eBay Live shopping is quickly becoming one of the company’s most important growth opportunities as the online marketplace looks to compete more aggressively with fast-moving social commerce platforms. After reporting strong second-quarter results for its livestream shopping feature, eBay is preparing to bring eBay Live to more international markets in the coming weeks and months.
During its latest earnings call, eBay said gross merchandise volume for eBay Live increased roughly eightfold year over year across seven markets. The company also reported gains in viewer numbers, watch time, and items sold through live shopping events.
CEO Jamie Iannone told investors that these results strengthen eBay’s confidence in livestream commerce as a way to boost buyer engagement, improve product discovery, and increase sales activity across the wider eBay marketplace.
While eBay did not reveal the exact gross merchandise volume generated by eBay Live, the growth figures suggest the company sees livestream shopping as much more than a small experiment. Instead, eBay appears to be positioning Live as a major part of its future e-commerce strategy.
Seller performance is one of the strongest signs of momentum. According to eBay, more than 90% of sellers who livestream regularly have seen their gross merchandise volume grow. Sellers using eBay Live are also selling about three times more than sellers who are not using the feature.
Buyers are spending more during live events as well. In the collectibles category, first-time shoppers using eBay Live are spending around 70% more than first-time buyers who shop through traditional listings. This is especially important for eBay, which has long been known as a major destination for collectibles, trading cards, rare items, fashion, electronics, and enthusiast-driven categories.
eBay first introduced eBay Live in the United States in 2022 as an invite-only feature. Since then, the company has gradually expanded the service into more regions. A beta version launched in the United Kingdom in 2024, followed by availability in countries including Germany, Australia, France, Italy, and Canada.
The platform recently took another major step by moving beyond its invite-only approach. Eligible sellers can now use self-service onboarding for eBay Live across more than 300 categories. These categories cover a wide range of products, including electronics, fashion, collectibles, and other high-demand marketplace segments.
To support this expansion, eBay has also introduced product improvements designed to make livestream shopping easier for both sellers and buyers. The company has added better discovery tools across its homepage and mobile app, helping shoppers find live events more easily. For sellers, eBay has simplified event creation, inventory preparation, and live item management.
The company has also worked on improving bidding responsiveness, aiming to make live auctions faster, smoother, and more reliable. This is particularly important for categories where real-time bidding and audience excitement can directly influence final sale prices.
The rise of eBay Live comes as live shopping gains more attention in the U.S. market. Once seen as a niche trend, livestream commerce is now becoming a serious part of online retail strategies. Platforms focused on live auctions and social commerce have attracted large audiences, while major shopping apps continue to experiment with new ways to combine entertainment, community, and instant purchasing.
For eBay, live shopping offers a way to modernize the marketplace experience while playing to its existing strengths. The platform already has a deep base of collectors, resellers, deal hunters, and niche product communities. Livestream events give sellers a more personal way to showcase items, answer buyer questions in real time, and create urgency through auctions and limited-time offers.
If eBay can continue improving the experience and expanding access for sellers around the world, eBay Live could become a powerful driver of marketplace growth. The company’s latest results show that buyers are willing to engage with live commerce, and sellers are seeing meaningful sales benefits from using it.
As competition in online shopping becomes more intense, eBay is betting that livestream commerce can help it stay relevant, increase sales, and create a more interactive shopping experience for the next generation of marketplace buyers.
