American online marketplace founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar; the first item sold was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. By 2005 eBay was worth almost $80bn, about four times the value of Amazon. Its shine faded as customers left for bigger rivals and niche marketplaces.
Six years before 2026, Jamie Iannone, a former eBay manager who went on to work at Walmart, returned to take charge. He refocused the company on its "heritage": used, refurbished and out-of-season goods, particularly collectibles, fashion and car parts, which together account for a third of the value of goods sold. eBay introduced authentication services modelled on those of the RealReal, warranties on refurbished goods, and an in-house climate-controlled vault in Delaware for storing expensive trading cards. It bought Goldin (a collectibles marketplace) in 2024, Caramel (car-selling) in 2025 and Depop (second-hand fashion) from Etsy in February 2026. In February 2026 it laid off 800 staff, 6% of its workforce.
Sales grew 17% year on year in Q1 2026; buyer numbers stabilised at around 135m a year. EBay's share price has jumped around 150% since the start of 2024. In May 2026 GameStop offered $56bn to buy eBay—nearly five times GameStop's own market value.
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