eBay’s earnings call last night held few surprises, with first quarter 2009 Marketplaces’ revenue down 18% compared to the same quarter in 2008. The company blamed this on the strong dollar and “challenging” macroeconomic conditions. But there was some good news amongst the gloom.
- PayPal revenue increased 11%, outperforming ecommerce in general by 2:1. Total payment volume was up 10% (44% of that is from outside the US). 22 of the top 100 online retailers now accept both PayPal and BillMeLater.
- Classifieds revenue increased 23% year-on-year.
- Fixed-price format (Buy It Now) grew 12%.
In fact, as John Donahoe said, “every format we have, except for auctions, is growing faster than ecommerce.” Auctions declined 20%.
eBay don’t break out individual country’s performances, but eBay UK have told us that sold items in the UK are up YoY. The weak pound has particularly benefitted export sales, which are up 30% year on year, thanks also to aggressive marketing on other eBay sites.
The full webcast and presentation is available online, and the results are also available as a PDF.
