eBay Puts Focus On Pre-Loved Fashion With Resident Stylist & Miami Race Weekend Crossover
eBay is putting pre-loved fashion front and center as its newest "focus vertical" category with new Watchlist trend report, introduction of Brie Welch as their first resident stylist and a Miami Race Weekend crossover event aimed at finding your guaranteed fit.
Earlier this week, New York-based fashion stylist Brie Welch was named eBay's first its Resident Stylist, serving as the brand’s fashion authority - identifying trends, offering expert commentary, and spotlighting eBay’s assortment of pre-loved, branded fashion as they launch the eBay Watchlist, a new trend report driven by shopper data and informed by Welch’s "whimsical" take on pre-loved style.
The Watchlist is powered by real-time insights drawn from the shopping behavior of eBay’s nearly 134 million users and 2.3 billion listings, revealing in 2024, nearly 40% of all clothing, shoes and accessories sold on eBay were listed as pre-loved, and global users searched for “vintage” more than 1200 times per minute.
The idea of crossover traffic between categories on the platform has been a central component of CEO Jamie Iannone's "focus vertical, enthusiast buyer" strategy as he's consistently assured investors that bringing a high value buyer to eBay in one category like sneakers or handbags will lead to that same buyer making additional purchases in other categories.
When Iannone took the helm in 2020, his initial "tech-led reimagination" strategy specifically called out the need to capitalize on eBay's robust consumer to consumer (C2C) platform, seeing C2C selling as the foundation of the company's success.
"I am honored to rejoin eBay as its next Chief Executive Officer," said Mr. Iannone. "In my previous experience with the Company, I developed a deep appreciation for what makes eBay so special.
eBay 's success has always been rooted in its robust C2C platform. I believe the Company has tremendous opportunities to capitalize on this foundation, innovate for the future and grow its ecosystem.
I look forward to working with our global teams to enhance buyer experiences and provide more capabilities that will help small businesses sustain and grow. I will focus on continuing to evolve the Company's strategy while delivering on eBay 's commitment to maximize long-term shareholder value."
Iannone took those sentiments even further in an interview with CNBC in July 2020, saying getting back to individual consumer selling and becoming the "seller platform of choice" were among his top priorities for the company, along with focusing on key core vertical categories for growth.
Jamie, I want to start off on what was your first conference call of course as CEO because you were very blunt, you said "we're not satisfied with where we currently stand and the reality is that the past few years we have not executed to our full potential."
So briefly, if you can, what are you going to do and focus on to change that, so that eBay does execute at its full potential?
So you know since I've been back I think there's lots of areas of opportunity. I'm not satisfied with where we are and I see enormous upside potential in really getting back and focused on the customer experience.
I'm planning on leading what I'm calling the tech led reimagination of eBay and that's using our technology and next-gen compelling experiences in three different areas.
First building compelling experiences in key verticals that are really core to eBay and also getting back to our consumer selling that's individual selling which is really important to the platform.
Second is being the seller platform of choice,especially around non-new in season. We've got a 500 billion dollar opportunity in the core of what eBay is great at in non-new in season and being the seller platform of choice there is a huge opportunity.
And then third is building lifelong trusted buyer relationships.
Unfortunately, consumer selling and being the seller platform of choice quickly faded to the background as Iannone pursued a very narrow focused vertical, "high value, enthusiast buyer" strategy centered around trading cards, sneakers, luxury handbags, watches, jewelry, and auto parts - leaving many of the non-new in season, one of a kind, vintage, antiques and other collectibles C2C sellers that were the "foundational roots of eBay's success" feeling excluded and abandoned.
Liz Morton
Shareholders and sellers alike may have been willing to give the new vision a chance early on in Iannone's tenure, but as quarter after quarter continued to show no real growth in the focus verticals and less total active buyers than in 2018, pressure has been mounting to show results, prompting a pivot back to a wider focus on C2C selling starting in early 2024.
Liz Morton
A year later, eBay has finally started to show very minor improvements in year over year GMV and Active Buyer stats, but both are still below 2018 levels, leaving a lot of ground still left to make up.
Liz Morton
Faced with that growing pressure, eBay's VP Global Head of Fashion Alexis Hoopes is now trying to find ways to cross promote C2C clothing with other focus verticals, starting with a pre-loved fashion event in conjunction with Formula 1 Miami Race Weekend.
eBay Inc.
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, eBay announces an exclusive auction featuring a selection of pre-loved luxury fashion and a customized 1993 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet, timed to Miami's race weekend.
Curated in collaboration with model and motorsport enthusiast Winnie Harlow, the auction spotlights the connection between fashion, motorsport culture, and eBay's marketplace for rare and one-of-a-kind finds.
Bidding is open now through May 12 at ebay.com/guaranteedfitdrop.
Pre-loved fashion items include coveted pieces like a vintage Moschino leather vest, Celine wedge knee-high boots and a blue Gucci Jackie bag selected by Harlow and eBay's Resident Stylist Brie Welch.
The auction's automotive centerpiece is a low-mileage, four-wheel-drive 1993 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet, with all parts, upgrades, and accessories sourced through eBay.
The custom build features Corbeau Sport Seats, a Momo Monte Carlo steering wheel, a Fabspeed Maxflo exhaust, and other enhancements, blending classic Miami styling with modern performance.
"Style and speed are a huge part of my life, and eBay is the ultimate destination where those passions come together," said Winnie Harlow. "Each item in this auction represents individuality, performance, and self-expression — whether on the track or in your personal style."
During Miami race weekend, attendees can also visit the eBay "Guaranteed Fit Stop," a pit stop-inspired interactive installation located on the promenade. Guests can experience luxury fashion and automotive finds, all available on eBay.
Bids start at $0.57, a nod to the number of laps required to complete Sunday's race. All proceeds from the online auction will benefit Vitiligo Support International. For more information, follow @ebay on Instagram and TikTok.
Calling this fashion event the Guaranteed Fit Drop is obviously meant to be a callback to eBay's fitment program for auto parts, but I'm not sure how many potential fashion buyers will get the reference.
Sellers in the eBay community forum also questioned the aspirational crossover, suggesting at the very least the auction endings should have been better timed with the event.
Winnie's first day on the job at eBay is schelping around the paddock at the Miami Grand Prix with a rolling garment rack, handing out business cards? Winnie is gonna earn her money.
The big problem that I see right off the bat, is that they set this campaign as a 10 day auction. The actual race is tomorrow at 2pm MST. The auction itself does not end for another week after the race is already over.
I bet the Porche does pretty well but the other items? There will be alot of car afficionados at the Grand Prix. I'm not so sure about everything else in the auction. People have short attention spans these days and by the time the auction actually ends (1 week later) they will have already added up what they spent already on their F1 weekend in Miami, and decide that they really no longer need that Moschino “Ciao See You Leather” Black Vest.
The move comes as eBay is working to appeal to a younger audience with new tools and collaborations for content creators to curate and share their favorite fashion finds.
Liz Morton
And of course, as trade wars and tariffs dominate the headlines, eBay sees refurbished and non-new in season goods as a critical piece of their plans to try to weather economic storms on the horizon.
Liz Morton
What do you think of eBay's C2C pre-loved fashion initiatives? Let us know in the comments below!
