eBay 2Q 2019 results are in: Marketplace Sales down 1% for the second quarter in a row

[orangehound]

eBay's financial reports are here:  https://investors.ebayinc.com/financial-information/financial-summary/default.aspx

For those who want a quick summary, eBay reported that the second quarter sales on the eBay marketplace are down 1% (when you account for foreign exchange rates) when compared to the same period in 2018.  

That was similar to what was reported in the first quarter of this year ... that is, sales down 1%.

So, while other marketplaces are seeing year-over-year increases of 20-50%, eBay treads water.   This means eBay is losing market share.

[yuzuha]

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@kathieskorner wrote:

Most of what I sell has little international appeal, and I have no desire to sell international sports stuff that I know little about.   Nor do I care to ship breakable items overseas,

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You'd be surprised at what has international appeal.  I've sold more than a dozen stuffed animals to overseas buyers who happily paid more in shipping than the stuffed animal itself cost.

[greg5000]

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@uncseniorsportsfan wrote:

The key word is "global" when it comes to increase in buyers.   eBay has been putting a lot of effort in India recently.   Many US sellers aren't interested in going global.   

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Yes, I agree.  Everyone here at the U.S. Boards should be concerned about the U.S. sales numbers.  Global Expansion is good overall, but if the U.S. numbers are on a decline, then Global Expansion could be having a negative impact on U.S. sales.

I haven't had a chance to review the numbers yet, but I will in the next day or two. 

If anyone can shed light on the U.S. sales figures (if separated out) let us know?

[greg5000]

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@uncseniorsportsfan wrote:

In addition, over 940,000 sellers leveraged the company’s first-party advertising to promote over 250 million listings, yielding $89 million in revenue.   

Plus Stub Hub and classified revenues were both up as was revenue from managed payments.   

Marketplace breakdown details don't seem to be available yet.  As a US seller I am very interested in the GMV and sales breakdown by US vs other countries.  

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Yes, I agree the U.S. sale figures are the most important.  I just posted the same thought before I read your post.

[greg5000]

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@mvls1 wrote:

Here are the GMV (gross merchandise values)change by quarter for 2016 to date.

                               2016           2017          2018          2019

Q1                         +06%        +04%       +13%        -04%

Q2                        +07%        +04%       +10%        -04%

Q3                        +05%        +09%       +05%

Q4                        +05%        +10%        +01%

Do these numbers look good to anyone? Do we see a trend here? Want to guess what Q3 shows?

Just another note from the report. It shows 940,000 sellers now using promoted listings with 250 million listings promoted and generating $89 million in revenue. How many promoted listings can Ebay handle before they start to utilize the "your listing may not always be shown (visible)" terms from the user agreement?

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In a booming economy (which we have), with the stock market at a historic levels, and with retail sales up across markets (I just posted about this on another thread), I think the numbers posted are not good at all. 

[dasarock]

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@pburn wrote:
In regard to your #1, I want to clarify that your phrase "user base" was reported as "buyers" in the pdf, not a mix of buyers + sellers:

"In the second quarter, eBay grew active buyers by 4% across its platforms, for a total of 182 million global active buyers."

So, rather than buyers deserting eBay like rats, etc., global active buyer numbers have actually increased by 4% for two quarters in a row: 179 million buyers reported at the end of FY2018, up to 180 million at the end of 1Q-2019, and up to 182 million at the close of 2Q-2019. Global active buyers are reported as up from 175 million since June 30, 2018.

I'm clarifying only about the number of active global buyers, not about any other figures in your post or in the release.

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of course the 'buyer' base is increasing ... because word of ebay's extreme liberal (every return approved) policy is getting around.... more "buyer's" want to take advantage of the new policies ?  

[pburn]

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@dasarock wrote:

of course the 'buyer' base is increasing ... because word of ebay's extreme liberal (every return approved) policy is getting around.... more "buyer's" want to take advantage of the new policies ?  

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Well, again, you have no proof that your statement that the buyer base is increasing because eBay has a liberal return policy is true. I know you really want it to be true because it fits in with how you perceive eBay, but that doesn't mean it is. 

It goes without saying that eBay's return policy is very hard on individual sellers; however, it is not "extreme liberal." Many retailers accept returns for much longer than 30 days--60 days and 90 days are not uncommon--while Target will accept returns of their branded items for a year, and Ikea, Zappo's, Bloomingdale's, L.L. Bean and other retailers offer a year to return most items, while Kohl's return time limit is 16 months. With a few exceptions, Costco has a lifetime return policy, as does Nordstrom. Many retailers don't even require a that customer provide a receipt to prove they purchased an item at that store, and customers certainly don't have to give a reason for returns.

No doubt eBay is a different animal because it's made up of individual sellers trying to run their own businesses at a reasonable profit. Returns are a real hardship for many sellers. There's no arguing that.

That being said, labeling eBay's return policy as "extreme liberal" is disingenuous at best. It is, frankly, pretty conservative when compared to other online retailers. If buyers were going to take advantage of return policies, do you think they'd choose eBay's?

[reallynicestamps]

@mvls1 

It shows 940,000 sellers now using promoted listings with 250 million listings promoted and generating $89 million in revenue.

Since the seller only pays for the Promoted Listing if it sells, that's an interesting group of numbers but not a useful one.

I would be interested to know what the average percentage sellers were willing to pay, how many transactions paid the PL fee and how much the average PL fee paid was.

But I suspect that would be confidential information.

[reallynicestamps]

@gracieallen01 

First, the company has reached a commercial agreement with Paytm Mall to bring eBay’s global inventory onto one of the largest marketplaces in India.

Perhaps I should rethink my Block on Indian buyers. But unless Canada gets a Global Shipping Program (which most Canadian sellers would not want and do not need) I don't trust their postal system

[gracieallen01]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

@mvls1 

It shows 940,000 sellers now using promoted listings with 250 million listings promoted and generating $89 million in revenue.

Since the seller only pays for the Promoted Listing if it sells, that's an interesting group of numbers but not a useful one.

I would be interested to know what the average percentage sellers were willing to pay, how many transactions paid the PL fee and how much the average PL fee paid was.

But I suspect that would be confidential information.

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The interesting part is that the revenue is probably for ebay, not sellers.

[pburn]

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

@mvls1 

It shows 940,000 sellers now using promoted listings with 250 million listings promoted and generating $89 million in revenue.

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The interesting part is that the revenue is probably for ebay, not sellers.

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Yes. The revenue from promoted listings would be for eBay. If the revenue from promoted listings were for sellers (although I'm not quite sure what you mean by that), it would not have been reported as "revenue" on eBay's financial statement. Only revenue for eBay is reported on eBay's financial statement.

[mam98031]

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@pburn wrote:

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

@mvls1 

It shows 940,000 sellers now using promoted listings with 250 million listings promoted and generating $89 million in revenue.

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The interesting part is that the revenue is probably for ebay, not sellers.

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Yes. The revenue from promoted listings would be for eBay. If the revenue from promoted listings were for sellers (although I'm not quite sure what you mean by that), it would not have been reported as "revenue" on eBay's financial statement. Only revenue for eBay is reported on eBay's financial statement.

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The statement reads 250 million LISTINGS.  It is not telling you what the sale value of the 250 million listings are that generated the 89 milling in revenue for Ebay.  So the revenue for sellers from the above information is not stated.

[gracieallen01]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@pburn wrote:

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

@mvls1 

It shows 940,000 sellers now using promoted listings with 250 million listings promoted and generating $89 million in revenue.

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The interesting part is that the revenue is probably for ebay, not sellers.

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Yes. The revenue from promoted listings would be for eBay. If the revenue from promoted listings were for sellers (although I'm not quite sure what you mean by that), it would not have been reported as "revenue" on eBay's financial statement. Only revenue for eBay is reported on eBay's financial statement.

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The statement reads 250 million LISTINGS.  It is not telling you what the sale value of the 250 million listings are that generated the 89 milling in revenue for Ebay.  So the revenue for sellers from the above information is not stated.

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[pburn]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@pburn wrote:

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

@mvls1 

It shows 940,000 sellers now using promoted listings with 250 million listings promoted and generating $89 million in revenue.

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The interesting part is that the revenue is probably for ebay, not sellers.

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Yes. The revenue from promoted listings would be for eBay. If the revenue from promoted listings were for sellers (although I'm not quite sure what you mean by that), it would not have been reported as "revenue" on eBay's financial statement. Only revenue for eBay is reported on eBay's financial statement.

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The statement reads 250 million LISTINGS.  It is not telling you what the sale value of the 250 million listings are that generated the 89 milling in revenue for Ebay.  So the revenue for sellers from the above information is not stated.

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Correct. That's what I said--the $89 million is revenue for eBay. Revenue for sellers is not stated. 

We're agreeing, right?

[hillbillymedia]

I don`t understand anyone championing these numbers or ebays growth....I`m sorry but these numbers are pretty flat and SHOULD be going in the opposite direction. It`s very concerning to me as a seller and buyer here.

A big part of the reason ebay has been able to maintain the numbers they have is because they are taking more from the sellers pockets. This strategy obviously won`t work forever. "The center can not hold" - Yates.

[hillbillymedia]

"Which clearly shows that the change in listing formats did not have the disastrous affect on sales as many expected."

Right but it also showed that it didn`t help correct, or am I missing something?