Would this not result in a lawsuit that ebay would surely lose? As I've stated many times, I don't know s#!t about the law, but I suspect this wouldn't be a wise decision on their part?

Not sure when you got the vision which permitted you to predict such a far fetched thing but I spoke with someone yesterday, who is a pretty big deal in the hobby (who is not a party to the partnership), and they had known about it for several months. Maybe they knew about it from you!:D

The legality of "tying" arrangements (very broadly speaking, if you want A, you must also buy B) and similar "restraints of trade" typically depends on how one defines the relevant market and what the defendant's market share is. Here, I would think ebay has a large share however you plausibly define the relevant market -- if I'm looking to self-list a card, where else do I go? I suppose one could argue there are lots of venues to sell if you count consigning as an option, but even taking them all into account I would think ebay's share is quite substantial.

My blather on the deal:

https://open.substack.com/pub/adamst...meOnShare=true

I see no mention of dealers at fanfest and can find no information about purchasing space, so I don't think it's a show in the traditional sense and people looking to buy something other than brand new product might be in for a bit of a disappointment.

I don't expect to buy there. I am trying to get press credentials and cover the show as a reporter instead. As a collector, I'll head to White Plains instead on Friday for the East Coast National.

Anyone I hear that this will be good for the hobby I see higher prices of something for somebody…

As for tax avoidances/evasion with the vaults, that can all go away if Biden is re-elected and he gets his wish of taxing unrealized capital gains on personal property.


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Surely another factor in providing a vault is to take advantage/possession of abandoned cards. Sort of like abandoned storage units, which we see all the time. Most certainly the percentage of such cards is not 0%.