Our purpose at eBay is to fuel our sellers’ success. We don’t compete with our sellers. We are partners to them. Whether it’s a small business in rural Michigan that wants to sell overseas, a main street shop in Germany expanding its reach to online sales, or a store in Japan that caters to trading card enthusiasts — we empower small businesses around the world with our tools, support, advocacy and outreach to build their brands to perfectly fit their unique personalities and inventory.
We’re creating relevant experiences that are tailored around customer needs, interests and expectations. With 190 markets around the globe, we are leveraging our scale to create solutions for our customers. And we’re doing all through magical innovations that set a new bar for ecommerce experiences.
Our second annual Small Business Report examines how our sellers start their businesses, ways eBay supports their success and their optimistic outlook for the future, sharing insights from a survey of 4,334 sellers in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan and Australia.
“Our sellers are dedicated, passionate and knowledgeable, and this is what makes the eBay community so special,” said Jamie Iannone, eBay’s President and CEO. “We are committed to maintaining a marketplace where small businesses can thrive, and I am proud of how eBay supports our sellers at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey.”
Highlights From Our 2023 Report
From the very first day when sellers open their virtual doors, we are there with them — to enable, support and encourage their success every step of the way. Here are some key findings from our survey:
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94% of sellers see a strong connection between eBay and their success.
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68% of sellers say eBay helped them start their business; 76% say eBay helped them grow.
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Most sellers are optimistic about the growth of their business, despite uncertainty about the economy.
How well, if at all, do each of the following statements help describe your eBay story?
Creating Economic Empowerment for All
Success for us happens together. We don’t compete with our sellers. This simple fact defines our relationship with small businesses and entrepreneurs – and sets us apart from other online marketplaces. In our survey, 90% of sellers said eBay wins when its sellers win.
How much, if at all, do each of the following statements describe eBay from your experience?
“My business wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for eBay,” said Adrien Lavoie, whose eBay store WOOKI is based in Canada.
Sellers also recognize that eBay is a place where anyone, anywhere in the world can sell and succeed online. 92% of sellers say eBay is accessible to all, while 94% say the diversity of the customers who shop on eBay is important to them.
A Home for Collectors and Enthusiasts
Buyers become sellers and, before they know it, create small businesses of their own – uniting their enthusiasm for their hobbies and interests with their entrepreneurial spirit. In our survey, 61% of sellers said that “accidental entrepreneur” describes them well.
“eBay has changed me in that I now see myself as a businesswoman and an entrepreneur instead of a hobbyist,” said Michelle Nguyen of US-based Emmi’s Closet.
Among self-identified accidental entrepreneurs, 91% said eBay makes it easy to turn a passion into a business.
How well, if at all, do the following statements describe eBay?
Global Scale Within Easy Reach
eBay’s global marketplace helps fuel business growth for our sellers. Most of them sell in three or more countries, and 68% said eBay’s global marketplace is essential or very important to them.
As Jennifer Sax of Germany-based Musikhaus Geiger und Geiger told us, “With our eBay store, we can sell our products, both new and used, even across national borders.”
How well, if at all, do each of the following statements help describe your eBay story?
“eBay sellers bring incredibly diverse inventory to our marketplace – united by a shared passion and expertise for the communities they serve,” added Jordan Sweetnam, eBay’s SVP for Global Markets. “Small businesses are the backbone of eBay, and we succeed when our sellers succeed.”
Read the Full Report
To learn more, check out our full 2023 Small Business Report.
Methodology
We partnered with GlobeScan, a global insights and advisory consultancy, to conduct a survey of 4,334 eBay small business sellers in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan and Australia. Our goal was to assess small business seller sentiment and opinions toward eBay as they started and grew their business.