eBay Mixes Depop Listings Into Search, Raising Competition Concerns
eBay is now inserting individual listings from recently acquired Depop directly into search results on its mobile app, giving its new subsidiary even more premium visibility that independent eBay sellers must pay additional advertising fees to access.
The new listing placements were recently spotted by @north.coast.style on Instagram, who summed up what every seller is probably thinking when she said "so why even list on eBay?" @ColoradoReworn also posted about the listings on Instagram, with one seller in the comments saying "I saw my own listing on depop competing against my own eBay listing in a search last night. Thankfully my eBay listing was number 1 on the search results and the depop listing was down a ways."
Value Added Resource was able to independently replicate a search for Hunza G women's swimsuits on the eBay Android app, revealing multiple Depop listings mixed in with regular eBay inventory, with a Depop item taking the number one spot which was previously reserved for eBay Promoted Listings Priority cost per click ads.
The Depop results are identified with the marketplace's red logo and "View on Depop" text, but otherwise appear just like regular eBay listings, without a separate promotional banner, carousel or Sponsored designation. Clicking on a Depop result opens an eBay-hosted preview with the item's photos, price and shipping information, along with prominent buttons encouraging shoppers to "Get the Depop app" or "View on Depop" to complete their purchase outside of eBay.
This example showed a pre-owned Hunza G swimsuit for $58.45 plus $1.99 shipping in eBay search, while the same item was advertised for $55 directly on Depop, with $2.17 shipping shown in the bag and at checkout. Further testing through the Depop checkout process confirmed the $3.45 difference is exactly the amount of the Marketplace Fee Depop charges buyers on that purchase.
That means eBay is already including Depop's mandatory buyer fee in the advertised search price, even though Depop itself continues displaying the lower $55 item price on its own listing page and in the shopping bag, only adding the $3.45 fee as a separate charge at checkout.
Depop is currently facing a proposed class action alleging its failure to disclose the Marketplace Fee until checkout constitutes illegal "drip pricing." Plaintiff Javier Rivera filed the complaint in September, claiming Depop's pricing practices prevent shoppers from accurately comparing costs with other marketplaces and retailers.
Liz Morton
It's the second federal lawsuit filed this year raising similar allegations. An earlier case was voluntarily dismissed without a ruling on the underlying claims, while a related California state case was also pending as of the last review.
eBay already uses fee-inclusive pricing for comparable buyer fees on its own marketplace in the UK and Australia. The latest test now shows eBay is also capable of presenting Depop listings with the Marketplace Fee included upfront in US search results, even as the same fee remains excluded from the advertised item price when shoppers follow those links to Depop.
The discounted shipping discrepancy is also significant because eBay is advertising Depop listings with lower delivery costs than buyers actually encounter at checkout, while putting those offers directly alongside shipping rates charged by competing eBay sellers, many of whom may struggle to match the lower rates.
Depop and Vinted have been competing aggressively on US shipping throughout much of 2026, cycling through free and deeply discounted offers as both marketplaces try to attract more buyers for lower-priced secondhand fashion. Depop has also recently eliminated independent shipping for new US listings, requiring sellers to use its managed USPS shipping service, while eBay is developing a lower-cost pickup and drop-off network intended to support both marketplaces.
The expanded search integration comes less than four months after eBay completed its $1.4 billion acquisition of Depop from Etsy and follows earlier cross-promotion that began appearing on eBay's homepage and above fashion search results in the desktop web experience in August.
Liz Morton
These new Depop listing placements are an interesting choice given eBay's increasingly aggressive efforts to monetize search through advertising. First-party advertising generated $575 million in revenue during Q3, up 16% year-over-year, with nearly 1.3 billion of the 2.7 billion listings on eBay promoted and approximately six million sellers using at least one advertising product.
CFO Peggy Alford also revealed during the Q3 earnings call that eBay has begun using an AI-powered system to dynamically adjust the number of ads displayed in search based on shopper activity and expected value, giving the company more flexibility in how paid advertising is distributed throughout results.
At the same time, eBay is increasingly using the resources of its core marketplace to accelerate Depop's growth. Alford told analysts that eBay's existing carrier relationships are helping reduce Depop's shipping costs and acknowledged that marketing and other investment decisions across the two platforms are becoming more intertwined.
The distinction between the investments we're making in each one is starting to become a little more blurred...
eBay reported Depop's US GMV, monthly active users and sold items all more than doubled year-over-year in Q3 on a pro forma basis, with the acquisition contributing almost three percentage points to consolidated GMV growth. But management has not disclosed Depop's actual GMV in dollars or how much of that growth may be coming at the expense of sales on its existing marketplace.
CEO Jamie Iannone said the company was testing individual Depop listings in eBay search, but the example shown in the investor presentation was a branded "Refresh your closet on Depop" carousel.
The individual results now appearing in the app take a different approach, blending Depop items into the same search experience where eBay sellers compete for organic ranking and paid advertising visibility. The dedicated carousel shown in eBay's investor presentation could still make its way to desktop search, similar to the "Find It On Goldin" carousels that began appearing in searches for sports cards last year.
Liz Morton
eBay also has a longer history of claiming it doesn't compete with its sellers, a position previously called into question by its TCGplayer subsidiary selling trading cards on eBay's own marketplace, with Direct From Brand badging and no prominent disclosure of eBay's ownership.
That Value Added Resource investigation was later cited in a petition urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate alleged deceptive and anticompetitive conduct, with sellers subsequently raising additional concerns in comments to the FTC and Department of Justice.
Liz Morton
eBay's own off-platform sales policy also prohibits independent sellers from using listings or communications to direct buyers to other websites where they can complete transactions, even as eBay uses its search results to send shoppers to Depop.
Sellers concerned about eBay's preferential treatment of Depop and other subsidiaries can submit reports to the FTC through its Antitrust Complaint Intake form, or report potentially unfair or deceptive advertising practices through ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Those filing reports can include a link to this article for supporting documentation, along with any additional examples or experiences from their own accounts.
Matthew Chesnes (DAD, BE Antitrust I) and Ted Rosenbaum (Acting BE Director)
Users can also contact their state Attorney General's office or consumer protection division, with contact information available through the National Association of Attorneys General. For more information on how to prepare effective reports, see VAR's previous guide to reporting eBay advertising concerns to the FTC and state AGs.
