TikTok Shop closes in on eBay

Barely two years after launching in the United States, TikTok Shop has become a genuine rival to eBay. In the third quarter of 2025, TikTok Shop moved 19 billion dollars worth of merchandise worldwide, putting it within striking distance of eBay’s 20.1 billion dollars over the same period.

American shoppers alone generated between 4 and 4.5 billion dollars in quarterly revenue for TikTok Shop, more than double what the platform made a year earlier. Growth this fast is rare for any online marketplace, let alone one competing against an established giant like eBay.

The two platforms win customers in very different ways. TikTok Shop thrives on impulse buying: products go viral through short videos, live shopping streams and influencer recommendations, so buyers often discover something they did not know they wanted. eBay, by contrast, captures demand from people who already know exactly what they are searching for.

This difference also shapes what sells best where. TikTok Shop tends to win on new, trending products and lower fees for sellers, while eBay remains the reference for used goods, refurbished electronics, collectibles and other niche items, helped by more than 700 million searches every month.

Many sellers now treat the two platforms as complementary rather than rivals, listing trending new items on TikTok Shop to reach viral, impulse-driven buyers, while keeping used inventory and niche items on eBay for shoppers who arrive already knowing what they want.

Adapted from Tubefilter and eMarketer, November 2025