I have noticed that platforms like Poshmark and Mercari seem to be gaining popularity

[wearmans]

I have noticed that platforms like Poshmark and Mercari are gaining popularity, especially for resale items. Has eBay experienced a decline in buyer activity due to this competition? My sales have been dropping recently, and I'm wondering if this is related to a shift in buyers to these other platforms.

I would appreciate any insights you can provide.

[cordell1]

Buyers shop all avenues looking for the best price.  I think price is what dictates most sales.

[slippinjimmy]

Every year the level of ecommerce increases.

Every year the number of companies trying to grab a piece of the pie increases.

The increase in players in the market outstrips the increase in online shopping, the pie is bigger, the slices are smaller.

[kenneth686321]

Obviously buyers are leaving Ebay and moving to Poshmark and Mercari and sellers there are making a killing, according to the many posts on Ebay forums. 

BUT if you read the Mercari and Poshmark forums which like Ebay are also full of whiney sellers and buyers whining about high buyer fees (Mercari) high seller fees (Poshmark 20% on item price), lack of sales, scammy buyers, incompetent customer service, shipping issues, lowballers, site issues, corporate greed and so on.   

The fact is YOU have to figure out which site will be the best to sell your items and make you the most money.  It may be on Ebay but maybe you can find better success elsewhere. There is no magical amazing selling platform. 

Most of the people who are making a killing on ebay, mercari or poshmark are way too busy running their business and NOT hanging out on these forums boasting about their success.  

[bonanza125]

The short answer is yes Ebay has been declining and buyers have been using other platforms. The activity is around the 2013 level. 

[yuzuha]

I've noticed the exact opposite. I know a lot of people who used to buy/sell on Mercari who have now stopped using it due to the shift in fees from the sellers to the buyers. In fact, one of my friends was just complaining the other day about how she no longer buys on Mercari because she hates getting to checkout and getting slapped with the buyer fees (which, as far as I can tell, are NOT any set percentage of the item's price but rather are variable based on totally obscure algorithms).

[rugerskick]

Other online seller sites are one factor of several, yes.

[rugerskick]

Every year the amount of pie increases.  Its not a zero-sum economy.

[robbie31415]

Mercari is getting super popular.

That's why they recently fired half their US employees

And been making big changes (eliminating seller fees) out of desperation  

Mercari now trying to stabilize US downfall by linking Japan to the US marketplace.

Poshmark I don't know much about.

[chapeau-noir]

Mercari isn't exactly doing a land office business - I sold on there for quite a while, on and off, did OK there.  Poshmark is very popular, but it's social media selling and whereas they have a pretty good variety, they don't sell everything - younger crowd mostly but not all. I regularly sell on there.

ETA: What is happening here is that the platform is not growing, numbers of buyers are dropping, but I suspect the number of sellers may be growing, though eBay won't release stats on that, since the pandemic, so...who knows.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Poshmark is growing.

Mercari is growing outside the US and has made further cuts in their US operations, since their "hail Mary" play to transfer fees from sellers to buyers failed.

Poshmark only competes with Ebay for a small portion of what Ebay has listed. I cannot identify any significant area where Mercari has enough selection to have returning visits from potential buyers. But if they appear to be a place to sell what you have, sell there until they fold.

[dbfolks166mt]

     Without doing a lot of research into Poshmark and Mercari financial reports I can neither confirm or deny their gain in popularity. One thing that confirm is the increased competition in the ecommerce marketplace is having an impact  but that is only one of many factors impacting the ecommerce marketplace. 

     I have no loyalty to eBay and diversified across multiple platforms and venues long ago. 

[fbusoni]

"The grass is always greener on the other side."

I've thought about selling on the two platforms you mention and have decided to confine my selling activity here (and to a lesser degree, FB Marketplace, where sales can be made free of fees).

Mostly because I do not want to share my bank account information, my SSN, and other personal details more widely than is absolutely necessary.

[slyders_finds]

I have found to be the opposite in my experience. More than a few sales came from a Amazon seller drop shipping to their customer. And the funny thing is if the Amazon buyer checked Ebay for my item directly, they could have saved $45! Would have loved to see their reaction when the package came with Ebay tape all over it. 🤣

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Buyers and sellers have more choices than ever before, and even sites like WalMart are allowing resellers to sell on their sites....not to mention all the sites like poshmark or sites narrowly focused on , say, "pre-loved" sneakers, or used luxury goods. I would say ebay has definitely been feeling the effects of all this competition, and of course, that effects us as sellers. 

It has also become easier than ever before for ebay sellers to go "multi channel", which was once primarily the province of large sellers of newer merchandise, but now even very small sellers on ebay use tools like List Perfectly to cross list. 

So, the short answer is: Years ago buyers came to ebay for second hand because there were few other sites that wanted to deal with it. Instead of realizing that "used" was their strength, ebay squandered years trying to compete in the "new" category, and the current CEO , while no longer pushing that, has spent his tenure frittering away the enormous lead ebay had in the used category, while watching the competition grow by leaps and bounds. So, yes, buyers are shopping here, but many are shipping elsewhere as well, and ebay management doesn't seem to know how to grow the buyer base here.