23.12.2025 | by Lili
Highlights
eBay brings its popular live shopping service, eBay Live, to Germany. As of 29 November 2025, German shoppers can watch and shop live streaming videos on the platform. But what is eBay Live, and why is it important?
Launched in 2022, eBay Live is eBay’s live shopping platform, currently available in the US, the UK, Australia, and now Germany. Sellers can live-stream videos in product categories like fashion and high-value collectibles, including coins, sports trading cards, comic books, and figurines.
Screenshot of the homepage of ebay.com/ebaylive
True to eBay’s nature, live stream shoppers can either purchase goods right away or participate in auctions. Soft close bidding is available in select auctions, which means that if a bid comes in during the last few minutes of the auction, the deadline is automatically extended to give other bidders a chance to catch up.
Although anybody can watch the live stream videos, only people with an eBay account can actually shop from them. Furthermore, buyers should be aware that their username and activity history are visible to everyone participating in the live stream.
eBay’s GMV in the third quarter of 2025 reached $20.1 billion, representing a 10% growth compared to the third quarter of 2024. Analysts believe that this success is in large part due to eBay Live, because the GMV associated with live streaming has quintupled in this quarter.
In addition to actual shopping, eBay Live is also useful for keeping customers longer on the platform. As the company’s foray into live streaming is relatively new, analysts expect further growth from the segment.
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Live shopping (or live commerce) is a booming industry. Its global value is currently estimated to be $128.42 billion and projected to reach $2,469.06 billion by 2033. This corresponds to a CAGR of 39.9% between 2025 and 2033.
Asia holds the largest market share (66%), although live streaming is quickly rising in popularity in the US as well. Fashion and apparel are currently the most popular (21.3%) categories shopped via live streams. Due to the nature of live commerce, it’s not surprising that social media platforms have the largest market share (42.1%) in streaming live shopping content.
The European live commerce market is also on the rise, although nowhere near as popular as in Asia and the US. Currently, the market is valued at $10 billion, with 37% more European consumers participating in live shopping. Apparel and shoes are most popular with European shoppers (31% and 25% respectively), closely followed by cosmetics (20%) and electronics (18%).
In Germany, shoppers have watched 1.6 million viewer hours of live commerce content. Younger consumers (between 18 and 34) are responsible for over 60% of that. The most popular platforms amongst EU-based live shoppers are TikTok, Instagram, Amazon, YouTube, and Whatnot.
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According to eBay’s CEO, Jamie Iannone, eBay Live is a way to create interpersonal connections. In live stream videos, sellers have the opportunity to present themselves as experts and/or fans of their products, which builds trust and connections with prospective buyers.
No wonder that products like collectibles are popular on eBay Live, where sellers and buyers share a certain enthusiasm about the items. Interestingly, charities like the Salvation Army also use eBay Live to raise money for their cause, further proving the notion that the platform fosters interpersonal connections.
As AI-automation gains ground in several branches of e-Commerce, including shopping itself, Iannone believes that eBay Live caters to a segment of purchases that still requires meaningful human connections. Although routine purchases may become automated, buying collectibles or luxury fashion products still counts as a rewarding personal experience, which indicates that shoppers won’t delegate this task to AI.
This doesn’t mean that eBay abstains from utilizing AI. However, instead of replacing people with AI, the platform aims to use this tool to make the purchasing journey easier and more streamlined for people to enjoy.
Launched at Comic Con Stuttgart on 29 November 2025, eBay Live is now available to selected German sellers. The first live stream was started directly at the Comic Con, offering Pokémon trading cards. As sellers of such items are often a part of the fan community, eBay Live offers them a chance to establish and strengthen their connections with their customers.
Prospective buyers can find all ongoing and planned Live events on eBay Live’s German landing page. Buyers with an eBay account can purchase items both via auctions and instant buys.
Screenshot of https://www.ebay.de/ebaylive/events/1Z2cH3QFlPU0r0Wj displaying the landing page of a random planned live shopping event
eBay Live is a relatively early adopter of live shopping in Germany, joining TikTok & Co in this developing market segment.
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Unfortunately, fraudsters have also discovered the potential of live streaming shopping videos. As the format is excellent for forging connections with would-be buyers and hiding illicit content, larger platforms like TikTok and Amazon both set up measures to monitor live streams for counterfeit products.
While such efforts are necessary, action taken by e-Commerce platforms can’t replace the active measures brands should put in place to protect their invaluable IP rights.
If you’re worried about the dangers of live shopping, online brand protection experts can suggest hand-picked services to detect and eliminate potential infringements in live streams.
For example, globaleyez’s online monitoring services, including marketplace and social media monitoring, are perfect to uncover videos, posts, and product listings that infringe on your IP rights. As fraudsters like to advertise with pictures, we’d recommend adding image monitoring to the mix to have all your bases covered.
Once we have found all potentially infringing content and eliminated any false positives (e.g., authorized sellers and harmless fan pictures), we can enforce your rights and demand the removal of the infringing content from the internet.
With the arrival of eBay Live in Germany, the live shopping industry has gained another boost in Europe. Whether this segment is viable for your brand depends, amongst other issues, on the nature of your products and your brand image.
But regardless of your intentions with live commerce, don’t let fraudsters exploit the new opportunities by infringing on your IP rights! Contact us and let’s discuss how best to protect your IP rights in live shopping and any other segment of e-Commerce.