Recently, Etsy agreed to sell fashion marketplace Depop to eBay for $1.2 billion in cash. This strengthens eBay’s growing fashion business and gives the company access to a huge amount of young and engaged shoppers who use the platform.
It’s seen as a win-win-win move for all parties, as it also provides Etsy with a huge cash infusion and gives Depop much more visibility and a larger reach as a platform.
Etsy Sells Depop to eBay for $1.2 Billion
In a recent blog post, Etsy announced that the company has sold Depop, a major consumer-to-consumer (C2C) fashion marketplace, to eBay for around $1.2 billion. Depop is a mobile-first marketplace that connects fashion buyers and sellers, and has around 7 million active buyers (90% of whom are under 34 years old) and 3 million sellers.
eBay intends to fund the acquisition with cash on hand, and Etsy plans to use the funds gained from the sale for general corporate purposes, to invest in the company’s core marketplace, and to continue share repurchases. The sale has been approved by both eBay’s and Etsy’s Board of Directors, and will close in Q2 2026.
The Move Strengthens eBay’s Growing Fashion Business
The move makes sense for eBay, as the company seeks to accelerate its C2C strategy, with fashion being one of the key drivers of C2C. Fashion is also a massive ecommerce category in general.
Not only is it the largest ecommerce segment in Europe, but the fashion shopping category also enjoys worldwide sales of $760 billion, according to research.
Fashion is also big for eBay specifically, as it represents more than $10 billion in annual gross merchandise volume (GMV) for the company. The category also gained 10% year-over-year GMV growth in the USA in 2025.
In addition to purely being a fashion move, the deal also helps bring eBay access to the many young and engaged shoppers who use Depop to buy and sell clothing. eBay is generally thought of as a more traditional marketplace, and this acquisition will certainly help it appeal to more younger users and those who participate in recommerce.
What Does the Move Mean for the Platform?
In addition to the move making sense for eBay’s business, and giving Etsy over a billion dollars to use for a variety of purposes, the move also benefits Depop. First, being a part of eBay will expand the reach and visibility of the inventory on Depop through cross-listing opportunities.
Also, Depop will have access to eBay’s global scale and large suite of capabilities, including shipping solutions, financial services, and even the Authenticity Guarantee to improve the experience for users.
As for what this means for sellers and buyers on the platform, that remains to be seen. However, there’s a good chance the platform stays similar to how it is today, as the Etsy announcement said that Depop is expected to retain the company’s brand, name, platform, and culture after the transaction.
This move seems like a rare win-win-win for all parties involved. Etsy gets plenty of funds to improve the core marketplace, eBay gets access to a growing fashion marketplace popular with the audience it’s looking to reach, and Depop gets to experience much more reach and visibility as a platform, while also benefiting from the many features and services that eBay offers.
