eBay in the Netherlands: from wave of layoffs to Haunting Adeline - what do the trends mean?
It's been an eventful week for the online auction house from San Jose. As Silicon Valley continues to grapple with the latest wave of tech layoffs, the storm has once again hit one of the founding fathers of modern e-commerce. Over 800 employees are being told to pack their bags, barely a year after the company shelled out an eye-watering $1.2 billion to acquire hipster platform Depop. It makes you wonder: what does eBay actually stand for in 2026? And why should we here in the Netherlands care?
An auction house in crisis?
Let's be clear: the mass layoffs at eBay aren't an isolated incident. It's just the latest correction in a sector grappling with overcapacity and shifting consumer preferences. Yet, this blow feels different. The Depop acquisition was meant to tap into a younger audience, an audience that lives for vintage and second-hand fashion. But the integration seems bumpy, and the promised synergy hasn't materialised. When I speak to insiders in the Valley, I keep hearing one thing: eBay has lost its soul. It's no longer an auction house, but not quite a full-fledged competitor to Amazon or Bol.com either. It's stuck in the middle ground.
For Dutch users, that identity crisis is tangible. Sure, we know the platform. We use it to search for car parts, a rare LP, or a camera from grandma's era. But for everyday second-hand items, we overwhelmingly turn to Marktplaats. And with our German neighbours right on our doorstep, where eBay Kleinanzeigen is still a household name, eBay seems to be fragmenting internationally.
BookTok saves the day (temporarily)
And then there's that bizarre phenomenon that, as an analyst, gives me pause for thought. Look at the search trends from the past few weeks. Alongside the generic term 'eBay', titles like Haunting Adeline and Morning Glory Milking Farm are shooting up the charts. For those not immersed in the world of BookTok: these are books that have taken on a life of their own on social media. One is a dark romantic thriller pushing boundaries, the other is an extremely niche story about a peculiar relationship between a human and a minotaur. Yes, you read that right.
What are these titles doing on eBay? Simple: they're often hard to find elsewhere. Traditional bookshops don't stock them, Bol.com is frequently sold out, and on Marktplaats they're buried under a pile of 'general fiction'. But on eBay, both on the Dutch site and the American one, they thrive. They pop up as limited editions, signed copies, or simply as much-coveted paperbacks caught up in the BookTok hype. It highlights where eBay remains unrivalled: connecting supply and demand for the true enthusiast, for the niche, for the community that isn't served elsewhere.
The power of scarcity
This is precisely the predicament eBay finds itself in. Management in San Jose thinks in terms of billions and synergy with Depop, while the company's soul lies in the passion of collectors, the hunt for that one copy of an obscure book, or the trade in second-hand cameras. The layoffs are painful, but perhaps unavoidable to refocus. You can see the strategy slowly shifting towards categories where eBay is genuinely unique:
- Collectables (think coins, comics, Pokémon cards).
- Pre-owned luxury goods (designer handbags, watches).
- Car parts and vehicles (a global marketplace).
- And indeed: niche books and media, fuelled by phenomena like BookTok.
What does this mean for the Netherlands?
For Dutch entrepreneurs and sellers, opportunities lie here. Precisely because the platform is struggling with its image, there's room for those who understand the rules of the game. Those who capitalise on hypes, whether it's Haunting Adeline or the next trend, can sell internationally. eBay is no longer a mass market, but a treasure trove for those who know how to search. And with knowledge of the German market (via eBay Kleinanzeigen right on our doorstep), the Netherlands can act as a hub for European collectors.
Last week's layoffs are a symptom of a larger shift. The era of unchecked growth in tech is over. For eBay, this means: getting back to basics, back to the quirky, passionate user searching for that one special item. Whether it's a rare camera, or a personally inscribed copy of Morning Glory Milking Farm. As long as eBay understands that, it remains relevant. If not, then these 800 layoffs are just the beginning.