eBay announced on January 28 that it will prohibit third-party “buy-for-me” agents and AI-driven bots from interacting with its platform without explicit consent, with the updated policy taking effect February 20. The revised terms of service expand the existing ban on robots, spiders and scrapers to include large language model–driven agents and end-to-end automated checkout flows, signaling eBay’s intent to safeguard its direct relationship with buyers and protect data that underpins its advertising and loyalty programs. The change follows a Value Added Resource report highlighting that eBay’s previous agreement omitted AI-specific language, and echoes similar moves by Amazon, which has already blocked over 30 named AI shopping tools and filed suit against a browser agent for unauthorized access. By enforcing these restrictions, eBay aims to ensure human oversight of purchases and maintain control over the checkout experience, which it views as critical to preserving its marketplace integrity and customer data security.

Analysts point to eBay’s history of outperforming consensus estimates—four positive surprises in the last five quarters with an average EPS beat of 6.3%—as a key indicator that the company may again top street forecasts in its upcoming report. In its most recent quarter, eBay generated $2.9 billion in revenue, 3% year-over-year growth, and expanded its take rate by 20 basis points to 12.4%, buoyed by higher fees on managed payments and advertising services. Operating margin improved by 150 basis points to 26%, driven by cost discipline in technology and fulfillment. Consensus revenue estimates for the next quarter stand at $3.0 billion, with EPS expectations of $1.02; eBay’s strategic focus on AI-enabled seller tools and its recently introduced messaging assistant are expected to boost engagement and monetization, reinforcing investor optimism ahead of the results.