What’s up eBay Live? Taking stock six months after the launch #LTM151″

Welcome.

There she is.

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She's casual, she's cool, she's fab.

I love this.

Another classic.

This is really like a piece of history that we're looking at right now.

Has everybody got their engines ready?

Now that's what I call lifecommerce.

Fast, dynamic and highly energetic.

And that's what we'll talk about today.

How LifeCommerce works, whether you should consider it and and why ebay has gone all in with their very own live commerce feature, Ebay Life.

Let's go.

Let's Talk Marketplace.

The Marketplace podcast with Ingrid Lohmer and Vana Rie Dichte.

Hello, everyone and welcome back to let's Talk Marketplace.

I'm Ingrid, your host, as always, and today I'm really happy that we can bring you a topic that has been in and out of my conversations with brands and sellers all the time over the last few months.

And that is live commerce and how does it work?

Can it work for brands?

What is the setup?

What do you need?

And does it actually have any return on investment?

That's the topics that we would like to share today.

And with me to do that is someone from ebay, actually, Lara is with me.

Hi, Lara.

And I think that is a great point in time to talk with you, Lara, because about six months ago, I think ebay started out with their own live commerce version which is called ebay life.

So it's a great time now to take stock, have a look at that and maybe you can share a few first impressions.

And what we also have today that's special is some voices from the seller community.

So that's not just Lara talking with me about ebaydife, but also the sellers.

So that is what is in stock today.

So I hope you will all join us and keep with us for the next half hour.

And yeah, let's first start out with you, Lara.

Welcome to the show.

It's great to have you.

Who are you, what are you doing at ebay and what do you have to do with ebay Life.

Yeah.

Thank you for having me, Ingrid.

I'm so excited to check in with you today.

And I think you're right, the six month mark is really the perfect time to sort of take stock and reflect.

I've been with eBay for four years now.

I originally came to lead the collectibles category and for the past year I've been in charge of ebay live here in Germany.

So preparing for launching.

Launching at the end of November last year, and now building business here in Germany.

And it's super, super exciting.

It's a great opportunity for all of us.

It's a very interesting project and also quite ambitious from what I've seen over the last few months.

So maybe first give us an idea.

Where did this come from?

Why is ebay now going into ebay, into life commerce?

Where did this idea start?

Yeah, so I think it's sort of a twofold answer.

Live has been live in the US for our eBay customers for almost closing in on five years now.

So it's a.

It's a place that we've been playing in, in other markets.

But last year we decided that we wanted to launch it into an additional six markets.

So we're live in seven markets now, including in Germany, because this is where we see growth.

I think it's a space that is super exciting for everyone, right, for the sellers and for the buyers.

And I think we, as ebay in particular, have such a.

Have such an interest in it and have such a right to win in it because we've been active in these markets for so long and we've been working with buyers and with our sellers in these sort of enthusiast buying communities, I like to say.

And I think there's.

There's a piece with LiveCommerce that taps into that collecting sort of passion space in a way that's really, really special.

And so looking at our, you know, looking at our heritage, looking at our DNA, whether it's the sort of auction space or the work in collectibles or high asp fashion, we really felt like this was something that we wanted to do and it was a tool we really, really wanted to give to our sellers.

Mm, that's really interesting to hear, especially as I'm German, so I have a German perspective on the topic of life commerce.

And speaking as someone who's based here, I have to say this is a topic that over the last years was always a bit of a, yeah, that works in Asia, that doesn't work around here, or that is just too complicated, that's too much investment that I need to put in.

It will never work.

That's what I heard for a long time until last year when TikTok shop came along.

And then interest ran high again in this topic that has been in and out of the debate again and again.

Again.

So how was your experience with the German sellers then?

Were they this skeptical, as I've just pointed out, or have they been embracing you?

I think no, I Think we've been really lucky.

I think there's a couple of things.

So I think the idea of sort of these engaging live streams is something that particularly platforms like Twitch have made well known even, you know, well before TikTok shop launch now, 15 months ago.

And I think the other thing is that because a lot of these, again, a lot of these sort of passion communities, these enthusiast communities also are looking in a much broader way.

So they're looking at, you know, they're looking at inventory from outside of Germany, they're looking at inventory in Japan, they're looking at inventory in the US So I think there too our background and our deep expertise working with those communities has meant that a lot of those sellers were quite familiar with the concept already.

And so while I think live commerce in the EU will be different than Asia, certainly, I think there's no question that it has an equally strong and important position to play.

So I think where when I look east, things are being driven 24 7, it's very fast, it's very sort of boom, boom, boom.

It's always available.

And I think in Germany it's something that's more event driven.

And I, and I actually think the other, the other interesting piece for Germany in specific is that live commerce really has a function to play in the shift towards re commerce and pre loved and refurbished.

Because the fact that as a seller I can show you all sides of the object, I can answer your questions in real time.

So whether it's an iPhone, where you say, oh, but let me see the scratch.

Well, I can show you, you know, it's a conversation that we can have, it's a dialogue that we can have.

Or if it's a handbag or a Pokemon card, I can show you all different things.

I can tell you the story behind it.

I can really explain condition.

There's a level of trust there that I think for the European buyer is incredibly important and that I can sort of solve for via this new live selling channel, that a static listing is much harder to use to tell that story.

So I think it's, you know, I think all of these things come together.

I think the fact that at ebay, we've been in the market for 30 years, so we also have sort of the experience with transactions with our buyers, with our sellers.

We have our authenticity guarantee in place across jewelry, handbags, sneakers, you know, it's watches, of course, we have the ebay money back guarantee that sits over all of it.

We come with this sort of arsenal, this sort of structure of Trust that I think enables both sellers and buyers to feel much more comfortable in a medium that maybe initially feels foreign or too fast.

If we look just to.

I think it's about pivoting it to meet the European seller and buyer needs.

But our European sellers and our German sellers specifically so far have been super excited, really, really keen to dip their toes and start experimenting.

I think this is a good point where we could actually show what that looks like because I've got a few clips from sellers that are active on ebay live.

Already asked them beforehand about their experiences.

And here's what Benjamin Gabriel from my Swoop.

He's selling refurbished electronics on ebay and on ebay Life.

How he's doing that?

Let's have a look at that.

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So that is actually what you were saying, is it?

This, this very close and personal relationship that you can bring as a seller to, with, to the product for your customer, Is that correct?

Yeah, I think it's.

I mean, I think it's incredible, right?

I think it's.

You're able to really showcase and share your expertise with people and I think that's something that we know our buyers are looking for, right?

It's something that we know drives conversion.

The idea that I actually do have all that information at my fingertips and again, I think this idea of actually being able to ask the seller a question in real time is kind of mind blowing to people.

That I could be on my couch and scroll through listings.

Yes, fine.

And agentic shopping also super exciting.

But this idea that I'm having a conversation with this person who's telling me things is game changing to me.

Whether, whether that's, you know, about the Knicks on an iPhone or about a Pokemon card that I've been chasing for years or about, I don't know, a vintage Kelly bag that I might really want to buy, but I'm not totally sure because it's a big purchase.

But at this point I can really say, show me the stitching, show me the edges, flip it over again.

Show me, you know, show me the hardware, what, whatever, whatever it is.

You can ask your questions and have them answered.

And that's, that's incredible.

And I think for the, for the sellers, a Lot of the feedback that I've gotten is that that also solves one of the biggest issues in retail, which is the returns.

Right.

That people will buy something and they're excited about it, but then it gets to their house and they say, oh, it's actually not what I thought it was.

You know, it's not as described.

And then they return it.

And I think this is.

This is a huge way to just kind of compress that risk.

Will there still be returns?

Of course.

Right.

Where people.

Sometimes we buy things accidentally, whatever.

But it really.

I think it really enables the seller to kind of get ahead of that and to prevent it, which is.

Which is also just a crazy.

A crazy unlock.

Yeah.

And a crazy new opportunity.

That's why I would like to let Mirada have her voice heard as well.

She's also a seller and she sells vintage fashion on ebay live.

And we asked her what, in her opinion, the USP of this live commerce is, and that's what she has to say about that.

For me, personally, I would say you can't really compare normal listings to life selling.

The advantage I see is that you can build very strong relationships with your clients because you can show the item, you can tell them about the story, why it holds its value, or why maybe it's more of a trend item.

So, yeah, people can ask specific questions and you can show them how it looks on a person.

Yeah.

Lara, would you buy a skirt from Meruda if you've seen something like that?

Absolutely.

Would I.

Would I have bought from Meroda in the past?

Oh, yes.

Okay.

Yes.

My team sometimes makes fun of me because they know that when there's sort of vintage leather goods, then if we're all in the same room, they have to say to me, do you need this?

Do you need this and Meroda or.

Actually, no, you know what?

That's not true.

I tried to buy a piece of apparel from Meroda in our Vogue vintage fashion sale, and I lost it usually.

No, I know it was upsetting, but she usually doesn't, you know, she's usually not so.

So in the apparel space, so it's rare.

But I have.

I have bought a. I have bought a small vintage leather good,.

Successfully one and I'm very fond of it.

Yeah.

But.

But speaking of Merota, because I also looked at her screen and her ebay live session and I can actually show a piece here.

Just give me.

These.

Fleece shout mahinism.

And you can see Moroda is a natural at acting in front of the camera.

Connecting.

She Has a very good, just a good feeling on how to do that, how to present her clothes, how to talk, how to be very just approachable on camera.

But that brings, brings me to one of the questions that I heard a lot from, especially from brands when it comes to selling on live commerce, like, do I need a camera person for this?

Do I need a presenter?

Do I need someone who's actually, who's good in this thing?

Do I need to hire someone?

So what is the setup that people use on ebay life typically and what is maybe the best setup?

I think so.

I mean, very, very transparently.

I think it runs the whole gamut.

So I don't think that anyone should feel that they have to have a studio set up or a camera person or production dollars to spend or any of these things.

I don't think that's necessary at all.

I've seen incredible streams that are really a seller, streaming on their phone, walking through their warehouse, pulling things out of boxes and talking to their community.

And I think the reason that that flies, the reason that that's so popular and that it works is because those sellers both have the kind of personality that I think you're nodding to with Merota, where she's so engaging, she's so approachable, she's clearly so authentic and she's so knowledgeable.

So I think it's that and I think the other piece is that it's the interaction with the chat, right?

It's that the chat will say, okay, but do you have whatever it is, right?

Like do you have a Louis?

Do you have a whatever?

Like can you show me the red Gucci?

What's in that box?

And the seller kind of responding to that and then opening it live on stream.

That's so exciting.

It's so engaging to the chat.

So I think that's, you know, any sense of people being scared of low production value goes right out the window at that minute.

If you're in there with those people showing them, responding to them, they don't care whether you're showing them a warehouse they're not asking for a set piece of.

So I think that's.

People can be, you know, people can sort of check that at the door.

At the same time, of course, there is incredible value at presenting this like very beautifully shot production if that's the way that you want to go.

And I understand that, you know, it's possible, particularly for large brands, that there's a brand tone of voice that they need to consider and so they want to go that Route, but it's not at all, I don't think it should be at all a barrier to entry.

No, I think it's something where people should feel free to sort of test and learn.

They may find that for their particular inventory they need a different setup.

So for my trading card sellers or for my Lego sellers, they do prefer usually to have a table and lighting because it's just easier to capture the inventory and because that's what their buyers are looking for.

But no, you can do whatever you want.

You can live stream, you can livestream from your closet.

People are doing that.

That's super popular because it's also exciting.

We get to peek inside someone's closet and see what they have and it's, you know, it's.

No, but it's so as I think as humans, this is so exciting.

And I'm much more, you know, I know myself like I will definitely watch someone go through their closet whether I buy something or not.

Just, just to see.

It's a, it's sort of like a route of discovery.

Yeah.

Still what I feel, because as our audience are a lot of people from physical brands, mostly marketplace managers from brands and they are, as you said before, part of a larger company.

So they have all these company values to keep up and they might have a fear of this slightly, I don't know, uncontrollable environment that they're entering when it comes to live commerce.

Yeah, maybe.

Let's hear Mirota on this for a second.

I would say my biggest fail was probably during a troll attack during the stream where someone was writing extremely rude comments about women, about foreigners.

It was really bad.

And back then I didn't know how to mute someone in the chat.

So we had to sit through it for, let's say, 30 minutes until someone from my team contacted ebay.

And I would recommend before you stream to think about also worst case scenarios and prepare accordingly.

This will help you a lot and staying confident.

Yeah, I mean, if you hear this now, consider this.

Okay.

This must have been quite terrifying for Meroda as she is.

But she is her own boss in her own company, so that is sort of her personal risk.

But consider something like that happening to, I don't know, a marketplace manager at a brand who has pushed for this live commerce.

And then stuff like that happens and the products of a brand are part of a scenario in which they really shouldn't be.

Is that something that you can really avoid or is that something that just have to, I don't know, take one for the team and stuff like that happens in LiveCommerce?

No.

And I mean, you know, unfortunately, I'm not, I'm not familiar with that particular stream.

I will say that from a tooling, product build perspective, we have invested pretty heavily so that sellers have to figure out all aspects of their technical setup.

So it's one of those things where we onboard ourselves into our host console, and then from there they can very much control all aspects of their stream.

So whether it's editing the items live, changing the lineup, changing the way you're running auctions, changing the timeframe, that sort of stuff.

Also, in full transparency, you're able to mute people who are in the chat as the seller in real time.

So it's, it's.

It's something that we're very close to, and it's something that I think our seller feedback is incredibly valuable too, of course, because we want our sellers to feel that they're in control of their environment and in their space.

I don't see that as an issue for any of our marketplaces or our brands.

I think, you know, general guidance for me, of course, is if you see that there are comments that are coming or if there is some sort of live chat interaction that is not the way we want it to be.

We both have algorithms in place that are muting things.

You were able to mute things, and you definitely have full control of sort of what's visible.

What's visible there.

But I think you still have to be active in the call and just take note of these things.

Is it.

I mean, absolutely, absolutely.

And I think that's, you know, I think we've sort of come onto one of the challenges in going into the selling space, which is it is not trivial to be on camera to presenting items, to be responding to the chat, to be pinning items, starting auctions, you know, taking notes, which sort of.

Which buyer has said what potentially, you know, I just said all the ways in which you can change sort of run of show while you're in it, like potentially doing all of these things.

Things.

There is a learning curve there.

And I think it is something, when we speak to our sellers, that we're very happy to kind of be in dialogue there and say, listen, what is your vision for this show?

Are you comfortable doing it alone?

Is it something where perhaps you have someone else from your team there assisting you?

Is it someone that's off camera handing you things?

Is it someone who's helping to start the auctions, whatever it might be, but it, but it is something where, you know, I think you're right.

I think you're right to flag it.

It isn't just, it takes a little bit more sort of forethought and planning than just to say, okay, click, I go live.

I think so, because I think that is just something.

It's a completely different form of marketing to what most marketing marketplace managers have done before because it is life.

This is just a different situation.

That in itself is not a problem, but you have to prepare differently for it.

This is why I wanted to flag that.

Yeah, maybe turning to, after we talked a bit about challenges to the potentials because from what I understand is of course we've seen a lot of success in sort of the no brainer categories for ebay like trading cards and vintage fashion, for example, or accessories, stuff like that.

So things that you can show easily and which also have a very dedicated community that might look for them.

So.

But can you also tell us a bit more about how ebay life has been faring in the.

Com in other categories so far?

Yeah, sure.

I think, I think you're, you know, I think, I think it's right.

There's, there are these sort of enthusiast categories where live shopping has been at home, whether that's in the US or even here in Germany.

I think that some of these categories in which, which don't necessarily map onto that are super, super, super exciting though.

I think for one, particularly in Germany, there is just a freedom of exploration and there's a little bit of like a first mover test and learn opportunity that I see there.

And that's something that I, you know, speaking to sellers, that's something that I flag where I say like listen, that space is still a white space.

This is still a sandbox.

We can kind of go in and see what.

No, but we can pilot formats, we can see what happens, we can learn together.

But you'll also be the first ones there, which is huge in terms of building your following in your community and claiming that space for yourself.

I think the other call out that I have there is that anything that needs explanation is really, really, really well suited to live.

So if I can bring my expertise, this is probably an item that will do very well in live because I can spend the time and I can explain.

And again we talked about this at the top a little bit.

People can ask questions that I can answer in real time.

So even questions that I don't anticipate where I wouldn't include the answers maybe or in some sort of description or item listing, I can respond to Whoever's in the chat.

And so I short circuit that kind of conversion where someone sees the listing and then goes off to do research and then maybe does something else and then maybe comes back and converts.

I can just short circuit that.

I can compress that funnel just because we're live, just by the mere sort of operation of the channel.

I can make sure that I close that window.

And so I think it's.

Yeah, I think it's super exciting.

What we've seen so far is that these categories as we test, so test and pilot into them, there's a ton of opportunity there because people are hungry for that and people are hungry to like to learn about that and to just learn about the lever of live commerce or social commerce in this way because people just aren't as familiar with it yet.

So if I understand that correctly, like everything where just a picture won't cut it in a way is interesting.

So everything where you might want to, to show, I don't know, a third dimension or a function that is not really obvious from the picture on the product, where you can really showcase it or things that might need a bit more explanation or where people have specific questions on.

So anything that continues the conversation over merely this is the product, buy it or not.

Correct?

Yeah, and I think it's.

Yeah, I think that's right.

And I think it's, I mean, from my own, you know, sort of.

This is very anecdotal because it's my experience, but you know, every once in a while there's, there's something that you have to buy and you realize this is the first time that you're buying in that category.

You have to do the research as a. I think, you know, particularly from the German perspective, like we're a researching country of buyers.

We are, we take it seriously, we think about it, we want to know, we want to make sure it's the best.

We have to reach Dyftung van Test or some sort of like consumer report.

Like this is, this is sort of like a national default.

And so I think even just having the opportunity of even, even if it's that I watch three livestream from three different sellers on three sort of related products.

You know, if it's.

I'm.

I don't know, I'm looking for the perfect Italian coffee machine and I'm ready to spend a couple of hundred euros, but I know nothing about this other than that I like the coffee.

I think watching live streams where someone is showing me, look, this is, this is how this machine Literally works.

This is how I put the water in.

This is how the coffee comes out.

This is the maintenance versus, you know, the next one over is super helpful because otherwise I guess I could take myself elsewhere and do that research.

But a live stream is just fun.

You know, I think it's, I think that's, it's, it's sort of the infotainment, if you will.

I guess it's very educational, it's entertaining.

And again it's this, it's asking, it's asking the questions in real time and actually getting the answers.

That's super powerful.

Yeah, absolutely.

And also as you said before, it is an evolving market so there are not that many people active there if you can compare it to other channels that you are selling on at the moment.

So really the time to make a mark.

Can you tell us a bit on the consumer side of this from an ebay perspective?

How many people have been watching it over the last six months?

Is there any numbers you can share on, on traffic, for example?

Yeah, I think at ebay we're particularly lucky because we're not just building sort of a live commerce functionality, but we're adding this to the mature marketplace that we have.

And so it's something that I think we're sort of uniquely positioned to do.

Right.

We have all of our traffic drivers that are in place for our core marketplace business and we're able to drive that onto our live streams now that we're testing into them.

We had our, in Q1, we had our day of deals which was this like very exciting activation where we had up to I think 150 streams running in parallel.

And it was super, super exciting because there.

And I can't share that we broke through a seven figure GMV mark just on that day.

So I think there's.

Yeah, it was great, but so I think there's a there too.

It's a sort of unique advantage that we have where we're coming at it from a place of a very strong buying community that comes to us with a pretty high purchase intent that we can then invite in to join our live streams.

And I think there's a real difference there to other players in the market, right.

That people are coming to us because they trust us, because they trust our sellers, because they know that we have all of the sort of buyer mechanisms in place that they need and they want.

And so now we're just saying, look, and this is another way to make purchases.

This is another way to discover your inventory.

This is another way to get to know your sellers and explore with us.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

I guess I'll give the word to Benjamin on this point because he put it quite nicely, actually.

I would say live shopping, to be really, really frank, is one of the key factors for the future business.

So, as we all see, a lot of people are participating and there's a new lifestyle of new shopping, and you have to go through the new opportunities.

And I would say it's the right position to start with ebay.

Live shopping.

Yeah.

So I guess that is.

That is a good final word from our seller here, Lara.

But I.

Before we close, I wanted to ask you, where are you going with ebay Life?

So where does it fit into the broader marketplace strategy for ebay?

What have you planned for the next six to 12 months for this new feature?

Oh, my gosh.

I mean, the sky's the limit.

No, it's true.

I think we're so, so lucky.

You know, it's such a comparatively new, nascent market here in Germany.

We're able to just enable our sellers, we're able to invite our buyers in, we're able to test and learn.

As I say, there are things that, quite frankly, we don't know yet.

And there is this sort of road of discovery where we say, okay, how does this work best?

And of course, we have learnings from the other markets, and we have learnings if we look from China.

But every market brings with it its own specificities, whether from the selling side or the buying side or, you know, the cultural side of how purchases are made.

So I think it's just.

I think it's just going to be this very exciting sort of journey of exploration where I think it's, you know, it's not a matter of whether this will become as important as it is in Asia.

I think it's really just a matter of when and what the nuances will be.

So it's an exciting space.

Yeah, absolutely.

Anything a bit more detailed, maybe, on what is planned?

You know, I don't know, new markets, new categories, whatever.

Anything.

Well, I think you can expect us.

I think you can expect us to continue to broaden our category offering.

We launched in Q4, late Q4, last year.

We really launched with a foot in collectibles.

Then we activated passion in early Q1.

Now we're on our way testing into sort of consumer goods and electronics, and we're in video games.

And I think that's kind of the path that you can expect us to take.

And of course, our North Star, obviously, is to make sure that Live is a channel for our sellers across the board because we just see it as so powerful and so just such a perfect addition to the core marketplace.

It's really an opportunity for sellers and for brands to build themselves these giant billboards, you know, where they're building followers and they're showcasing their expertise and their products.

That, of course, will then also drive the rest of their business because people will just get to know them.

And I think maybe, maybe that is something to also share with the audience because I think that that's something that I found very, very exciting that we've seen the uptick on all listings across the board for sellers, so not just the ones that are sold in live, but just skyrocket because people are aware, you know, and I think that is something.

There's something about this standout functionality of really engaging, building traction and making yourself knowable.

You know, you're so much more approachable because you're sharing so much about yourself and about your inventory and about your business.

And so, yeah, it's just a.

It's an amazing tool and I can't wait for us to roll it out as broadly as we can.

Okay.

Yeah, absolutely.

Right.

Lara, thank you very much for your insights today.

I think we had a nice half hour together with the ebay sellers, looking back at the last six months and here's hoping for a great uplift in the next month as well.

And if you are now interested in taking part in this new and exciting feature, but want to learn more about it, because like me, you are German and you need to research because as Lara rightly put it, it's a default option.

I love that it's absolutely correct.

But you might want to check out our joint webinar that we are planning at the moment.

Marketplace Universe and ebay live together.

We're going to be live in June, linking all the information in the show notes.

And yeah, you can just watch us base and take part in the webinar where I'm joined by your colleague Mason, who is going to dive deeply into what, how ebay life really works, what you need for that, how brands and retailers can participate.

So, yeah, better join.

Join up for that one.

So thank you very much today, Lara.

It's been a pleasure.

Thank you so much, Ingrid.

I loved it.

I'm excited to see you and Mason in the webinar.

Mason is a trip.

I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with him.

It will be, I think, infotainment at.

Its very, very best.

That's what I expect of him.

Thank you very much and thank you, everyone, for listening today.

Bye.

Bye.

You listen to let's Talk Marketplace, the Marketplace podcast with Ingrid Lommer and Valerie Dichtel.