eBay takes a different approach to compete with Amazon

Amazon , Walmart, and Target have all launched subscription services, such as Amazon Prime and Walmart+ . However, eBay has not made any moves in this regard, and people may think that eBay has faded out of the e-commerce stage.

But this is not the case. On the contrary, eBay is taking advantage of the huge impetus brought by the epidemic to reposition the platform . It is taking a different path from Amazon and Walmart and is committed to becoming a platform with clear positioning and selectivity.

eBay wants to be a marketplace for sneakers, luxury watches, handbags, accessories, collectibles and auto parts - in short, a place where consumers can find something special enough to buy.

eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said that eBay is expanding its business in the UK and Germany , and the next development focus is motor parts and accessories, which is a very large category for eBay .

Focus on high-value customers and strive to develop the second-hand market

The products sold on the platform are not owned by eBay. eBay only serves as a platform connecting sellers and buyers and makes profits by charging varying amounts of commission for each transaction .

Therefore, eBay needs both sellers and buyers. If there are no buyers, sellers will stop listing products on the platform ; conversely, if there are not enough interesting products , buyers will turn to other platforms .

Iannone launched a new policy in 2020 to reduce discounts and promotions to attract more buyers. As a result , its total merchandise volume in the fourth quarter fell 10.4% from the same period last year to US$20.7 billion, and the number of active buyers worldwide fell 9% to 147 million.

However, eBay was not affected by this strategy . Its revenue increased by 5% in the fourth quarter to $ 2.6 billion.

eBay now accounts for less than 5% of the US e-commerce market share , but ten years ago it accounted for more than 10% of the US e-commerce market share . Although eBay's market share has decreased , it does not affect its continued existence and profitability .

In this regard, Iannone explained that eBay is not focused on selling consumables such as paper towels and kitchen cleaning utensils . What eBay really does is second-hand products and other businesses.

eBay launched its product authenticity certification service in the fall of 2020 for products such as sneakers, handbags and watches in the hope of removing counterfeit products from the platform . Recently , eBay also expanded the service to trading cards with a value of more than $750.

Similar to the domestic Dewu mechanism , products sold on the eBay platform will first be sent to experts for identification . When the product meets all the authenticity standards, it will be sent to the buyer. And it will be accompanied by an authenticity card, providing detailed information about the relevant product. In this context , platform consumers can now shop with peace of mind.

eBay is committed to developing its second-hand market, which is profitable. These products meet the sustainable development concept advocated by Generation Z and Millennials while pursuing fashion . Moreover, the second-hand market involves many mass and luxury brand goods , and its valuation is as high as 30 billion to 40 billion US dollars.

It seems that eBay is indeed taking a different path from Amazon and Wal-Mart. As for how eBay develops on this " path ", we will have to wait and see.

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