EBay profit more than doubles thanks to PayPal lift Thursday, 19th July 2012

The online auction website saw net profits more than double in its second-quarter thanks to a surge in activity from its PayPal business and websites.

EBay on Thursday announced profits of USD 692 million in the three months to the end of June, up from USD 283 million a year before. Revenue rose to 23 per cent to USD 3.4 billion for this time.

Speaking in light of the results, John Donahoe, the eBay chief executive, said: "We delivered a great second quarter, driven by eBay Marketplaces' best performance in years, strong growth at PayPal and strong same-store-sales growth for GSI's large retail customers."

EBay’s marketplace business also saw the strongest growth rate since 2006, as cash-strapped consumers looked to auction items. By mixing promotional “No listing-fee” periods with transaction charges and listing fees for merchants, eBay continued to attract new members looking for an extra source of revenue, with PayPal ending the quarter with 113.2 million accounts, up 13 per cent from the year before.

The company said it is now looking to expand its PayPal business beyond the internet, offering services to bricks-and-mortar stores and mobile devices.

Describing m-commerce as a “game changer”, Donahoe went on to add that:
"We now expect eBay and PayPal mobile to each transact $10 billion in volume in 2012 - that's more than double 2011, a staggering surge in mobile shopping and payments on devices that did not exist just a few years ago. Retail is at an inflection point, and we are helping to reshape how people around the world shop and pay."

Related Stories

• EBay sees Q1 results top expectations (Friday, 20th April 2012)
• EBay names new PayPal president (Thursday, 29th March 2012)
• Under the hammer: eBay reports solid Q4 (Thursday, 19th January 2012)

Posted in E-Commerce, M-Commerce, Online retail Tagged ebay, online, paypal, john donahoe, marketplace, business