Talk:EBay

Talk:EBay

Talk:EBay


"Criticisms"

Latest comment: 1 year ago4 comments2 people in discussion

Time to do some housekeeping, especially since Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Criticism of eBay is happening. First of all, we should not have a "Criticisms and controversy" section at all, per WP:CSECTION: sections such as "Criticisms and controversies" are generally inappropriate. Given that we have one, this one is full of questionable stuff, some of it now almost two decades old. For example, "Requirement to use PayPal". eBay hasn't owned PayPal for a decade now, and the "criticism" is 17 years stale. "Buy.com" as a controversy? That was 16 years ago; are people still pissed? "2010 survey criticizing eBay customer service". Obviously stale. "Overcharging fees": 13 years stale. "Low tax rate paid in the United Kingdom": how is this a controversy if eBay is adhering to UK law? Oh, there was a security breach a decade ago. "Sale of controversial items" shouldn't even be in there even if we do have this section. "Stalking scandal" deserves its own section; it's pretty unique. Oh, 14 years ago eBay did something silly and banned a silly board game and someone decided it was "pandering to political correctness"...

Let's nuke the whole section. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 22:57, 13 June 2024 (UTC)Reply

@Jpgordon You make some fair points, but I disagree with some of your analysis. First of all, "it happened decades ago" is not a reason in itself to remove anything. Wikipedia documents history. But it is a reason to distill some things down and move them into their appropriate historical context. Use of PayPal was a significant deal that shaped a lot of the business of both companies in their early days. Rate of tax paid is a controversy because, as sources show, it attracted criticism. The legality of their tax arrangements wasn't the issue, and tax avoidance by multinational companies remains an ongoing controversial topic. Security breaches of online businesses is always a big deal, so the article shouldn't be pretending it's never happened at eBay. Escape Orbit (Talk) 06:16, 14 June 2024 (UTC)Reply
Who said it should pretend anything? But that's a good example of things that should be rolled into the article in the appropriate place (perhaps in a discussion of eBay's technology?) rather than stuck into a list of "criticisms and controversies"; how is it a controversy that someone had a security breach? (And at this point, I wonder what companies haven't had security breaches?) Is eBay somehow special that it some people don't think it's paying enough taxes, or is that just a blanket statement that could be put in absolutely any multinational's article? Anything of interest here should be integrated into the article as a whole, as spelled out in WP:CSECTION. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 02:26, 15 June 2024 (UTC)Reply

OK, I did some major trimming here. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 15:58, 27 October 2024 (UTC)Reply

LLM usage

Latest comment: 1 year ago2 comments2 people in discussion

EBay has started using LLMs, this needs a section in the time line. It has impacted their customer service and they are offering this LLM service to vendors, so it's in many of the ads, too. 173.222.1.191 (talk) 04:10, 20 December 2024 (UTC)Reply

Any reliable sources regarding such claims? A09|(talk) 10:52, 20 December 2024 (UTC)Reply

Fees

Latest comment: 1 year ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Ebay UK has abolished "seller" fees and replaced them with "buyer protection" fees, probably to better compete with Vinted etc. cagliost (talk) 08:21, 20 March 2025 (UTC)Reply

Semi-protected edit request on 28 December 2025

Latest comment: 7 months ago1 comment1 person in discussion

The page itself is not fully considered secured by vandalism. Someone must do this act right now. MainRecline (talk) 20:01, 28 December 2025 (UTC)Reply

Improving sourcing in the History section

Latest comment: 6 months ago2 comments2 people in discussion

Hello! As part of my work for the communications firm Axicom, I have been asked by eBay to request updates to this article. If independent editors have any questions about my relationship with either company, I'm happy to answer those below or on my user Talk page.

With that disclosure out of the way, I'll pose my first request. I noticed that a few passages in the 2010s and 2020s parts of the History section are substantiated solely by press releases. As I understand it, Wikipedia prefers secondary sources over primary ones, so I've put together some fresh citations that I hope will shore up these passages:

  • In October 2012, eBay launched an international shipping partnership with Pitney Bowes whereby a seller of an item to be shipped internationally can send the item to a Pitney Bowes facility in their home country, which then forwards it to the international buyer, taking care of all international shipping requirements.[1][2]
  • In January 2015, eBay acquired Vivanuncios, a classified advertising website in Mexico.[3]
  • In May 2022, eBay acquired a stake in Funko and became the preferred secondary marketplace for Funko.[4][5]
  • In August 2022, the company acquired the myFitment group of companies, specializing in online sales of automotive and powersports parts and accessories.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ "Pitney Bowes, turning 100, shifts to ecommerce as its trusted postage meter recedes into the past". Hartford Courant. October 12, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  2. ^ Straight, Brian (November 2, 2022). "Pitney Bowes, eBay extend cross-border shipping partnership". Freight Waves. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  3. ^ Steiner, Ina (January 29, 2015). "eBay Adds Another Classifieds Site to Its Portfolio". eCommerceBytes. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  4. ^ Whitten, Sarah (May 5, 2022). "Bob Iger, eBay, sports agent Rich Paul, Chernin Group team up to buy 25% stake in toy maker Funko". CNBC. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  5. ^ Medina, Anthony (July 4, 2022). "Funko's new exclusive drops on eBay show how vital secondary market hype is for collectible manufacturers — even if they never see a dime of revenue from resale". Business Insider. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  6. ^ "Online Auto Parts Battle Revs Up With eBay's myFitment Buy". PYMNTS. August 24, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  7. ^ Steiner, Ina (August 23, 2022). "eBay Acquires Tool to Help Determine Auto Parts Compatibility". eCommerceBytes. Retrieved January 7, 2026.

Not all of these new sources are top-tier, but they're the best ones I could find. I'll now step back and let independent editors review. Thanks! JN at Axicom (talk) 23:11, 9 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Already done PK650 (talk) 04:07, 14 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Adding sentence to the article introduction

Latest comment: 5 months ago11 comments2 people in discussion

Hello again, I'm back with another short request. I was wondering if it would be possible to add a sentence about the size and character of eBay's seller ecosystem to the article's introduction. The section already contains information about how many buyers are on the platform and how much money moves through it in a given year, so I thought a brief sentence about sellers might serve as useful additional context.

Here's my proposed addition. It's the introduction precisely as-is with one new sentence about sellers, which I've highlighted, and a paragraph break that I think makes the section a touch more readable:

I hope that independent editors find my proposed addition helpful. Thanks, JN at Axicom (talk) 17:07, 31 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

  • Is there a more recent count of sellers? Is there one not based on an eBay press release? Also, I don't see the relevance of the Reuters article, other than it mentions individuals and small businesses, which the next paragraph leads with already. Another hint -- avoid marketing speak completely. I know it's hard! "eBay's marketplace features approx. 17 million sellers" -- no, it doesn't feature all those sellers. Just the facts. As of so and so date, eBay has 17 million sellers. Or something like that. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 21:28, 31 January 2026 (UTC)Reply
    Hey, User:jpgordon! I appreciate the feedback. First, I'll provide context on a couple of editorial decisions I made. You're the non-COI editor, so please make your own determination, but perhaps it'll help if I explain myself a little bit.
    The Inc. Magazine piece is the best secondary source I could find that has a firm number (17 million, as of 2021) for the size of the seller ecosystem. There are other outlets—for example, this digital marketing blog— that say eBay has about 18.3 million sellers circa now, but those don't strike me as credible sources, even if the number is probably more or less correct.
    The Reuters article is there to substantiate the claim about the composition of the ecosystem (i.e. it's made up of individuals and small businesses). I mentioned "small businesses" specifically because I believe they're a meaningfully distinct seller category, as opposed to the more generic "companies" mentioned in the following paragraph.
    With all that said, here's a lightly revised version of the sentence:
    As of 2021, eBay's marketplace has approximately 17 million sellers[1] including individuals and small businesses.[2]
    Let me know what you think. Thanks again, JN at Axicom (talk) 17:52, 4 February 2026 (UTC)Reply
    But it's individuals, small businesses, and also medium and large businesses -- all of which we say in the next paragraph. "eBay can be used by individuals, companies and governments to purchase and sell..." Always best to keep the opening paragraph tight and concise. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 01:24, 5 February 2026 (UTC)Reply
    User:jpgordon: I see your point. Would you be okay with just including the 2021 seller figure? Something like this:
    As of 2021, eBay's marketplace has approximately 17 million sellers[1]
    Thanks for being patient with me here. I appreciate your explanations. JN at Axicom (talk) 00:10, 6 February 2026 (UTC)Reply
    I wonder if we can find similar data to parallel the scope of the data presented for buyers? That is, "In 2021, eBay had 17 million sellers, N% of which were in the United States?" Consolidating the number-of-sellers and number-of-buyers information would be pretty tidy. Isn't that sort of information available in eBay's annual reports? --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 01:37, 6 February 2026 (UTC)Reply
    User:Jpgordon: Unfortunately, I'm not sure that data is available. Or at least it's not publicly reported. I think the best reliable source I can provide is that 2021 seller figure. JN at Axicom (talk) 23:56, 11 February 2026 (UTC)Reply
    Yeah, the 2021 10-K seems to be the most recent accounting of the number of sellers, and it doesn't have a breakdown by region. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 00:47, 12 February 2026 (UTC)Reply
    User:Jpgordon: Yeah, these 10-Ks, outside of some essential details, can be a bit inconsistent in terms of what kind of information they contain. So are you okay adding that one brief sentence? Thank you, again, for your help. I really appreciate it! JN at Axicom (talk) 01:01, 14 February 2026 (UTC)Reply
    I've put in the 17 million number, and the actual source your reference was citing. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 05:52, 14 February 2026 (UTC)Reply
    User:Jpgordon: appreciate the help with this, thank you! JN at Axicom (talk) 00:11, 19 February 2026 (UTC)Reply

References

  1. ^ a b Burba, Anabel (July 12, 2024). "eBay Is Fronting (a Lot of) Cash to Sellers. Here's What You Need to Know". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  2. ^ McLymore, Arriana; Reid, Helen (August 29, 2025). "How will the end of the de minimis exemption impact US shoppers and businesses?". Reuters. Retrieved January 15, 2026.


Adding content to 2020s subsection

Latest comment: 1 month ago14 comments3 people in discussion

Hey there, I would like to ask editors to consider adding to the 2020s subsection of the History. I've composed a draft, which includes new passages about notable acquisitions the company has made over the past few years, as well as some company developments that have received coverage in reliable sources. I invite independent editors to review my draft by clicking the dropdown below. All highlighted content is new; all unhighlighted content is exactly as it appears on the page right now.

My hope is that this draft is up to snuff, but if it's not, please leave me a comment below and I will try to adjust the content so that it better fits community standards. Thanks! JN at Axicom (talk) 21:13, 20 February 2026 (UTC)Reply

Reply 20-MAY-2026

🔼  Clarification requested  

  • EBay's authenticity guarantee needs additional information. Specifically how, and in what way, the individual customer who makes use of this service receives their renumeration if that authenticty is determined not to be the case after the purchased item is paid for. Any other peculiarties or requirements of the authenticity guarantee program ought to be delineated.
  • To merit inclusion in the article, the individual companies and or services that EBay launches, acquires, or otherwise collaborates with should be independently notable in Wikipedia. To that end, kindly provide the WikiLinks for the companies and services mentioned in the requested text.
  • When ready to proceed with the requested information, kindly change the {{Edit COI}} template's answer parameter to read from |ans=y to |ans=n.

Thank you! Regards,  Spintendo  09:50, 20 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

User:Spintendo: I appreciate your comments here. As far as the authenticity guarantee, I'm happy to expand that content a bit, but I worry about digressing too much, since this is part of a History section. For consideration, here is a description of how eBay authenticates luxury sneakers from the cited CNN piece:
Here’s how it works: After a sale is completed, qualifying sneakers sold on eBay will be shipped to the company’s third-party authentication facility, instead of to the buyer. There, human experts will use a multi-point inspection process to verify that the shoes “are consistent with the listing title, description and images.” Approved items will be tagged as authentic and shipped to the buyer.
The sneaker authentication program also protects sellers who offer return options from having counterfeit items shipped back to them by predatory purchasers – that is, people who buy legit goods but then initiate a return and swap in fake ones. Sneaker returns will be shipped back to the center for verification of authenticity and condition, confirming it is the exact item that was sold, before they are sent to the seller.
Would a summary of those facts be suitable to add? I'm trying to better understand what you're looking for.
I'm also confused by your criteria for adding content about acquisitions. The page you linked to is about notability for standalone articles, and it has a brief section that stipulates "notability guidelines do not apply to content within articles or lists." It also doesn't seem out of the ordinary for corporate articles to cover acquisitions of companies that don't have their own Wikipedia articles. You can see this, for instance, in the Walmart article. Amazon has an article dedicated to its many acquisitions, the vast majority of which don't have their own Wiki articles.
I can take a second look at the acquisitions content and try to reduce it. I understand that too much of that kind of thing might stray into promotional territory. But I'm not sure what standard I should apply, when determining what to keep and what to discard. Any direction or clarification you could offer here would be much appreciated.
Again, many thanks for replying to my request. I'll standby and wait for you to weigh in further. Cheers! JN at Axicom (talk) 23:24, 26 May 2026 (UTC)Reply
I'm going to ask User:Jpgordon if they would like to weigh in here. No problem if they're not. I'm just looking for some guidance as far as how I should proceed from here. Thanks! JN at Axicom (talk) 23:13, 2 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
I think your very first source on the authentication line points entirely adequately to an a WP:RS that does describe how the authentication works. The company timeline doesn't need operational details. It could be the case that a paragraph elsewhere in the article about authentication would be of interest. Spintendo, JN makes a very good point here; we do seem to have a practice of including acquisitions of otherwise non-notable companies in company histories. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 05:54, 3 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for the input, User:Jpgordon. I'm happy to give Spintendo more time to weigh in, but I also don't know if they're interested in engaging further. If you could give me advice on what to do next, I'd much appreciate it.
As I said above, I can trim some of the suggested new content if non-COI editors think it's a bit too much. I just want to make sure I'm making cuts according to a particular standard first. (Quality of sourcing, tone, level of description, etc.) Or perhaps I should add a bit more information? I'm not really sure. Anyway, thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide! JN at Axicom (talk) 23:28, 8 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
Well, I kinda think there's too much detail -- you're mixing in history of acquisitions with descriptions of eBay features. It's leaning a bit much into the marketing/promotional side. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 02:23, 9 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
I cut some content. I'm also open to further instruction. Just let me know! JN at Axicom (talk) 21:02, 12 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
Good work on the cuts. Why do we care when eBay announced something? In 2020, eBay announced that it was launching a service that would guarantee the authenticity of luxury sneakers sold on its platform -- why not In 2020, eBay launched a service that guarantees the authenticity of luxury sneakers sold on its platform? And so on. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 22:47, 12 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
User:Jpgordon: Yeah, I think that's a reasonable way to streamline the content. I've cut both instances of "announced" that were in my suggested additions above, so that the claims are now a bit more straightforward. I left one "announced" in the existing content because, as a COI editor, I'm hesitant to rewrite anything that isn't inaccurate or in obvious violation of the site's content rules. I'll leave the fate of that passage up to you. Look forward to hearing your thoughts! JN at Axicom (talk) 21:58, 16 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
While I'm picking nits -- do you really think it's worth bragging that eBay is 63rd on a list of innovative companies? Maybe top 10 might be mentionable, but 63rd? --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 22:49, 16 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
Totally fair point, User:Jpgordon. I snipped that claim from the draft, too. What do you think now? JN at Axicom (talk) 01:56, 19 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
Looks good to me. Double-check the changes I made to the article to verify that they're what you intended. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 05:14, 19 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
Yep, your changes look great to me, User:Jpgordon. I really appreciate you taking the time to work through these edits with me! JN at Axicom (talk) 18:34, 23 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

Updating Financial history table

Latest comment: 1 month ago6 comments2 people in discussion

Hi, again! My next request, which concerns the Financial history section, is a fairly simple one. The existing table currently ends in 2022, so I’d like to update it to include financial and employee figures for 2023, 2024, and 2025. I’ve put together an updated version using eBay’s 10-K filings for each year (to stay consistent with the references in the rest of the table). I also provided new citations for 2021 and 2022 to link to the correct 10-K for these years. Everything else in the table is exactly the same as it is in the article now.

As noted in a previous request, I have a financial conflict of interest, so I’m hoping another editor will be willing to review this request for me. User:Jpgordon, I welcome your help again if you’ve got the time and interest. If not, I understand that, too.

Thanks in advance to whoever might take a look at this for me! JN at Axicom (talk) 15:58, 24 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

Removing Weird Al sentence from top of article

Latest comment: 5 days ago3 comments2 people in discussion

Hello again! I wanted to ask editors to consider removing the sentence that reads "For the song by 'Weird Al' Yankovic, see Poodle Hat" from the top of this article. I'm not sure how many people ostensibly looking for the eBay Wikipedia page are actually looking for a 2003 Weird Al single that doesn't have an article of its own. Keeping or removing that sentence is probably a judgment call more than anything else, but to strengthen my case a touch: Weird Al released a parody song called "Spam," a riff on REM's "Stand," in 1989. (See: UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff.) There is no mention of that song at the top of the Spam page; instead it's covered in a section titled Continued cultural presence.

I feel a bit silly placing a formal request for this, but it's not unimportant. Thanks! JN at Axicom (talk) 21:39, 9 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

eBay and its representatives do not get to make requests like this; this is not a factual addition or correction. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 22:07, 14 July 2026 (UTC)Reply
I apologize, User:Jpgordon. I wasn't aware that I was overstepping my bounds. I'll leave the Weird Al matter to other editors.
Below this request, I've made a more straightforward one: basically, I'm just trying to replace a couple of primary sources with more legitimate secondary ones. If you'd like to take a look at that request, great. If not, no worries. Thanks again for your time! JN at Axicom (talk) 19:16, 3 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

Improving sourcing in the 2010s part of the History

Latest comment: 8 days ago1 comment1 person in discussion

There are two passages in the 2010s subsection of the History that are substantiated solely by press releases. As I understand it, Wikipedia prefers secondary sources over primary ones, so I've found new citations for these passages:

  • In October 2012, eBay launched an international shipping partnership with Pitney Bowes whereby a seller of an item to be shipped internationally can send the item to a Pitney Bowes facility in their home country, which then forwards it to the international buyer, taking care of all international shipping requirements.[1][2]
  • In January 2015, eBay acquired Vivanuncios, a classified advertising website in Mexico.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Pitney Bowes, turning 100, shifts to ecommerce as its trusted postage meter recedes into the past". Hartford Courant. October 12, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  2. ^ Straight, Brian (November 2, 2022). "Pitney Bowes, eBay extend cross-border shipping partnership". Freight Waves. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  3. ^ Steiner, Ina (January 29, 2015). "eBay Adds Another Classifieds Site to Its Portfolio". eCommerceBytes. Retrieved January 7, 2026.

I think these improvements are pretty straightforward, but if any independent editors want to discuss them, please leave a message below. Thanks! JN at Axicom (talk) 00:25, 31 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Content Disclaimer

Informasi ini disarikan dari Wikipedia dan disajikan kembali untuk tujuan edukasi. Konten tersedia di bawah lisensi CC BY-SA 3.0. Kami tidak bertanggung jawab atas ketidakakuratan data yang bersumber dari kontribusi publik tersebut.

  1. The information displayed on this website is sourced in part or in whole from Wikipedia and has been adapted for the purpose of restating it. We strive to provide accurate and relevant information, however:
  2. There is no guarantee of absolute accuracy. Wikipedia is an open, collaborative project that can be edited by anyone, so information is subject to change.
  3. It is not intended to constitute professional advice. The content displayed is for informational and educational purposes only. For important decisions (e.g., medical, legal, or financial), please consult a professional.
  4. Content copyright. Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). This means that content may be reused with appropriate attribution and shared under a similar license.
  5. Responsible use. Any risk arising from the use of information from this website is entirely the responsibility of the user.