eBay Consolidates Ads, Stores, Shipping, Payments & Financing Services In Monetization-Focused Reorg
eBay is consolidating teams for Ads, Stores, Shipping, Payments and Business Seller Growth under one broader Services umbrella in internal reorganization aimed at monetization of the platform.
The writing was on the wall with new CFO Peggy Alford's statement in the Q2 2025 earnings call saying, "we forecast revenue growth modestly higher than GMV for the full year on an FX-neutral basis driven by advertising, shipping, and financial services" and the recent executive shuffle which saw Jordan Sweetnam promoted to Chief Commercial Officer.
Liz Morton
Now VP Global Payments & Financial Services Avritti Khandurie Mittal has made it official, announcing her new role as Global Head of Product for eBay Services, leading all revenue-driving product lines, including Payments & Financial Services, Advertising, Shipping, B2C & Stores, and Monetization.
Notably, VP GM Global Advertising Alex Kazim also recently updated his title on LinkedIn to VP GM eBay Services, reflecting the changing nature of his role to encompass the broader scope of both current and future revenue generation efforts based on monetizing services offered to sellers rather than increasing sales on the platform.
Kazim has been responsible for the explosive growth of Promoted Listings over the last 5 years, including eBay's most recent money grab attribution scheme which rolled out to Germany in February and UK, Australia, France, Italy, and Spain in late June that allows them to charge ad fees on sales where the eventual buyer may not have even actually seen the ad!
Liz Morton
While eBay has been tight lipped about whether the new attribution model will be expanding to the US market as well, recent updates to policy pages, suggest it's likely coming soon.
eBay has also recently made a change to how they report Ad Revenue in quarterly financials, adding a new metric for "Off-Platform Ads" which is advertising revenue from eBay’s off-platform businesses like TCGPlayer and Qoo10 in Japan - hinting that increased ad monetization is in the works for those marketplaces too.
Liz Morton
And Kazim has found even more ways to squeeze additional revenue from on-eBay advertising by moving Promoted Listings Priority cost per click ads to monthly budget pacing and using sneaky link shorteners and redirects to profit from social sharing at sellers' expense.
Liz Morton
Meanwhile, eBay just killed off the eBay Partner Network Affiliate Program US Seller Incentive, removing feature that previously allowed approved sellers to use EPN to effectively promote and sell their items "fee-free."
Liz Morton
That could suggest eBay may be preparing to roll out fee-free sales for consumer to consumer sellers in some categories in the US, perhaps fashion, like they did in the UK last year before expanding it to most categories in that market in October.
Liz Morton
If they do go that route in the US, they could also potentially look to expand on the Buyer Protection Fee they introduced on private sales in the UK earlier this year as well.
CEO Jamie Iannone told investors on the Q2 call that they are still seeing GMV growth in the UK despite the addition of that fee, but it's hard to imagine why eBay would have recently chosen to reduce the Buyer Protection Fee in a way that specifically favors lower value (under £20) items if they had not seen a negative impact on sales at least in some price ranges as a result of the initial introduction of the fee.
eBay had also counted on re-monetizing those private sales which no longer have Final Value Fees attached by delaying payouts to sellers until after delivery confirmation, allowing eBay to earn interest on this funds in the meantime.
But significant seller pushback has forced them to rethink that plan and they've recently announced a partial rollback, allowing sellers with a "strong sales history" to receive their funds within 24 hours of buyer payment - just like it had been previously.
Liz Morton
Similarly, despite very vocal negative reactions from many sellers on Simple Delivery, Iannone told investors eBay is seeing strong results from the managed shipping program, making it even more likely it may soon be expanded at least on a voluntary basis to UK business sellers - surveys over the last few months indicated they may be considering a similar program for the US as well.
Liz Morton
eBay is also pushing fulfillment services through their partnership with Orange Connex ahead of potential tariff and de minimis changes in the UK.
Liz Morton
And clearly that's not all they have planned for ways to monetize shipping with a currently open job position for a Director of Product Shipping Platform based in London to "design a multi-year roadmap" in "alignment with eBay's strategic goals around driving GMV and revenue."
In addition to financial services like working capital loans and seller financing via partnerships with Liberis and YouLend, eBay may also look to monetize "helping" sellers navigate complex legal, regulatory, and compliance requirements.
For example, a current pilot program in Germany offers sellers legal consultations, advice, and support as part of their existing Shop subscriptions - currently at no additional cost, but that could always change.
Liz Morton
eBay may also look to expand the Pro Seller Program in the US, which is currently free and invite only but could potentially become monetized as a tiered offering in the future, similar to Pro Trader and Pro Trader Plus programs already in place in the UK and Germany.
Liz Morton
Of course eBay isn't the only marketplace turning to monetizing services to their own sellers to make up for lack of sales and active buyer growth - Etsy appears poised to do much the same in the near future as well.
Liz Morton
But for both marketplaces this strategy represents a slippery slope and potentially dangerous ground as sellers can and will only shoulder so much burden from advertising expenses to extra services before they determine they will have to increase prices to cover the additional costs - which could exacerbate the existing problems of lagging sales and active buyer growth, leading to a downward spiral that may be difficult to recover from.
What do you think of eBay's plans to consolidate Ads, Shipping, Payments and Lending, Stores and Business Seller Growth under one big Services umbrella?
Do any of these services add significant value to your business and if not, what would you like to see eBay offer instead? Let us know in the comments below!
