eBay Sellers Can Now Get Up To $25K In Financing Through LendingPoint

eBay merchants running short on funds will soon be able to tap into a new financing solution: eBay Seller Capital.

Announced Wednesday, this program aims to provide needy eBay sellers with a shot of cash via online lender LendingPoint’s financing tools, according to a joint press release by eBay and LendingPoint.

“We’re committed to empowering entrepreneurs to make their dreams a reality, and we are continuing to partner with our sellers to provide them with the tools they need to thrive,” eBay’s Vice President of Global Payments Alyssa Cutright said in a statement. “The program with LendingPoint will enable critical funding opportunities for eBay sellers, especially during this time of economic uncertainty.”

Hints at a potential eBay-LendingPoint team-up had floated around for a couple of weeks — the program’s landing page was live by at least July 18, per an EcommerceBytes article.

eBay Seller Capital is now live in the form of an invite-only pilot program available for “select sellers.” eBay promises that this program will open to all eligible US-based sellers “later this year.”

At launch, eligible sellers may be able to receive between $500 and $25,000 in funding within one business day. Later in the fall, the maximum loan cap will be bumped up to $500,000.

Loans through eBay Seller Capital come with flexible term lengths of up to 48 months. LendingPoint also won’t charge borrowers origination or early payback fees.

A working capital option is also in the works (it’s slated to be “coming soon”). This feature will allow sellers to repay loans based on a percentage of their eBay sales.

eBay further highlights the fact that the financing program won’t impact applicants’ credit scores. Instead of running a hard credit pull (which can harm scores), LendingPoint will use a soft credit inquiry, which does not affect credit scores and won’t show up to third parties on credit reports.

“LendingPoint’s purpose is to accelerate and democratize commerce,” said LendingPoint’s CEO and co-founder Tom Burnside. “We are thrilled to be able to use the data and technology we have built into our platform to help eBay sellers achieve their dreams.”

eBay has stated that it and LendingPoint hope to “expand their offering” in the future, although what exactly this may entail is not clear at this time.

Previous eBay Seller Financing Experiments

eBay’s latest seller financing attempt is far from its first foray into the sector.

Back in 2018, the online marketplace teamed up with Square Capital to offer loans ranging between $500 and $100,000. That partnership seemed to peter out sometime in 2019. eBay is certainly no longer marketing the relationship.

Sellers could also tap into PayPal Working Capital, which worked tidily with eBay by automatically deducting payments from sellers’ PayPal accounts. However, with eBay’s operating agreement with PayPal ending last month, sellers now have to manually make payments for loans through the PayPal Working Capital program.

The death knell of eBay and PayPal’s relationship is actually one of the key selling points for eBay Seller Capital. eBay notes that this financing program will work in tandem with its new managed payments platform, which was introduced by the online marketplace to replace PayPal’s payments system.

With both the Square Capital and PayPal ventures fizzling out, it looks like eBay Seller Capital will be the primary method for merchants looking to dip into a stream of cash — at least for the immediate future.

Alternative Funding For eBay Sellers

This new financing program isn’t the only funding option for eBay merchants. Check out Merchant Maverick’s guide to the best funding options for eBay sellers for a deep dive into the topic.

For more general financing tips, visit our guide to the best small business loans.