eBay Launches “Meanwhile on eBay Live” Ad Campaign As Sellers Question Advertising Priorities
eBay's latest ad campaign puts the spotlight on Live, leaving non-live sellers once again out in the cold amid broader marketing spend scrutiny.
LBBOnline describes the "Meanwhile on eBay Live" campaign, made in partnership with Edelman UK and JOAN Creative, as an "antidote to passive scrolling and mindless online shopping - spotlighting the excitement, entertainment, and real-time discovery that happens when enthusiasts shop together live."
The ads feature influencers with category expertise in the UK and real eBay Live sellers from the US with dedicated assets speaking to enthusiasts across Fashion, Collectables and more appearing across out-of-home, TV, digital, and social feeds worldwide.
But sellers in the eBay community forum were less than impressed, expressing frustration that the rest of the marketplace is once again being left out of advertising efforts and offering critiques of eBay's latest advertising efforts.
ebay's new Ad Campaign : "Meanwhile, on eBay Live"
"passive scrolling and mindless online shopping" Fire your marketing team, eBay, this is NOT the site messaging you want.
Our seller fees are paying the salary of the people who come up with this stuff. Let that sink in lol
Personally, I find watching Ebay Live as mind numbing as watching HSN.
The Live focused ad campaign will continue to run alongside eBay's other current Things. People. Love marketing push highlighting consumer to consumer (C2C) efforts including the recent launch of fee-free selling in Australia.
Liz Morton
The advertising blitz also lands at a particularly sensitive moment for eBay leadership, as investors and critics increasingly question whether the company’s massive marketing spend is actually translating into meaningful buyer growth.
Those concerns have intensified amid GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen’s unsolicited $56 billion bid to buy the legacy ecommerce marketplace.
Liz Morton
Cohen's offer explicitly called out inefficient marketing spend - saying all the money eBay has thrown at advertising isn't moving the needle, with only 1 million net new active buyers in 2025.
But the buyer math is even worse as eBay's Q4 2025 earnings report shows the 1 million new buyers came from acquiring Norwegian secondhand fashion marketplace Tise, not driven by eBay's marketing efforts.
In fact, as of Q1 2026, eBay has now had 16 consecutive quarters with less Active Buyers than Q1 2018 - making Cohen's callout of marketing spend hit even harder.
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.)
Against that backdrop, campaigns aimed at onboarding casual sellers or attracting new buyers to eBay Live carry outsized importance for eBay’s long-term growth narrative.
Cohen has taken to social media to make his case for why he believes eBay would be a better-run, more profitable company under his leadership, including highlighting potentially better uses for some of the clearly ineffective marketing spend - like opening social support back up so users can get help when they need it.
you’d think with 2.4 billion in marketing spend, they could login to X pic.twitter.com/oWfScXPIW6
— Ryan Cohen (@ryancohen) May 7, 2026
His direct messaging and willingness to engage with eBay's seller base stand in stark contrast to eBay's traditionally controlled corporate communications approach.
Liz Morton
The board has formally rejected the offer, but the fight is not over as Cohen says he's willing to take the matter directly to shareholders if needed.
In the meantime, eBay's latest ad campaigns are likely to become fresh fodder for the social media battle surrounding Cohen’s takeover push.
What do you think of the "Meanwhile on eBay Live" ads? Let us know in the comments below!
