any unknown number or send a text to any random person claiming to be Amazon’s representative. These messages are sent to your email addresses mostly. You should never search for Amazon customer care numbers online. There are plenty of fake numbers that redirect your call to a scammer who tricks you into revealing your personal details.

If you get any offer from Amazon, do not take any action instantly. Take some time to research the offer or get in touch with Amazon’s representative to double-check the offer’s authenticity. This is the most common way to scam a user. Never trust the phone numbers and other contact details you see in the email. Most importantly, do not give strangers access to your iCloud accounts and mobiles no matter how authentic they look. Amazon never asks you to give them access to your mobile and personal details. 

According to the ACI reports, fraud in the online purchase industry increased by 6% in the first quarter of 2021. While Amazon is one of the safest retail stores, people need to be more careful when using this eCommerce shopping site (especially if you receive messages from unknown numbers and emails that pretend to be an authorized Amazon executive). These are mostly scammers trying to steal from you.