eBay hits the skids in Q4 and 2022

eBay Inc. said its gross merchandise volume, which is the value of all goods sold on the site, fell 12% to $18.2 billion in the most recent quarter, the seventh consecutive period in which the number dropped.

The number of active buyers on the marketplace also fell – dropping 9% to 134 million during the period ending Dec. 31, 2022. That too is the seventh consecutive quarterly drop.

“EBay is back to where it was before the pandemic, losing customers and declining sales,” Brian Yarbrough, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co., told Bloomberg News. “Unless you’re looking for an odd item, eBay is forgotten by most consumers. You just don’t hear a lot about it the way you do the Walmarts, Targets and Amazons of the world.”

Chief Executive Officer Jamie Iannone is trying to reduce expenses to align with declining sales. Earlier this month, EBay announced it would cut about 500 employees, or 4% of its workforce.

The company is aiming to sell more luxury items like watches to boost revenue while also offering refurbished items to appeal to price-conscious shoppers. In an effort to lure collectors, EBay provides a service to trade and authenticate trading cards and other items and has been building climate-controlled vaults to store them.