eBay's Q2 2025: Discrepancies in International Performance, Ad Revenue Growth, and AI Integration

International market performance, marketing and ad revenue growth, tariff and shipping solution impact, AI integration and impact on GMV, and U.S. market performance and growth drivers are the key contradictions discussed in eBay's latest 2025Q2 earnings call.



Revenue and GMV Growth:
- eBay reported revenue growth of more than 4% to $2.73 billion and GMV growth of 4% to $19.5 billion in Q2 2025.
- The growth was driven by strong performance in focus categories such as collectibles and Motors, Parts, and Accessories (P&A), along with healthy trends in U.S. consumer demand.

Focus Category Performance:
- Focus category GMV grew by over 10%, contributing nearly 1 point to the overall enterprise GMV growth.
- The momentum in trading cards, particularly in collectible card games and sports trading cards, was a major factor. Innovation in grading, bulk selling capabilities, and inventory integration contributed to this growth.

Advertising Revenue and Initiatives:
- eBay's first-party advertising revenue grew by 17% to $455 million in Q2 2025.
- This was driven by the adoption of various promotional listings and the extension of priority ads to vehicle sellers, along with the integration of AI technologies to enhance promotional product relevance.

International and Regional Variations:
- U.S. GMV growth accelerated to 7%, while international GMV growth was nearly 2% on an FX-neutral basis, with Europe remaining challenging due to macroeconomic factors.
- eBay's strategic initiatives in the U.K. and Germany have helped offset these macroeconomic challenges, particularly in consumer-to-consumer (C2C) markets.