Top Takeaways
Seller Community --
eBay just announced another strong business quarter, with 24% GMV growth and continued expansion of our buyer audience. Once again, our sellers remain the driving force of our platform, and we are grateful for your role in this success. You can read more about the company’s Q1 earnings report here.
In the US, we are growing our core with a continued focus on an improved experience and increased emphasis on top vertical categories.
Sneakers
Since launching our Authentication Guarantee program in Q4, we’ve verified hundreds of thousands of sneakers, and we’re seeing buyer satisfaction above 80 as a result. Sales of sneakers valued above $100 grew at a triple digit rate once again this quarter, and we’re expanding our engagement with Gen Z and Millenials through a wide range of social channels.
Luxury Watches
In luxury watches, growth accelerated from 16% in Q4 to 38% in Q1 in the US. For authenticated items, we’re seeing customer satisfaction levels close to 90 percent, and it’s changing the experience for the entire community: sellers are listing more items and seeing higher price realization, and buyers are visiting eBay more often and spending more.
Trading Cards
Trading cards are a key pillar of our collectibles business, and eBay is a market leader in this category with the widest selection across all price levels. There’s been explosive growth in this category to start the year and we see significant potential ahead. In the US, GMV for trading cards topped $1 billion dollars in Q1 — representing more than half of 2020’s record-setting volume. Active buyers of trading cards doubled, and existing buyers purchased more items at higher prices than last year — and we continue to make improvements to the experience.
Platform of Choice
In addition to improving vertical experiences, we are also rolling out site-wide improvements for all sellers. Priorities include reducing complexity, helping maximize value, and driving sustainable growth. Here’s how we are working to become your platform of choice:
Engaging New Audiences
As we bring new buyers to eBay, we are working hard to ensure they are engaged with the brand right from the beginning. Our focus on new ad formats and social marketing is resulting in increased engagement with Gen Z and Millennial customers. New experiences — such as video listings — is attracting and retaining a younger generation of eBay customers. We improved our search engine’s understanding of longer, more complex queries. We introduced coded coupons to enable custom discount codes that your buyers can apply at checkout. And we added free local pickup functionality. Overall, investments in how we communicate, present and facilitate purchases of your inventory has supported a 7% lift (to 187M) in active buyer growth.
With gratitude
Thank you for everything you do to make eBay extraordinary. As Jamie Iannone — who is celebrating the one-year anniversary of his appointment as eBay’s CEO — said on today’s call:
"We are making great progress on the tech-led reimagination of eBay. We delivered historically strong Q1 results, putting us in a stronger position today than we thought we would be coming into the year. Looking forward, we are excited because our long-term strategy is working."
I continue to be blown away by what we (eBay and our community) are accomplishing. Your commitment never wavers and I know how much effort goes into running your businesses, day in and day out. There’s more hard work ahead, but I want to pause and recognize the progress so far.
And as always, thank you for selling on eBay.
Jordan Sweetnam
SVP + General Manager, Americas Market
If you weren’t able to listen to the conference call, you will be able to find the replay eBay’s Investor site.