This month marks a significant milestone in our three-year journey to manage the end-to-end payments process on eBay, and to facilitate a more streamlined experience overall. eBay is now managing payments in all markets, with the majority of sellers enabled for the new experience as they run their online business.
Our journey is progressing faster than expected. At the end of Q2 2021, we had more than 13 million sellers on managed payments and we exited the quarter processing over 80 percent of on-platform Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV). Looking ahead to the third quarter of this year, we are on track to process over 90 percent of on-platform volume. To put that into perspective: Just one year ago, approximately 340,000 sellers were on managed payments, representing approximately 20 percent of on-platform volume.
Everything we do is with our customers in mind. Three years ago, we embarked on this journey to provide a simpler payments and checkout experience for our eBay community. In creating this new experience, we developed each new feature and innovation in collaboration with sellers to ensure that what we do supports their day-to-day operations. And over the years, we’ve heard from sellers about the positive impact that managed payments has had on their business.
Seller Shari Smith shared with us how her accounting and operations are simplified by using managed payments, providing more time for her to spend with loved ones. And Monica Gamboa has said she’s enjoying the boost in choice and convenience in payouts while running her online store.
The world looks different from when we began this payments evolution in 2018. The pandemic has changed ecommerce, making every payment innovation more important as small businesses turn to selling online to sustain their livelihoods and buyers look to virtual storefronts to find the items they need and want. The evolution of payments has become even more essential for our eBay community. We’re seeing the lines between online and offline shopping behaviors blur even further — such transformations are impacting how people purchase and shop for products.
Our focus remains on the customer experience. By adopting and scaling managed payments globally, we’re bringing more ease of use for customers, thereby opening up a bigger world of possibility and innovation in service of our community.
More Flexibility, Convenience and Choice
The new payments experience continues to help businesses save time while streamlining operations and offering more payment options for buyers.
For sellers: One place to sell and get paid — Sellers can run their businesses in one place, and attract potential buyers with more ways to pay. Most sellers can also expect to see savings. In the previous legacy experience, sellers had to toggle between two sets of accounts, reports, online tools, policies and customer service. Now, sellers can run their business in one place, with one set of protections and policies.
Managing the payments experience ourselves also allows us to eliminate a pain point that sellers occasionally face on eBay — unpaid items. Changes to checkout have been made to address this issue, and today 99 percent of fixed price transactions are paid up front.
For buyers: Zip through checkout with more ways to pay — Buyers have more payment options relevant to their preferences, whether they’re paying on the go with their smartphone or with local currencies or forms of payment outside of the U.S.
Buyers love the flexibility, choice and ease of use. We are seeing increased usage of mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and Buy-Now-Pay-Later options like Afterpay in Australia, particularly among new and reactivated buyers.
The checkout experience is also easier and faster. Overall, we’re seeing buyers zipping through checkout more quickly to pay for their purchases.
What’s Next: New Features and Capabilities
Now that eBay is managing payments, we can build even better customer experiences as we continue on our path of being a modern managed marketplace. We know flexibility, speed and control are important to our sellers. We will continue to listen to their feedback, enable new features and enhance capabilities to meet their evolving needs.
As we reimagine eBay with technology and customers at the forefront, we’re excited by this momentum and about the tremendous opportunities it presents for us and for our community in accelerating managed payments into 2022.