Company Description
eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) is a global commerce company that operates one of the world's largest online marketplaces. The company describes itself as a global commerce leader that connects people and builds communities to create economic opportunity for all. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, California, eBay uses its technology to empower millions of buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets around the world, enabling them to grow and thrive through online trade.
According to the company, eBay is one of the world's most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. Its platform facilitates the buying and selling of a broad assortment of goods, from fashion and collectibles to vehicle parts, accessories and complete vehicles. In 2024, eBay reports that it enabled $75 billion of gross merchandise volume (GMV), highlighting the scale of transactions flowing through its marketplace.
Business model and marketplace economics
eBay operates an online marketplace where third-party sellers list items and buyers purchase them through fixed-price and auction-style formats. The firm generates sales from listing activity, advertising on its platform, revenue-sharing arrangements with service providers, and managed payments. Polygon data indicates that eBay connects more than 130 million buyers and roughly 20 million sellers across almost 190 global markets, with a significant portion of GMV generated outside the United States.
The company emphasizes that its technology empowers participants on the platform, including tools that support listing, discovery, payments, and post-purchase experiences. eBay also highlights programs that support seller growth, such as the eBay Seller Capital program, which, through financing partners, has distributed more than $1 billion in working capital to eBay sellers since its launch, as disclosed in its third quarter 2025 results. These efforts align with eBay's stated mission to create economic opportunity for all.
Global reach and category focus
eBay reports that it serves more than 190 markets worldwide and that just over half of its GMV is generated in international markets, with a large presence in the UK, Germany, and Australia according to Polygon data. The company positions its marketplace as a destination for both everyday items and highly specialized or rare goods, including enthusiast categories such as trading cards, collectibles, antiques, and luxury fashion.
Fashion and circular commerce are recurring themes in eBay's communications. The company highlights pre-loved and second-hand fashion as a major focus area, describing itself as being at the center of a growing recommerce movement. Its 2025 Recommerce Report, based on surveys of tens of thousands of buyers and sellers, characterizes recommerce as a mainstream, values-driven way to shop, with consumers motivated by savings, sustainability, and the search for unique or collectible pieces.
Recommerce and circular economy positioning
In multiple news releases, eBay underscores its role in the circular economy by enabling the buying and selling of pre-loved goods. The company notes that recommerce has evolved into a global movement driven by purpose, and that many consumers choose pre-loved items for both financial and environmental reasons. eBay cites high engagement among younger generations, with Gen Z and Millennial consumers and sellers viewing recommerce as a way to express personal style, participate in communities, and generate income from items they already own.
eBay also collaborates with designers, creators, and fashion councils to promote circular fashion. Initiatives such as "From the Collection" capsule auctions with figures like Emma Chamberlain and Leandra Medine Cohen, and the "eBay Endless Runway" program during major fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris, showcase pre-loved designer pieces sourced on eBay. These events are presented as examples of how pre-owned fashion can appear on high-profile runways and in curated collections, reinforcing eBay's emphasis on circularity and pre-loved style.
Technology, AI and buyer protection
eBay describes itself as a technology-driven marketplace that uses data and digital tools to enhance the shopping and selling experience. In its quarterly updates, the company references the use of artificial intelligence built on decades of marketplace insights to transform the eBay experience. Examples include an AI shopping agent that provides real-time, personalized product recommendations and guidance based on user preferences, and generative AI tools that help sellers convert listings into short-form video content for sharing on social platforms.
The company also highlights programs aimed at trust and authenticity. Its Authenticity Guarantee program covers categories such as sneakers, watches, handbags, fine jewelry, and, in the UK, luxury apparel, where eBay notes that it has expanded coverage to dozens of top brands. eBay reports that this program has inspected more than one million items in a quarter for the first time, illustrating the scale of authentication activity designed to give buyers confidence in high-value purchases.
Motors, parts and accessories
eBay operates a significant business in vehicle-related categories. The company describes its marketplace as offering thousands of vehicles and hundreds of millions of parts and accessories. To support these transactions, eBay has introduced features such as eBay Guaranteed Fit, which protects buyers against fitment issues for parts and accessories, and free returns for qualifying parts and accessories purchases, allowing buyers to return items at no cost within defined timeframes if they are not suitable.
For complete vehicle transactions, eBay has launched Secure Purchase, a checkout solution that manages payment, financing, registration, ownership transfer, and transport in a single digital experience. The company explains that Secure Purchase verifies both buyers and sellers, automates paperwork, and uses national vehicle title databases to validate key information such as title, VIN, and odometer readings. These offerings are presented as ways to reduce complexity and add assurance for buyers and sellers in the automotive category.
Advertising and monetization
Advertising is a notable component of eBay's monetization strategy. In its 2025 quarterly results, the company reports that its total advertising offerings generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue per quarter, representing a measurable percentage of GMV. eBay distinguishes between first-party advertising products on its platform and other advertising offerings, and notes strong year-over-year growth in first-party advertising revenue.
These advertising products are designed to help sellers increase visibility for their listings within the marketplace. By tying advertising to the underlying transaction activity, eBay aligns its advertising revenue with the performance of its marketplace and the success of sellers' listings.
Community, impact and charity
Community and impact are recurring themes in eBay's disclosures. The company emphasizes that it connects people and builds communities, and that many participants view themselves as part of a recommerce community. Survey data cited in the 2025 Recommerce Report indicates that a majority of consumers feel part of this community and enjoy the "thrill of the hunt" for pre-loved items, as well as the ability to express personal style through second-hand purchases.
eBay also operates eBay for Charity, a program that allows buyers and sellers to support nonprofit organizations through marketplace transactions. The company reports that eBay for Charity has enabled buyers and sellers to raise tens of millions of dollars in a single quarter and more than $1.3 billion globally over time. In addition, eBay highlights grants and philanthropic initiatives through the eBay Foundation, as well as recognition on lists such as TIME's World's Best Companies and World's Most Sustainable Companies and Newsweek's America's Greenest Companies.
Capital markets and corporate governance
eBay's common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol EBAY. The company periodically issues debt securities under an effective shelf registration statement, as reflected in its November 2025 Form 8-K describing the issuance of senior unsecured notes due 2029 and 2035. These notes are senior unsecured obligations that rank equally with other senior and unsubordinated indebtedness of the company, and are governed by an indenture containing covenants related to secured indebtedness, sale and leaseback transactions, and certain mergers, consolidations and asset transfers.
Through its SEC filings, eBay also discloses information about its equity incentive plans and corporate governance matters. For example, a June 2025 Form 8-K reports that stockholders approved an amendment and restatement of the eBay Inc. Equity Incentive Award Plan, increasing the number of shares reserved for issuance and addressing related governance items. The same filing summarizes voting results on director elections, auditor ratification, advisory votes on executive compensation, and stockholder proposals.
Scale and financial profile
eBay regularly reports financial and operating metrics in its quarterly earnings releases and related Form 8-K filings. These disclosures include revenue, GMV, operating margins, net income, cash flow, advertising revenue, and capital returns through share repurchases and dividends. For example, in its second and third quarters of 2025, eBay reported revenue in the multi-billion-dollar range, GMV in the tens of billions of dollars per quarter, and significant amounts returned to stockholders via share repurchases and cash dividends.
While specific figures change over time, these filings illustrate that eBay operates at a large global scale, with a business model that combines marketplace transaction activity, advertising, and payments-related services. The company also provides forward-looking guidance and discusses factors that could affect future performance, such as competition, macroeconomic conditions, foreign currency movements, regulatory developments, and technology innovation.
Position within global ecommerce
Polygon data characterizes eBay as a top 10 global e-commerce company based on GMV. The company emphasizes its long history in online commerce, noting that it celebrated its 30th anniversary as a marketplace and that it continues to evolve by adding new features such as live shopping experiences (eBay Live), AI-powered tools, and expanded authentication services. eBay's communications portray a marketplace that serves both casual consumers and dedicated enthusiasts across categories like fashion, collectibles, motors, and more, with a particular emphasis on pre-loved and second-hand goods as a driver of engagement and growth.
For investors and users researching EBAY stock, these disclosures provide insight into how eBay defines its mission, the scale of its marketplace, the importance of recommerce and circular fashion, and the ways in which technology, advertising, and category-specific programs support its global commerce platform.