In the third quarter of 2021, eBay Inc.’s total gross merchandise volume (GMV), which includes sales on its overseas marketplaces, decreased 10% to $19.45 billion. As the contagion fades, buyers are returning to in-store purchases, according to the marketplace. “The macro benefits of mobility to our business were significantly diminished in Q3 as restrictions faded across the globe, where we continue to see modestly positive underlying growth in our business,” said Steve Priest, senior vice president and chief financial officer of eBay, in an earnings call on Oct. 27. On an FX-neutral basis, GMV increased by 9% in the third quarter of 2019.
Revenue in the third quarter of 2021, which ended on September 30, was $2.50 billion, up 11% from the previous quarter. The fees paid by eBay’s sellers on the marketplace, which range from 12 percent to 13 percent, are reflected in eBay’s revenue figures. In the 2021 Digital Commerce 360 Top 100 Online Marketplaces study, eBay is placed No. 5. The number of active users on the online marketplace fell 5.5 percent to 154 million from 163 million a year ago, considerably below Wall Street analysts’ expectations of 166 million. The number of active users on the platform has decreased for the third quarter in a row. The company previously stated that it wanted to reduce the number of low-value purchasers on the marketplace. In the third quarter, the average spend per buyer fell to $126 from $142 in the previous quarter.
Managed Payments are gaining popularity:
- eBay also said that its managed payments project, which aims to reduce friction for sellers while simultaneously giving the corporation more control over payments on the marketplace, completed more than 90% of its global sales in Q3. Sellers who use managed payments use a consolidated platform that allows them to cash out their payment balances in one spot. Buyers will also have more payment options, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and PayPal Credit, thanks to the initiative.
- By the conclusion of the quarter, more than 18 million vendors had switched to managed payments all across the world. As part of the programme, the marketplace said it has accelerated reimbursements to trustworthy sellers in the United Kingdom, who will now be paid the next business day once the buyer’s payment has been confirmed.
- eBay claims that the move to managed payments will be completed this year. “Our team delivered another strong quarter, meeting or exceeding our expectations for all key business metrics, making further progress on our multi-year strategy,” eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said in a written statement. “Our Q3 results, driven by the near completion of our managed payments migration, expansion of our advertising portfolio, and volume growth in our focus categories, demonstrate that our strategic playbook continues to work.”
- Sales of $2.57 billion to $2.62 billion are expected in the fourth quarter, which includes the holiday season. According to Bloomberg, this is less than the $2.65 billion projected by analysts. The market’s gloomy outlook suggests that the corporation, which benefited from a boom in internet shopping during the COVID-19 outbreak, is afraid that customers are returning to in-store shopping.
- “Management’s Q4 projection implies lower-than-normal holiday season sequential growth (low single-digit) despite eBay presumably being somewhat shielded from larger supply chain difficulties,” Colin Sebastian, senior research analyst at Baird Equity Research, said in a written statement.
Annual active sellers were steady in Q3 at 19 million global active sellers, according to eBay’s third quarter report, which concluded 30th September:
- Non-GAAP net income from continuing operations increased 1.19 percent to $591 million from $584 million a year ago.
- Promoted Listings, the marketplace’s paid ad programmes for top performers, generated more than $207 million in income in Q3, up 12 percent from $184 million in Q3 2020.
- In Q3, eBay also introduced Promoted Listings Advanced, a cost-per-click approach that allows sellers to choose their own daily budget. During the third quarter, the online marketplace expanded its Authenticity Guarantee and debuted sneaker authentication in Germany. In addition, eBay has added 30 new sneaker brands to its collection.
- Price Guide and Collection for trading cards were released by eBay, new services that allow collectors to browse, manage, and track the worth of their trading card portfolios in one spot. To far, eBay customers have contributed approximately 4 million cards to their collections, both on and off the site.
eBay reported the following in the first nine months:
- Net revenue of $7.80 billion, increasing 21.6 percent year over year from $6.41 billion.
- $11.64 billion in net income, up 58.9% from $4.82 billion in the first nine months of 2020.
Due to rounding, percentage changes may not match dollar values exactly.
