Soaring number of eBay ‘millionaire sellers’ in UK and Germany

11 Jul 2017

Online shopping site eBay. Image: Daniel Krason/Shutterstock

Buying and selling online is big business for big businesses, but pretty much anyone can do it now, thanks to the likes of eBay.

A select number of eBay sellers are raking it in and that number is continually growing, according to recent reports.

In the UK and Germany, in particular, so-called ‘millionaire sellers’ have increased significantly in the past four years. Those two markets saw a 50pc rise, with 1,758 sellers there now, up from 1,174 in 2013.

The fact that the UK and Germany are home to such an increase should come as no surprise, as both markets combine to make up 30pc of eBay’s entire net revenue.

Reuters reports that the US represents 43pc of eBay’s entire revenue, while the rest of Europe, combined with other international markets, makes up the 27pc of remaining global revenue.

On the up

E-commerce has continued its emphatic growth for several years now, with some markets further along than others in terms of digital adoption.

In Asia, for example, mobile commerce is immense. It accounts for 71pc of Chinese e-commerce, with transactions worth $750m in 2016. The market is dominated by Alipay and WeChat Pay, which between them hold 92pc market share and have more than 1bn users.

The duo recently partnered with Stripe, opening up the latter to around 1bn customers. Stripe was founded six years ago by brothers John and Patrick Collison. The company’s technology platform enables hundreds of thousands of businesses to securely accept payments and create new revenue streams.

Irish eyes

Meanwhile, research in Ireland has found that 81pc of Irish adults are now shopping on their phones or computers, with the low prices available online a growing attraction.

Pitney Bowes, an e-commerce operator, recently revealed plans to create 100 jobs in Dublin on the back of growing work with eBay.

George Berzgal, vice-president for EMEA at Pitney Bowes’ global e-commerce group, told Siliconrepublic.com that the business is growing fast.

“A decade ago, we started helping with the shipment and logistics of parcels. We began having conversations with eBay in the US, and they approached us about enabling them and their sellers to transact and ship internationally.

“We are now extending that relationship to all marketplaces globally, and starting with eBay in the UK.”

Online shopping site eBay. Image: Daniel Krason/Shutterstock

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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