• by Sarah Mahoney , 4 hours ago

EBay is buying Depop from Etsy for $1.2 billion, a deal that suggests “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” applies just as neatly to tech platforms as it does to garage sales. For eBay, the move sharpens its position with younger consumers who have helped turn resale into a mainstream shopping behavior. For Etsy, shedding the subsidiary continues a deliberate strategy of narrowing focus around its core marketplace.

Depop, a mobile-first fashion marketplace built around recommerce, has become one of the most visible platforms in the booming secondhand economy. The company generated roughly $1 billion in gross merchandise sales last year, growing 60% year over year. About 90% of its users are under 34, including 7 million active buyers and 3 million active sellers — a demographic profile that has made the platform particularly influential among Gen Z shoppers.

In the announcement, Jamie Iannone, eBay’s CEO, described Depop as “a trusted, social-forward marketplace with strong momentum in the pre-loved fashion category,” adding that the business should benefit from eBay’s scale, operational capabilities, and existing buyer network.

Strategically, the acquisition builds on eBay’s already sizable fashion business, which accounts for roughly $10 billion in annual gross merchandise volume and grew 10% last year. Depop’s community-driven model and younger user base could help eBay strengthen its relevance with consumers who increasingly view resale as both an economic and cultural preference rather than simply a bargain-hunting exercise.

For the Brooklyn-based Etsy, the sale allows the company to stick closer to its knitting. In the announcement, CEO Kruti Patel Goyal said the move will enable Etsy to “focus exclusively” on expanding its primary marketplace. The transaction follows last year’s divestiture of Reverb, the musical instrument platform, reinforcing Etsy’s broader retrenchment strategy.

Analysts largely framed the deal as beneficial for both companies. Scott Devitt, who covers eBay and Etsy, writes that the sale should give Etsy greater flexibility to reinvest in initiatives supporting sustainable long-term growth, particularly after years of heavy investment in Depop’s expansion and marketing.

In his note on the transaction, Morningstar’s Dan Wasiolek also highlighted potential upside for eBay, pointing to value-added services, logistics capabilities, and AI-driven enhancements. He now projects average revenue growth of 8% to 9% between 2026 and 2028, modestly above prior expectations.