EBAY INC (EBAY)

eBay Inc. is a global commerce company founded in 1995 in San Jose, California. It operates online marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets. Its Marketplace platforms include ebay.com and its localized counterparts, off-platform marketplaces and a suite of mobile apps. In 2025 the platforms enabled nearly $80 billion of Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), and 51 percent of that was generated outside the United States. eBay earns revenue primarily through fees on paid transactions, first-party advertising and shipping. Its business model is built on seller success, and its revenue is primarily derived from a take rate on GMV.

The company reports net revenues from two activities. Marketplace activities consist mainly of commissions for connecting buyers and sellers. Advertising activities consist mainly of fees sellers pay to promote their listings. Its strategy rests on three pillars: Relevant Experiences, Scalable Solutions and Magical Innovations. These focus on personalized shopping, seller tools and AI-driven innovation, with emphasis on Focus Categories such as motor vehicle parts and accessories, collectibles, refurbished items, apparel, luxury goods and sneakers. Offerings include AI-assisted listing tools, Seller Capital financing, advertising dashboards, integrated shipping programs, AI-powered discovery and an AI shopping agent pilot, eBay Live shopping, and a partnership with PSA for trading card grading. Trust programs include the Money Back Guarantee, Authenticity Guarantee, the eBay Refurbished destination and Secure Purchase for digital vehicle transactions. eBay also runs impact programs such as eBay for Charity and the eBay Foundation.

Customers are individual and business sellers of all sizes and buyers worldwide. At the end of 2025 eBay had 135 million active buyers and 2.5 billion live listings. It describes its core audience as enthusiasts. Volume tends to follow general consumer buying patterns and is influenced by macroeconomic conditions, tariffs, trade policy and foreign exchange rates. The company is affected by regulation of ecommerce in many countries. This includes U.S. tax reporting rules and the end of the U.S. de minimis import exemption in 2025, the planned end of the EU exemption in 2026, the EU Digital Services Act, and the UK Online Safety Act and Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.

eBay's platforms use a mix of proprietary technology and services from others. These include proprietary computing infrastructure, a private cloud environment and partnerships with technology providers. The company protects its intellectual property, including the eBay trademarks, through registrations, patents and contractual agreements. It competes with retailers, distributors, liquidators, auctioneers, catalog and mail-order companies, search engines, shopping channels and other online, mobile and offline commerce channels. Competition is based on price, product selection, services, technology and geographic reach. As of December 31, 2025, eBay employed about 12,300 people globally, around 7,200 of them in the United States.