eBay renews sponsorship of Love Island

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jan 6, 2023

eBay is back as key sponsor for the return of popular reality TV show Love Island this month on the back of the online marketplace giant’s successful promotion of pre-loved fashion.

Last year’s shift to a focus on pre-owned away from fast fashion was a risk for the show and the e-tail giant, but it appears to have paid off.

Sponsoring the series for the second successive time, eBay’s return is based on series producer ITV’s research that showed 53% of viewers who were aware of the partnership bought secondhand clothes in the past three months.

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Since the announcement of the partnership last May, the site has attracted 1,600% more searches for ‘pre-loved clothes’ compared with the previous year, while Google searches for the same phrase were up 170%, ITV said. Those numbers were boosted by viewing figures of five million for the summer final in 2022.

In the summer, contestants wore their own clothes as well as secondhand items sourced on eBay and chosen by the series’ celebrity stylist Amy Bannerman.

This season the idea has been extended to other initiatives recently launched by the site. In addition to general secondhand items, contestants will also have access to pieces from the eBay ‘Imperfects’ range (new clothes sold for up to 60% off because of defects) from brands including Off-White and North Face.

They can also choose secondhand trainers that have been authenticated by the site’s ‘authenticity guarantee’.

Its pre-loved ambassador Tasha Ghouri, a former contestant, is actually eBay’s first fashion ambassador. She’s posted about vintage items to her 1.5 million Instagram followers, worn vintage to events and launched a store of ‘pre-loved sparkle’ on eBay in the run-up to Christmas.