Sharp rise in profits for eBay

Auction site eBay was able to benefit from the coronavirus pandemic in the fourth quarter of 2020 as well. The company had already revised its annual forecast upwards.

Authenticity guaranteed

In the final quarter of last year, turnover at eBay rose from 2.3 billion US dollars (1.9 billion euros) to 2.9 billion US dollars (2.4 billion euros). Profit totalled 781 million US dollars (651 million euros), compared to 469 million US dollars (391 million euros) the year before. Gross trade volume grew by more than a fifth in the same period to 26.6 billion dollars (22.2 billion euros).

Among other things, eBay launched an authenticity guarantee for luxury watches and trainers and, in its own words, reaped the benefits of this. The San Jose-based company saw a “double-digit” increase in trade in luxury watches, while sneaker sales more than doubled. Refurbished gift items also did very well on the platform.

Ads still included

For the full year, revenues rose 19% to 10.3 billion dollars (8.6 billion euros), slightly above analysts’ expectations. For the first time, the company made more than one billion dollars (830 million euros) from advertising. Net profit for the financial year amounted to 2.5 billion dollars (2.1 billion euros).

Last year, however, eBay sold its classified ad branch, which includes Marktplaats and 2dehands, to the Norwegian company Adevinta. Because the acquisition still has to be approved by the antitrust authorities, the reported figures still include the results of this so-called Classified Groups division.