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.
Our small business accelerator program empowers sellers with specialized training and mentorship.
Drawn from a pool of 7,000 submissions, our 2023 grantees represent 27 U.S. states and multiple product categories, including motors, home and garden, clothes, collectibles, and toys.
I’m immediately going to be updating all of my equipment…this is an incredible gift.
Of the 2023 small businesses awarded a grant, 62% are minority-owned, 22% have a disability, and 12% identify as LGBTQ+. Meet the full class of 2023 Up & Running grantees.
Our SBAN community represents the voices of thousands of small businesses around the world.
SBAN Advocacy
Every year, we invite SBAN members to Washington, D.C., and Brussels, Belgium, for advocacy meetings with U.S. and European Union legislators.
In May and September of 2023, select SBAN members joined eBay executives to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and discuss how current ecommerce public policy issues are affecting small businesses. In June 2023, a group of 11 SBAN members joined eBay executives in Brussels, Belgium, for meetings with key legislators from the European Parliament and Commission to discuss product safety regulations that would have had an effect on the European circular economy. Sellers represented a variety of product categories — from clothing and shoes to computers, tablets, and hardware — and were invited to speak about their experiences as eBay small business owners and the impacts of ecommerce legislation currently under consideration.
All sellers are welcome to join for training & seller-led sessions, category breakouts, keynotes, seller panels, networking, and more.
In 2023, eBay Open attracted more than 11,000 attendees. Throughout the four-day hybrid event, attendees participated in training sessions, category breakouts, a virtual expo hall, and networking events, and presentations from eBay executives on strategy, product updates, and innovations.
[eBay Open] was a great way to find community. Everyone was so hospitable and friendly, and all the other sellers were so eager to share their experiences.
Connect with your community at seller-led meetings in your area.
Seller Meetings
In 2023, more than 50 chapters throughout the U.S. held regularly scheduled meetings with more than 600 sellers in attendance to share tips and build relationships.
It is a very diverse group of people with wonderful experiences and tips to share to learn more about selling!
I liked that there was "actionable" information taught that I could implement in my store.
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 around the world.
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.
eBay U.K. is trying fresh new approaches to community engagement and social impact.
Circular Change Council
eBay U.K. and The Waste and Resources Action Programme launched the Circular Change Council, an initiative uniting major homeware brands to increase circularity in the furniture industry, helping divert waste from the millions of furniture items discarded in the U.K. each year.
Circular Fashion Fund
Building on the successful launch of the Circular Fashion Fund in 2022, eBay U.K. announced its £100,000 fund has returned for a second year in partnership with The British Fashion Council.
The fund aims to invest and propel new technologies to enable the circular economy, through small business grants up to £25,000, mentorship, and networking supported by environmental charity Hubbub.
Carbon Academy
Last year, eBay U.K. launched Carbon Academy, a training program created with Climate Partner, to help small businesses understand their carbon footprint and take action to reduce emissions. The free courses are easily accessible online, making it convenient for our vast seller community to get the knowledge they need to become more environmentally sustainable.
Social Impact Programs
In 2023, we continued our work with Black Girl Fest to break down barriers and level the entrepreneurship playing field. We also piloted a new sneaker selling program, Sneaker Academy, in partnership with Hatch Enterprise. The program supports young people who face additional barriers to employment to launch their sneaker business on eBay.
Additionally, through eBay for Change, to date we’ve worked with over 250 social enterprises to connect tens of millions of British shoppers with small businesses reinvesting their profits back into their local communities or abroad.
After connecting with the eBay for Change team, I learned that the program is a great fit for new and established businesses alike, so I signed up right away. Looking back, the thing I enjoyed the most was the 1-1 meetings with my eBay for Change adviser. The 1-1s provided me with a safe space to really step through how to showcase our social impact story through all the customer touch-points that eBay offers.
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 open to the world.
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. According to our findings, 86% of respondents 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.
We help entrepreneurs reach customers and build communities across the globe.
Reports on Small Online Businesses
Our Small Online Business Inclusive Global Trade Report reveals tremendous export success by small businesses using eBay in 18 markets globally, running the trade gamut from Net Importers to Net Exporters, and the development spectrum from Advanced to Emerging Economies. It provides further evidence that eBay’s level-playing field marketplace is breaking the traditional link between firm size and the ability to be a successful exporter, which is a clear step forward to a more balanced and inclusive economy.
eBay has played a key role in enabling the growth of my cross-border business. It has stood by our side since the early days when we shipped two packages per day to now, when we are handling 200 packages per day.
We also published a new report focused on Promoting Inclusive Economic Opportunities Across Germany. The data presented illustrates how eBay small business activity is contributing to the important goal of balanced regional development across Germany. We found more selling activity, on a per capita basis, coming from eBay small businesses in disadvantaged and rural areas than from more affluent urban centers.
Finally, our Japan Small Online Business Trade Report showcases how eBay is empowering Japanese small businesses and individuals by providing access to over 132 million consumers across more than 190 countries that benefits Japan economically, socially, and environmentally.
eBay is a platform where people can purchase Japanese products safely and securely from overseas, so my buyers seem very happy, and I feel rewarded for it.
