eBay Live Doles Out Generous Discounts For Buyers & Sellers To Boost Livestream Shopping
eBay is on a mission to boost adoption of it's livestream shopping platform, offering generous discounts to both buyers and sellers to incentivize using eBay Live.
eBay Live launched in June 2022 and while a few new categories have been added in that time, as well as introduction in the UK, and availability on both desktop and mobile, many sellers have been frustrated with the glacial pace of rollout and the restrictive application process - with some moving to competing platforms like Whatnot, TikTok and Poshmark instead.
The program was finally expanded to include pre-loved clothing categories in October 2024 and eBay has set aggressive Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) goals targeting collectibles in particular, but many buyers still don't have eBay top of mind when looking for a livestream shopping experience - which eBay is hoping to change with themed shopping events and an in person eBay Live tour.
Liz Morton
3 years after launching in the US (and 1 year in the UK), eBay is behind the curve and struggling to catch up with scrappy smaller competitors who have beat them to the live stream shopping punch - and it appears that subsidies and discounts to both sellers and buyers are a major part of their plan to boost adoption rates.
On the buyer side, eBay is currently offering select, invite only US users to earn a coupon worth up to $100 off simply by making at least one $10+ purchase via an eBay Live show.
What is the Promotion?
Invited buyers (“Buyer” or “Buyers”) who buy an item for a minimum price of $10 during the eBay live event within the Promotion Period (as defined below) pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth herein (“Qualifying Purchase”), are eligible to earn a multi-use eBay Coupon (“Coupon”) worth up to $100 off a minimum purchase of $200. The coupon may be used up to 4 times with a minimum purchase price of $50 per transaction to get $25 off.An item is defined as purchased when it is paid in full by the buyer.
How do I earn the Coupon?
The Coupon will be awarded within two weeks after the Qualifying purchase is completed. Once awarded, the Coupon will be visible in "My eBay.”eBay will also send an email with the Coupon. The value of the Coupon will be worth up to $100 off a minimum purchase of $200 up to 4 redemptions of $25 each. Minimum purchase price $50 per coupon to get $25 off.The Coupon is not transferable. The Coupon is subject to other terms and conditions. Limit of one (1) Coupon per user., which can be used up to 4 times. Users have until the date listed on the Coupon to redeem on ebay.com.
The terms and conditions also show the coupon will have a 90 day redemption window - making it obvious that eBay is specifically trying to target this offer to have the most impact for their Q3 financial results.
That falls in line with other steep discount offers eBay has pushed in recent quarters, with a specific focus on boosting Enthusiast Buyer statistics.
Liz Morton
While eBay was able to eke out a tiny 1% year over year "win" with 134 Million total Active Buyers in Q1 2025, it's worth noting there's still a lot of lost ground to make up with now 12 consecutive quarters with less Active Buyers than Q1 2018.
Note: eBay changed the definition of GMV and Active Buyers at the end of 2021 and restated both figures going back to 2018 (chart reflects restated figures per eBay's amended reports.)
But within that larger Active Buyer stat, CEO Jamie Iannone has focused a lot of attention, and marketing dollars, around what he calls "high value enthusiast buyers" - generally defined as buyers who shop on eBay at least 6 times per year, spend at least $800 per year or those who also sell on the site.
Despite these enthusiast buyers being the target of Iannone's "focus vertical strategy" in categories like sneakers; trading cards; luxury handbags, jewelry and watches; auto parts and refurbished electronics, the number of "enthusiast buyers" has been stalled for many quarters, stuck at ~16 Million since Q4 2022.
By structuring this eBay Live coupon offer the way they have, eBay is not only juicing the numbers of reported eBay Live transactions completed, they are also incentivizing activity which will help increase Enthusiast Buyers.
With 1 purchase needed to earn the coupon and then having the ability to apply the discount up to 4 times, that already adds up to 5 out of 6 purchases required - and if eBay just happens to "invite" buyers who've already made at least 1 purchase in the last 12 months, then the will magically become an Enthusiast Buyer even if they don't make any more purchases in the next 12 months.
When CEO Jamie Iannone joined the company in 2020, he was highly critical of previous CEO Devin Wenig's strategy of offering frequent discounts (paid by eBay) to try to attract more buyers in 2018-2019.
Those 15-20% off flash sales proved to be a double edged sword - once buyers get used to receiving discounts, they'll often wait for a sale before making another purchase, creating "one and done" or only occasional buying patterns.
Wenig's strategy was considered such a failure that Iannone felt the need to explicitly distance himself from it, telling investors in 2021:
We've discontinued legacy tactics that led to low value, infrequent or one and done buyers. Our buyer base is starting to evolve based on this strategy. These high-volume buyers are growing compared to a year-ago and their spend on eBay is growing even faster. This higher-quality mix of buyers increases value for sellers and will lead to improved health of our ecosystem over the long-term...
..This is something that I laid out last July when we talked about the tech-led reimagination as being focused on turning buyers into lifelong enthusiasts on the platform and moving away from the tactics that we had in 2019 what was really just about the number of active buyers even low value buyers or one and done buyers.
However, despite his criticism of those past tactics, eBay under Iannone has increasingly turned back to offering significant discounts to both buyers and sellers in the last year to try to boost important business and financial metrics.
On the seller side, eBay is also apparently heavily subsidizing those who participate in eBay Live selling by offering much lower than usual Final Value Fees and other perks.
Selling on eBay Live is not open to all - it's heavily restricted, carefully curated, and sellers either must be personally invited to join or fill out a lengthy application showing the size of their existing social audiences and experience with live stream selling on other platforms.
The exact amount of the fee discount isn't entirely clear, as it's not publicly posted anywhere and likely part of a contract which may even require a non-disclosure agreement, but some eBay Live sellers have hinted that it's significantly less than the standard ~13-14% that would apply in trading card categories.
For example on a recent episode of the Sports Cards Nonsense podcast, the hosts indicated not only do they have a special deal for "much lower fees" on eBay Live, but they can also hook up other sellers with low fees as well.
If you're looking to sell cards over on eBay live, SCN has a massive platform there now e-mail us if you're a breaker single seller, whatever shop we will get you hooked up low fees...
...But the only other thing I'm gonna say about eBay, I made a little plug. I am serious. We are looking to get sellers. You come on, you build your own brand, you keep your name. We're not looking to get involved. We're just gonna promote you and get you in for a super low rate. But the other thing is like, eBay is getting aggressive...
...So yeah, I'm, I'm totally serious. If you want to get over there and sell, reach out. And whether you do or not, I think you're going to see them make some serious waves in the live selling space. They have enough money to do whatever they want. Well, and they've already been...
...I can tell you right now our rate on eBay Live is way lower than that and it's way lower than any platform we've been on Whatnot in Fanatics Live, way lower than either of those.
Of course this isn't exactly new for eBay, they frequently offer various ad and listing fee discounts to sellers in certain categories and coupon offers where eBay foots a portion of the discount as well as significant subsidies in for sellers in the Daily Deals program.
Liz Morton
While gaining more "enthusiast buyers" and increasing GMV are worthy goals for the company (and may even be worth allocating additional marketing or discount dollars), as always the devil is in the details and execution and transparency is key.
Unfortunately, given that eBay continues to try dishonestly claim they just launched Live in the UK last month when it has actually been active there for over a year, it doesn't appear that transparency is high on the priority list.
Liz Morton
If Iannone is confident this strategy will create long-term, sustainable GMV and Active Buyer growth without the significant downside risks he criticized his predecessor for taking, then he should have no problem candidly discussing how much any (presumed) growth in those areas can be attributed to these initiatives as well as costs and return on investment on the next earnings call.
If instead he and/or CFO Peggy Alford try to present any (presumed) growth as proof their "magical" strategy is working while not disclosing any of that crucial context - investors would be wise to dig deeper, demand honesty and transparency, and take a hard look at the near to long-term prospects for the company if eBay remains under current leadership.
