eBay Posts Q1 Jewelry & Watches Sales of $1.6 Billion

Online auction and marketplace eBay sold $1.6 billion worth of jewelry and watches in its first quarter of the year. The company enjoyed a record quarter, netting $1.032 billion in revenues, leaping 36 percent year over year.

 

It was an outstanding quarter by any measure, as eBay reported operating income of $335.6 million, up 26 percent year over year, representing a 33 percent operating margin, and pro forma operating income of $367.4 million, up 28 percent year over year, representing a 36 percent pro forma operating margin.

“A record jump in registered users, record Gross Merchandise Volume, tremendous PayPal growth, and record net revenues all highlighted a wonderful quarter for eBay,” said Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay.

“The eBay community is thriving, and we’re in an excellent position to deliver on both the top line and profit goals we’ve set out for 2005 and beyond.”

Consolidated net revenues totaled a record $1.032 billion, which represented an increase of 36 percent from the $756.2 million reported in the first quarter of 2004. Net revenues in from U.S. sales totaled $404.8 million, rising 20 percent, while the international marketplace net revenues totaled $393.8 million - a 52 percent growth.

New listings of items for sale totaled a record 431.8 million during the quarter, 32 percent higher than the 327.7 million listings during the first quarter of 2004. This brought Gross Merchandise Volume - the total value of all successfully closed listings on eBay’s trading platforms – to $10.6 billion, a 32 percent jump from the $8 billion.