eBay Open UK 2025: Keynotes, Seller Tools & Updates
eBay UK kicked off their annual seller conference, eBay Open 2025 with an opening keynote speech from General Manager Eve Williams.
Just like in the US, eBay Live livestream selling was a major focus, with Williams encouraging sellers to checkout the eBay Live booth at the event, despite the fact that eBay Live is still an extremely limited offering that is not currently open to most sellers on the platform.
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Also, inexplicably, Williams continues to dishonestly claim that eBay Live just launched in the UK a couple months ago when it's actually been available for about a year and a half.
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She also addressed a big elephants in the room - private sellers not paying selling fees who compete against the business sellers at this event - by saying that business sellers benefit from the practice because these private consumer to consumer sellers also often buy on the platform too.
Those sellers who also buy may be more important to eBay than to individual business sellers as they count toward the "Enthusiast Buyer" statistic eBay reports on quarterly earnings calls.
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Business sellers in the online for the event didn't seem convinced that the influx of "fee-free" private sellers benefits them - with many pointing out that eBay still has a huge problem with sellers who should be registered as businesses continuing to trade on private accounts to avoid fees.
And finally, Williams announced that eBay's Up and Running Grant program is expanding to the UK, offering the chance for 25 business sellers to receive a £10,000 cash grant, £1,000 in ad credits and one-to-one account management support.
Applications close on November 21:
Next up, VP Selling Experience Xiaodi Zhang and Chief AI Officer Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov took sellers through a presentation about new tools and features on the site, with a heavy emphasis on AI.
Most of these features were either already announced in the last year or at the US eBay Open 2025 event, including:
AI background enhancement, the bulk AI listing tool (when it works) and Magical AI Listing which many sellers say hasn't lived up to the hype.
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AI responses in messaging:
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AI Shopping Assistant For Buyers and Shop The Look for Fashion:
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And finally, Xiaodi and Nitzan announced the launch of AI Activate, a new program aimed at helping small businesses harness the power of AI and compete with larger enterprises.
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Powering your business through the eBay brand
This segment showed sellers how eBay is using their brand marketing to tell stories that bring new buyers and sellers to the site.
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Interestingly, they did not mention the paid case study and media exposure opportunity eBay UK is offering in partnership with global communications and PR firm Edelman.
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Building trust & reducing risk: How eBay safeguards your business and accelerates your growth
Senior Director Trust David Newman announced that changes for auction listings rolled out recently in the US will be coming to the UK in 2026, including expanding buyer verification for auction bidding, requiring phone number verification for most bidders and government ID and selfie verification for high-value items - a move that proved to be very controversial in testing.
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In November 2025, sellers in the UK will also get access to the same new Seller Protections for Item Not Received Claims that was announced for the US in August.
Importantly, sellers will need to purchase their labels through eBay in order to receive these new protections.
Extended ‘Item Not Received’ protections
What’s changing?
- Before: Seller issues a refund to close an INR case. If the parcel is delivered later, the seller will not recover their refund and it will be lost.
- From November 2025: If tracking shows delivered within 30 days after a seller has refunded, eBay will reimburse the item cost and remove any negative or neutral feedback directly linked to the claim and regarding delivery.
Are you covered?
You qualify automatically when you meet the following criteria:
- Item dispatched within your stated handling time.
- Used a tracked shipping service purchased via eBay labels on our platform.
- Tracking shows that the item was delivered within 30 days of original case closure.
- Your seller account has not been flagged under our risk detection policies.
This helps ensure sellers aren’t penalised for delays outside their control, and reinforces our commitment to standing behind sellers who do the right thing.
Regulatory support for your eBay business
eBay is rolling out automated tools that will fill in Country of Origin information to help keep more listings eligible for the Global Shipping Programme to the US after the end of the de minimis exemption in August.
Reach US buyers again through the Global Shipping Programme
We know recent US import regulations have been challenging, so we’re happy to share some good news: many of your listings are now visible to US buyers again through the Global Shipping Programme (GSP).
To make this possible, we’ve added Country of Origin (COO) to listings where reliable information is available. Country of Origin is essential for determining duties, taxes, and import fees, and is required for items to reach US buyers through the Global Shipping Programme.
How it works
Where trusted data was available, we’ve already added COO information to your listings. Since you know your items best, we encourage you to add COO details directly in the Country/Region of Manufacture field — your entry will always override any eBay selection.You may not see COO on all your listings right away, as updates are rolling out gradually. This process will also apply to new listings where data is available.
If you’d like to confirm whether your items are visible to US buyers, visit ebay.com, switch the buyer location to the US, and search using your item IDs. We’re working on a simpler way to do this in the future.
Stay tuned for updates throughout the day from eBay Open UK 2025!
