OnBuy Launches European Expansion In Bid To Take On eBay & Amazon
The UK’s fastest-growing online marketplace, OnBuy, is rapidly expanding into the European market, opening up to sellers in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Greece, Finland, Portugal, Ireland and Slovakia with plans to cover 20 countries by the end of 2025.
OnBuy says they are seeing huge demand in Europe, where initial activity has already delivered 308% sales growth and a 40%+ compound monthly growth rate, highlighting the scale of opportunity for sellers in these markets.
The company is forecasting an additional £100m in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and at least 5 million new customers from its EU rollout in the next 12 months, with aspirations to hit a total GMV of £1bn within the next 3 years.
Cas Paton, CEO and Founder of OnBuy, said:
“Retailers across Europe are calling out for a marketplace that truly supports them. OnBuy is different - we don’t compete with our sellers, we champion them. Our model creates higher margins for retailers, more choice for customers, and a level playing field that the industry has been missing. Europe’s e-commerce market is enormous and the appetite for change is clear. With our growth momentum and seller-first approach, we’re building a challenger marketplace that’s reshaping how retailers do business.”
Paton has often leaned on the fact that OnBuy does not compete with sellers as a point of differentiation compared to other marketplaces like Amazon and eBay that OnBuy is working to take market share from in the UK and Europe.
That line used to belong to eBay, but hasn't been true for them since at least August 2024 when they set up shop on their own site under their owned subsidiary TCGPlayer brand name to sell trading cards in direct competition with third-party sellers on the site.
Liz Morton
One key driver of OnBuy’s success has its industry-first cashback program introduced in 2023.
Liz Morton
The program offers customers instantly redeemable cashback on every purchase, which can be spent immediately onsite or withdrawn, delivering over 50% repeat purchase rates in the UK, driving stronger sales and customer retention for sellers.
