Trends among enthusiasts evolve constantly, shaped by passionate people and dynamic social and cultural influences. Hosting around 7.6 million enthusiasts nationwide, eBay serves as Australia’s top marketplace for collectors, making it well-equipped to recognise emerging trends.
In an interview with RetailBiz, Sarah Sternau, Managing Director of eBay Australia & New Zealand, shared her predictions for the biggest enthusiast trends expected to create major opportunities for sellers in the next five years.
As eBay celebrates its 30th global anniversary and 26 years in Australia, Sternau emphasised the marketplace’s strong position to support Australian businesses in scaling and achieving growth in 2025 and the years ahead.
eBay’s evolution to meet the needs of modern consumers and collectors
Since its launch in Australia more than 25 years ago, eBay has transformed from a marketplace into a leading ecommerce platform, empowering entrepreneurs, attracting shoppers, and creating economic opportunities for millions. Throughout this journey, the company has continuously adapted, staying in tune with the passions and interests of its community.
“While we started as the original place to find almost anything, we’ve since sharpened our focus on what truly makes eBay special: our vibrant enthusiast communities. We’ve pivoted from being a marketplace for everything to being the marketplace for things people love,” Sternau told RetailBiz.
As Australia’s most visited online platform for collectables, trading cards, and car parts and accessories, the eBay team sees plenty of opportunities for enthusiast buyers and sellers within these communities of passion, expertise, and connection.
“Looking ahead, our strategy is to deepen that connection by better understanding what makes our enthusiast communities tick. That means showing up authentically where these communities are, whether that’s at a car show, a collector meetup, or a fashion event. It’s about listening and building experiences that fuel their passion, while offering the knowledge and tools to support their unique needs.”
The forces behind the rise in collector participation
eBay’s State of Collectables 2025 report shows significant growth in collector participation. Sternau believes a combination of passion and pragmatism is driving this surge in interest, which has made collecting genuinely special today.
“On one hand, you have this powerful wave of nostalgia. Our State of Collectables report 2025 found that for 85 percent of collectors, it’s about the joy of reconnecting with a piece of their past. In a world that’s constantly changing, there’s immense comfort and happiness in finding something that sparks a cherished memory.”
Sternau added that beyond nostalgia, consumers are demonstrating financial awareness in a time of increasing living costs. They are discovering the potential for their passions to generate profit. eBay’s research reveals the median profit from selling collectables reached $13,000 in the past three years.
More than one-third of collectors regard their hobby as a smart investment, and one in five leverage it to supplement their household income—some even turning it into a full-time career.
“So, what often starts as a hobby is now seen as a genuine financial opportunity. It’s this unique intersection of joy and economic empowerment that’s driving the boom, and we’re proud to be the marketplace where millions of Australians are bringing that to life.”
How emerging enthusiast trends will benefit sellers
With Pokémon cards, Michael Jordan memorabilia, vintage Chanel, and the ’97 Land Rover Defender in the most-searched items list, according to Sternau, the demand for these high-value items means expertise and curation can yield substantial profit.
People increasingly seek items with a story, a soul, and a unique identity. eBay’s data reflects this shift, where the value of a Ksubi leather jacket grew by 100 percent between 2022 and 2024.
“This passion and demand is global. The beauty of eBay is that a seller in Melbourne with a rare trading card or a vintage designer piece isn’t just selling to their local market. They are instantly connected to a global community of 134 million potential customers worldwide who could be searching for that exact item.”
In the next five years, the greatest opportunity for sellers lies in becoming trusted curators and storytellers in their niches. Developing a reputation for quality, authenticity, and expertise can help with their visibility and trustworthiness. eBay offers the platform, the tools, and the global reach to enable this success.
eBay’s role in supporting sellers to keep up with trends
Social media platforms like TikTok can turn niche collectables into mainstream sensations almost overnight. Findings from Search Engine Watch indicate that social media influences 71 percent of consumer buying decisions, with online communities moulding consumer preference.
Sternau noted that social media plays a central role in trend discovery, sparking interest and turning it to something tangible. eBay aims to be the destination of choice for enthusiasts when online trends can translate into real-world purchases.
“When trends happen, we give our sellers a front-row seat. This is where our eBay Seller Hub becomes their secret weapon. We equip them with powerful, real-time data tools, providing real-time insights into trends, demand patterns, and competitive pricing. It allows them to see what the world is searching for, how often, and at what price, as it’s happening. In a world of fast-moving trends, access to real-time data is the key to agility, and we put that directly into our sellers’ hands.”
The impact of AI on eBay’s seller experience
eBay’s AI tools have already powered over 200 million listings. Sternau pointed out that for small and medium-sized business owners, time is their most valuable resource. eBay’s AI solutions are built to help them save it.
“Think of it as giving every seller a dedicated digital employee who works 24/7. Our recently launched AI tools streamline the listing process through automated product descriptions, pricing suggestions, and image-based listing capabilities.”
“Instead of spending hours writing descriptions or researching prices, our AI does the heavy lifting. A seller can simply take a photo of an item, and our tools can generate a title, a detailed description, and even suggest a competitive price based on real-time market data.”
Small businesses might manage hundreds of unique item listings. eBay’s tools streamline this process and save considerable time by lowering entry barriers and allowing faster scaling — aligning with the company’s mission of fostering economic opportunity for all.
Connecting Australian sellers with international enthusiasts
With a global community of buyers and sellers spanning more than 190 markets and bringing $75 billion in gross merchandise volume, Australian sellers can utilise this scale to connect with enthusiasts by navigating complex logistics, doing international marketing, and making a sizeable financial investment.
“eBay is a passport to a global marketplace for Australian businesses. With 134 million active buyers worldwide, our sellers get access to a global audience without the complexity and cost of building an international e-commerce infrastructure.”
“For an enthusiast seller, that could mean someone in Adelaide who specialises in rare AFL memorabilia might discover their most passionate and highest-paying customer is actually in London or Los Angeles. A vintage fashion curator in Brisbane can find a buyer in Tokyo who has been searching for that exact piece for years.”
eBay facilitates seamless connections and provides the means to Australian sellers by extending the platform that converts local passions to global businesses, linking them with a worldwide network of enthusiasts.
Australian sellers finding success in collectables
Sternau recounted a standout success story about Australian sellers who have capitalised on the rise of the collectables category on eBay.
“The Gamesmen are a great example. Aussie brothers Daniel and Chris Cusumano began operating out of market stalls in Sydney and Canberra in 1982, selling Game & Watch consoles and tabletop games.”
“They first came to eBay in 2011 to bring their business online, taking their own photos, writing their own descriptions, and manually managing their own inventory. Soon there was demand for hundreds of orders and with their own site growing simultaneously, the business underwent an integration process across their channels. Fourteen years later, The Gamesmen is thriving both on and offline, selling an incredible 250,000 items in 2019.”
eBay’s ongoing assistance for its enthusiast community and long-term engagement
eBay’s team continues to build and assist its community of enthusiasts by meeting sellers and buyers face-to-face at trade shows, enthusiast events, and community meetups, listening and learning.
“We believe that to serve a community, you have to be a part of it. This direct engagement leads to conversations that create a powerful feedback loop. It’s how our trust programs were born, like our Authenticity Guarantee, where items such as luxury handbags and sneakers are meticulously inspected by professionally trained authenticators.”
“There’s also our eBay Money Back Guarantee policy, where buyers can be rest assured that if an item is incorrect, faulty, damaged or fails to arrive, we have them covered. When we invest in their passion, listen, and respond, we earn their trust. And in the world of enthusiasts, trust is everything. It’s the foundation of long-term engagement.”
That trust establishes an impressive cycle: sellers confidently list their best items knowing the right buyers are present, while buyers purchase with assurance as eBay gives reliable support. This exchange begins as a transaction and becomes a long-term relationship, fueling sustainable growth and strengthening the communities.
Innovations keeping eBay the go-to platform for collectors and small businesses
Looking ahead to the end of 2025 and beyond, Sternau disclosed some innovations eBay is prioritising to remain the go-to platform for collectors, hobbyists, and SMBs alike.
“Our strategy is built around how we can better serve our enthusiast communities, and looking ahead, we’re doubling down on our commitment to do that by focusing on a few key areas.”
“From online to offline, we know that passion lives in diverse spaces, which is why you’ll see us showing up more than ever where our communities gather physically and digitally, creating unique, integrated experiences that truly resonate.”
eBay’s AI-driven solutions mark only the beginning of its technological development. The team is exploring advancements such as predictive analytics for sellers and hyper-personalised discovery for buyers to aid them in uncovering one-of-a-kind, unexpected items matched with their interests.
The company is also expanding its most successful trust initiative: the Authenticity Guarantee Program. This month, the program was extended to cover eligible luxury handbags priced above $350 from Japan-based sellers, reinforcing accessibility, trust, and circularity.
“Ultimately, everything we do is designed to fuel the passion of our communities. By showing up authentically, making the platform smarter, and building unwavering trust, we’re actively building the marketplace that collectors, hobbyists, and SMBs will choose for decades to come.”