Very close on EBAY
Gross merchandise value (the total sum of sales on its platform) declined from $21.7 billion in Q3 2020 to $19.4 billion in Q3 2021 (ended Sept. 30). The fall in spending on eBay coincides with the economy's reopening. Widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines has allowed folks to feel safer venturing outside where they have more options for spending their money. Of course, if people are spending more money shopping in person, that will be
detrimental to e-commerce businesseslike eBay.
However, the pandemic has also led to another evolving trend: worldwide supply-chain shortages. While it's true that folks are feeling better about resuming some activities they gave up since the pandemic's onset, working in person does not appear to be one of them. It makes sense looking at it from a laborer's viewpoint; your wages are roughly the same, but you are at risk of contracting a potentially deadly virus on the job.
It's no surprise that fewer people are willing to work under these conditions -- and many others are unable to do so because of infection during any given week. So the production and movement of goods have been constrained, and consumers are more often finding their favorite items sold out.
Therein lies a potential tailwind for eBay -- the site is rarely sold out of anything. If an item is sold out at your favorite retailer, eBay probably has it for sale. Of course, it is probably listed at a higher price, but you can choose to pay the premium and make the purchase. So the persistence of supply-chain shortages throughout the holiday quarter could have boosted eBay's gross merchandise value.