Like just about each sector within the enterprise world, the secondhand trade is grappling with the ramifications of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Nonetheless, based mostly on the feedback made by eBay and Etsy earlier this week, each don’t seem like overly involved.
The businesses lately reported Q1 2025 earnings outcomes, each addressing the urgent matter of tariffs. eBay and Etsy are resilient to an extent, largely on account of their sellers’ approaches to sourcing merchandise. In distinction to import-reliant rivals like Temu and Shein, which lately raised costs in response to tariffs, many eBay and Etsy sellers within the U.S. primarily supply their merchandise regionally, usually promoting used, classic, or handmade gadgets.
The businesses supplied information throughout their earnings calls to show the minimal publicity to tariffs.
eBay’s CEO Jamie Iannone mentioned, “Our higher China to U.S. quarter makes up about 5% of whole [gross merchandise value] for us. And China total is rather less than 10%.”
Equally, Etsy’s CFO, Lanny Baker, mentioned, “At current, Etsy’s direct tariff publicity seems to be comparatively low on condition that simply over 1% of [gross merchandise sales] comes from U.S. imports of things bought from sellers in China.”
Etsy’s CEO, Josh Silverman, added, “Most are solo entrepreneurs working from their dwelling with 90% sourcing their provides domestically.”
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Having sellers with native sourcing methods can present a big benefit over rivals like Temu, Shein, and Amazon. Nonetheless, secondhand corporations nonetheless need to take care of the challenges that include the continued financial uncertainty and client spending habits.
Etsy seems to be barely extra susceptible relating to this. Etsy’s core enterprise mannequin focuses on handcrafted and classic items, which are usually priced increased. So, whereas Etsy sellers might not really feel the results of tariffs, prospects are nonetheless hesitant to spend, resulting in a 3.4% year-over-year decline in lively patrons, bringing the full to 88.5 million. The variety of ordinary patrons was down 11%, totaling 6.2 million.
Moreover, Etsy reported an 8.9% decline in gross merchandise gross sales (GMS) for {the marketplace} to $2.3 billion.
On a optimistic be aware, Etsy continues to learn from its possession of Depop, a secondhand trend platform that continues to be fashionable amid the looming recession. Since buying Depop in 2021, the platform has achieved record-high GMS. The corporate didn’t disclose particular figures.
“Etsy has a powerful monitor file of navigating turbulent macroeconomic circumstances, and we’re assured in our capability to maintain adapting,” Silverman mentioned.
In distinction, eBay is in a stronger place as a result of extra price-conscious consumers are selecting used and refurbished items, which the corporate mentioned accounts for over 40% of its stock. The corporate reported that prospects desperate to keep away from tariffs have elevated their spending, giving eBay a strong begin to the quarter.
“Now we have noticed wholesome quantity traits on account of power in our focus classes and what may very well be a modest pull ahead of demand from customers frightened about elevated prices and complexity at U.S. customs within the close to future,” mentioned eBay’s CFO, Steve Priest.
The corporate’s gross merchandise quantity (GMV) grew to $18.8 billion, whereas income elevated over 1% to $2.58 billion.
