Amazon vs eBay: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Amazon reported $716.9B of revenue in FY2025 and $77.7B of net income. eBay reported $11.1B of revenue in FY2025 and $2B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Amazon
Amazon's headline revenue understates how concentrated its profit is. FY2025 net sales were $716.9B and operating income was $80.0B, of which AWS supplied $45.6B on $128.7B of sales. The North America segment turned $426.3B of sales into $29.6B of operating income, and International turned $161.9B into $4.8B. Advertising services, which Amazon reports inside the retail segments, grew from $56.2B in FY2024 to $68.6B in FY2025. Operating cash flow was $139.5B, but capital spending on AWS and AI capacity reached $131.8B, leaving free cash flow of $11.2B against $38.2B a year earlier.
eBay
eBay's financial narrative is a story of large, highly high-margin profitability masking a stagnant user base. Unlike Amazon, eBay does not own large physical warehouses or a delivery fleet. They are a pure 'asset-light' software marketplace. Because they simply connect a buyer and a seller, their profit margins are astronomically high. They generate large free cash flow by charging the seller a 'Final Value Fee' (a percentage of the sale). Despite losing market share to Amazon and specialized apps (like StockX or Vinted), their large cash generation allows them to aggressively buy back stock and pay a strong dividend.
Revenue and profit by year
Amazon
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $716.9B | $77.7B | 10.8% | +12.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $638B | $59.2B | 9.3% | +11.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $574.8B | $30.4B | 5.3% | +11.8% | Source |
| FY2022 | $514B | -$2.7B | -0.5% | +9.4% | Source |
| FY2021 | $469.8B | $33.4B | 7.1% | +21.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $386.1B | $21.3B | 5.5% | +37.6% | Source |
| FY2019 | $280.5B | $11.6B | 4.1% | +20.5% | Source |
| FY2018 | $232.9B | $10.1B | 4.3% | +30.9% | Source |
| FY2017 | $177.9B | $3B | 1.7% | +30.8% | Source |
| FY2016 | $136B | $2.4B | 1.7% | — | Source |
eBay
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $11.1B | $2B | 18.3% | +7.9% | Source |
| FY2024 | $10.3B | — | 0.0% | +1.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | $10.1B | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Amazon
- Online stores37.6%
First-party product and digital media sales recorded gross. $269.3B of FY2025 net sales.
- Third-party seller services24.0%
Referral commissions plus related fulfillment and shipping fees charged to independent sellers. $172.2B of FY2025 net sales.
- AWS18.0%
Cloud compute, storage, database, and AI services sold on consumption pricing. $128.7B of FY2025 net sales and $45.6B of operating income.
- Advertising services9.6%
Sponsored ads, display, and video advertising sold to sellers, vendors, publishers, and authors. $68.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Subscription services6.9%
Prime membership fees plus digital video, music, audiobook, and e-book subscriptions. $49.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Physical stores3.1%
Sales where customers select items in a store, mainly Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh. $22.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Other0.8%
Shipping services, healthcare services, certain video licensing, and co-branded credit card agreements. $5.9B of FY2025 net sales.
eBay
- Marketplace Transaction Fees
Primary revenue stream
Final value fees and related transaction revenue tied to seller activity and gross merchandise volume.
- Advertising and Promoted Listings
High-margin growth stream
Seller-funded ad products that increase listing visibility and monetize buyer intent.
- Payments, Shipping, Stores, and Upgrades
Marketplace services
Managed payments, shipping services, store subscriptions, listing upgrades, and seller tools.
Business model and strategy
Amazon
How it makes money
Amazon runs a hybrid model: it buys inventory and sells it directly, and it rents its store, warehouses, and ad inventory to independent sellers. In FY2025 online stores produced $269.3B of net sales, third-party seller services $172.2B, advertising services $68.6B, subscription services $49.6B, physical stores $22.6B, and AWS $128.7B.
Growth strategy
Amazon's growth now comes mostly from the higher-margin layers on top of its infrastructure. Advertising services grew from $56.2B in FY2024 to $68.6B in FY2025 as Amazon added inventory in Prime Video, grocery, and its demand-side platform.
Competitive advantage
Amazon's advantages depend on scale rather than patents. It carried $534.1B of gross property and equipment at the end of FY2025, including $155.1B of land and buildings and $172.5B of servers and networking equipment, which pays for delivery speed and cloud capacity smaller rivals cannot fund.
eBay
How it makes money
eBay operates a large C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) online marketplace model. They do not own any inventory. The core model relies entirely on 'Take Rates'. If you sell a vintage watch for $1,000 on eBay, eBay takes roughly a 10-15% commission, plus processing fees. Over the last decade, they have aggressively pivoted away from their original 'Auction' format;
Growth strategy
Facing large pressure from specialized niche apps, eBay's growth strategy is aggressively pivoting to 'Focus Categories' and heavily investing in 'Trust'. They realized they were losing the sneaker and watch markets to startups because buyers were terrified of counterfeits.
Competitive advantage
eBay's absolute competitive advantage is its large, leading global inventory of 'unique' and 'refurbished' items, supported by a large network effect. If you want to buy a brand new roll of paper towels, you go to Amazon. If you want to buy a highly specific 1968 Mustang car part, a graded Pokemon card, or a refurbished iPhone, you go to eBay.
Questions about Amazon vs eBay
Which company has higher revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or eBay Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. reported $716.9B (FY2025), while eBay Inc. reported $11.1B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. is the larger business, with eBay Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Amazon.com, Inc. vs eBay Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $2.69T, while eBay Inc.'s is $48.0B. Amazon.com, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to eBay Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Amazon.com, Inc. or eBay Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. generates $455k / employee in revenue per employee, while eBay Inc. generates $902k / employee. eBay Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Amazon.com, Inc. and eBay Inc. make money?
Amazon.com, Inc. and eBay Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Amazon.com, Inc.: Amazon runs a hybrid model: it buys inventory and sells it directly, and it rents its store, warehouses, and ad inventory to independent sellers. eBay Inc.: eBay operates a large C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) online marketplace model.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or eBay Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Amazon.com, Inc. trades at 3.8x P/S and eBay Inc. at 4.3x P/S. eBay Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Amazon.com, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Amazon.com, Inc. bigger than eBay Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. ($716.9B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to eBay Inc. ($11.1B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Amazon vs eBay overview