ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
We build pathways to opportunity globally.
When a seller joins our marketplace, we support them every step of the way. Success happens together. We don’t compete with our sellers — we win when they do. Through our partnerships, eBay continues the mission of connecting people and building communities to create economic opportunity for all.
Small Business Programs and Support
eBay helps small businesses and traditionally underrepresented entrepreneurs build online storefronts and reach global audiences. Our tools, training, and resources help pave the way for a more equitable economy, promoting economic success today and in the future.
SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS AND SUPPORT
Up & Running Grants
We launched eBay’s Up & Running Grant program in 2020 to provide small businesses who were hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic with mentoring, funding, and support. Over the past four years, we awarded more than $2 million to 200 small businesses from across the U.S. to fuel their growth.
SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS AND SUPPORT
eBay Academy
In 2023, we expanded eBay Academy with our new course, “Accelerate your success with category-specific insights.” The new content gives sellers tips and best practices to help them excel in our refurbished and parts and accessories categories, and our Authenticity Guarantee program. The online learning platform continues to offer free, high-quality interactive courses to our sellers on the best tools and practices they can use to start and grow successful businesses.
SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS AND SUPPORT
Small Business Ambassador Network
Our global grassroots action networks — eBay Main Street and Small Business Ambassador Network (SBAN) — provide ways for our sellers to stay informed on issues that affect ecommerce, and give them a voice in the legislative process.
SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS AND SUPPORT
eBay Open
eBay Open is our annual seller event that brings together thousands of sellers to educate, celebrate, inspire, and connect.
SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS AND SUPPORT
Seller Meetings
Seller meetings are hosted in-person and virtually for sellers by sellers. These meetings are a great way for sellers to meet their local community and gain insights to help grow their business.
Community Impact
Nonprofits and charities use our platform every day to help fund their vital community services. Our efforts to create economic opportunity for all extend beyond our marketplace and into the communities in which we live and work. We are committed to supporting historically excluded entrepreneurs in service of creating more vibrant local economies.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
eBay for Charity
eBay for Charity is the most active giving platform in ecommerce today, empowering nonprofits to raise funds for their mission-driven work and individuals to support the causes they care about most. We partner with a range of brands and high-profile individuals to bring one-of-a-kind charity auctions to our marketplace.
Since 2003, eBay for Charity has raised more than $1.3 billion and supported more than 225,000 charities.
Last summer, images from the devastating Maui wildfire that killed more than 100 people shocked the world. eBay supported humanitarian efforts with a fundraising match program to benefit World Central Kitchen, American Red Cross, and Hawaii Community Foundation. Buyers and sellers raised more than $128,000 for the three nonprofits in partnership with eBay for Charity.
In February 2023, a series of devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey near the border with Syria killed more than 50,000 people. To help survivors in affected areas, eBay for Charity launched a matching donation campaign. Proceeds from the campaign, which totaled nearly $45,000, supported relief efforts by the International Rescue Committee, Team Rubicon, and World Central Kitchen.
eBay for Charity allows our customers to shop their values and support communities they care about. If buyers and sellers can't find their favorite nonprofit, we ask them to sign up! Hundreds of charities enroll every year and start benefiting from our programs.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
eBay Foundation
We believe when entrepreneurs succeed, they build more resilient and vibrant communities. eBay Foundation partners with nonprofit organizations that are addressing and removing ongoing systemic barriers to entrepreneurship.
In 2023, eBay Foundation granted a total of more than $19 million, primarily to organizations advancing inclusive entrepreneurship and through the company's employee matching gifts program.
Our 2023 Strategic Grantee Partners included:
• Accion Opportunity Fund • Ashoka • Black Innovation Alliance • Center for Disaster Philanthropy • Common Future • Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) • Founders First CDC • Greenlining Institute • Just Economy Institute • ICA • Kiva • LISC • Native Women Lead • Path to 15|55 • Project Equity • Racial Equity Alliance • Right to Start • Runway • Seed Commons • Small Business Majority • Start Small Think Big
In October 2023, eBay Foundation hosted the first in-person gathering of our strategic grantees at eBay’s San Francisco office. The event gave grantees the opportunity for thoughtful conversations about advancing entrepreneurship, networking, and intentional peer learning. This is just one way eBay Foundation is showing up for our nonprofit partners beyond our grant dollars.
Global Give 2023
Driven by our purpose to create economic opportunity for all, eBay Foundation awarded nearly $3 million to 32 additional grantees in geographies where our employees live and work. Global Give is an extension of eBay Foundation’s grantmaking, enabling us to partner with nonprofit organizations around the world that are addressing and removing barriers to entrepreneurship for people who identify with historically excluded groups.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
Social Impact in the U.K.
eBay U.K. leads a number of innovative programs designed to reduce waste, cut carbon emissions, and break down barriers to entrepreneurship.
Small Business Report
Whether our sellers start businesses to support their families, create new income streams, or turn their passions into professions, eBay is here to help.
SMALL BUSINESS REPORT
The Home of Small Business
The eBay marketplace gives even the smallest businesses the chance to create an online storefront.
Whether our sellers start businesses to support their families, create new income streams, or turn their passions into professions, eBay is here to help. Our 2023 Small Business Report reveals how eBay is a crucial economic driver for many people.
We surveyed 4,334 sellers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, Japan, and Australia to determine how we’re fueling their growth while enabling community and global reach. Of respondents, 86% say eBay enables opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and 76% of sellers say eBay has helped them reach new markets.
eBay’s small businesses consistently report that eBay provides economic opportunity and empowerment. According to sellers surveyed, 94% see a strong correlation between eBay and their business success, while 79% of sellers say that eBay helps small businesses and entrepreneurs thrive.
We’re also helping entrepreneurs to do more of what they love, with 61% of sellers surveyed identifying as “accidental entrepreneurs” — people who never expected to turn their passions and hobbies into a business.
SMALL BUSINESS REPORT
Reports on Small Online Businesses
For over 10 years, we have published research examining how eBay connects people, builds communities, and empowers independent small businesses, regardless of their location, to grow and succeed.
