eBay buys Goldin
 

Rumor is that eBay is buying Goldin! That's wild. I don't think anyone could have seen that coming!

I have a beach house near ken at the jersey shore ,,I’ll have him buy me a steak ..

Thought that PSA had purchased Goldin awhile ago
So PSA sold Goldin to ebay?
Hard to keep up w/ the high finance hobby of ours

Jay lol your right

Should this have been posted on April 1st?

But in all seriousness, nothing in this hobby surprises me anymore so who knows.

...

It's no hobby.

It is interesting because eBay generally acquires companies without any intention of integrating operations. However, I can imagine acquiring Goldin gives them a more targeted customer list and the ability to touch the high-end market.

I am more surprised another non-sport auction house didn’t acquire them.

Where did this rumor come from?
.

The OP has been suggesting it for some time.

I found some info on Blowout:
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1581750
Go to post #18

If true, one wonders what went south from PSA's perspective and why Nat and his partners made this move. The speculation is not new, although I can't recall if Travis was the only previous source.

Why would they buy an auction company? That seems completely out of the norm. I would be surprised but I have been surprised before. I just can't imagine what they would do with it if they bought it?

Then they'll both get gobbled up by Fanatics, which will be acquired by Musk.

:eek:

Aint that the truth

To clarify, I don't have any actual inside knowledge of the deal. I'm just parroting what I heard from some friends in the hobby yesterday. Supposedly an announcement will be made on Monday. I guess we'll see if that comes to fruition or not. When I said it back at the beginning of March I was just making a prediction based on what I know about how ebay operates and where their interests lie. I know a lot of people at ebay, some high up, but I haven't spoken to any of them about it, and even if I tried, they wouldn't be stupid enough to tell me anything.

Stop Travis...this is absurd. I know 2 massive sellers on eBay who have no idea how ebay operates nor where there interests lie and they are doing tens of millions a year on the site.

PWCC is a better fit for eBay than Goldin and as you told us PWCC was booted not due to shill bidding but because they had their own platform...the same platform that Goldin has because he was in direct competition with PWCC.

Next, Nat has been trying to get rid of Goldin for quite sometime and rumors have swirled for at least a year.

So the source is this dudes anonymous friends having a discussion. Why is the thread title an absolute statement?

Perhaps it will become true, perhaps it will not. This title appears to be blatantly fake news though.

Well greg morris has a new marketplace. Guess they will be kicked off ebay as well....not

Let's not forget this ebay quote from the news back in '21

"In a message sent to customers who have done business with PWCC Marketplace, eBay indicated it had “restricted” PWCC’s selling privileges and listings. At issue, according to the statement from eBay, is shill bidding–the practice of placing bids on an item in an effort to increase its selling price.

“Recently it was determined that individuals associated with a trading card seller, PWCC, have engaged in ‘shill bidding,’ which is prohibited on eBay,” the statement claimed. "

.

Here is a copy and paste of that email they sent out to every member who has bid with PWCC.

"As one of the world’s largest marketplaces, eBay has policies in place to protect our buyers and sellers. eBay was founded on trust, and we work every day to ensure a fair and positive experience for the entire eBay community.
Recently, it was determined that individuals associated with a trading card seller, PWCC, have engaged in “shill bidding,” which is prohibited on eBay. As a result, eBay has restricted PWCC’s selling privileges and listings, effective today. eBay’s policies and standards were designed to ensure a trusted marketplace where our community can transact with confidence. If we determine that a buyer or seller is not acting in good faith, eBay takes this seriously and takes action. Our customer service team will work directly with anyone who has a question about a recent PWCC transaction [link].

eBay is the destination for buying and selling trading cards - built over 25 years with our passionate community of collectors and sellers, as partners, on that journey. Trust is the cornerstone of eBay, which is why we felt it was important to share this information with our community. We assure you that eBay will continue to take actions to deliver on our commitment.

eBay sent this e mail to you at XX about your account registered on eBay.com.

eBay will periodically send required e mails to you about the site and your transactions. Visit our Privacy Notice and User Agreement if you have any questions."

Been talked about at length but no company is going to expose themselves to a libel suit by going so far out of their way to accuse someone in this fashion unless they have all the evidence they need. Why eBay picked that time to do it is a whole other discussion but for one to say they know eBay made this statement because eBay was upset with PWCC for having their own site is...silly...well worse than that but let's stick with silly.

I hope GameUsedUniverse website was part of the deal 🤣 I hate seeing that website sitting there inactive. Such a waste. It was the only game used website. Miss interacting with so many of those guys 🥲

I will remind everyone
 

That a couple of years ago the big hobby story going around was Panini being purchased/gobbled up by Fanatics.

That was going to be announced at the Industry Summit.

Both companies are still separate

If and when this becomes fact, we'll talk

Rich

It was a good site .

I miss it too. :mad:

If this is true a few alarm bells with eBay diversifying this way.

Ive tried reaching out to possibly purchase it numerous times but all I get is crickets.

I realize the archived info is very valuable, but couldn't a new site, similar in structure, be created? Then invite as many members of the old site that we can remember. If you could get Hillerich, Grob, Specht to join and be active, that would be a great start. I'll bet once word got out that a new GUU was up and running, and the above-named stars were members, within a year you'd have a vibrant community.

I am just curious, is there some reason that the memorabilia side of this forum can't do that? It can be broken down into multiple sections...as the autograph section was done.

And I wouldn't be opposed to having a game used person run that section either.

Great idea!

Leon, if that was done, once the word got out, it would be a hit! Man, you guys got me excited just thinking about it! Thanks!!!!

get over yourself :rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure he was just making a joke.

Octavio doesn't need me to defend him, but he's probably the least snobby guy on this site. Apologies in advance to any other entities who might also qualify for the newly crowned award of "Least Snobby Collector On Net54".

;)

Then let me officially retract my aforementioned statement;) sarcasm isnt always easy to detect in typed words. Carry on.

Thanks Dave hope your well paul is a good guy no harm no foul..but anyway good for Ken ,,and a gorgeous day at the jersey shore..everyone have a nice sunday

I have thought this for a long time, having come here as a best alternative when GUU left Chris Cavalier's control and began it's rapid descent into irrelevance, but didn't feel right about suggesting you do all that work. This is your site and it isn't my prerogative to suggest how you run it.

But since you mention it, I think it would be a fantastic idea. There are some GU enthusiasts here already, but if a GU section was built out, I think a lot more collectors would join.

👍🏻💯👍🏻💯👍🏻💯

Ken,

What, if any, plans do you have for GameUsedUniverse? There has been a lot of talk lately going on within the game used community about having a dedicated game used website again. One person in this thread has made attempts to try to purchase GameUsedUniverse, but never received a response.

Yes, anyone could go start their own site, but GameUsedUniverse has a great history in the hobby, the format and layout is already established, and it’s just sitting there inactive, ready for someone to bring it back to life.

Thanks!

So much tougher to get traction with a new site vs existing. With forums especially it's practically impossible these days

Agree! I think if Ken doesn't have plans for GameUsedUniverse, and he is willing to let it go and give it back to the game used community, it's a great day for everyone!

Frosty was right!

eBay, Collectors Enter into Commercial Agreement, Sign Deals for Acquisition of Goldin by eBay and Acquisition of the eBay Vault by PSA

https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news...-vault-by-psa/

I'll be darned.

I haven’t bought anything off eBay or from Goldin in years (neither generally have what I collect), and I have never used a vault- so while very interesting, this will have zero impact on the way I buy, sell, and hold cards.

I think it’s particularly curious that eBay, and auction site, buys Goldin, an auction house.

Also, I’d be interested to hear what Probstein, Greg Morris and others who use eBay as their primary sales outlet think of this.

Seems more of a convoluted merger, then a sale. Hard to tell for sure based on that press release. I haven’t seen that many meaningless buzzwords in one place since Coca-Cola came out with “New Coke”.

If it means Goldin items will come up on eBay searches, so we don't have to use Goldin's system, it sounds like an improvement. Although, like adding a special at a Vegan restaurant, I still won't find anything to eat.

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

At the very least a very involved partnership. When the relationship is convoluted but the people quoted talk about how simple everything is going to be for the consumer I hold onto my wallet...

Darren Rovell article:

https://www.cllct.com/sports-collect...es-up-industry


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

If I purchase an item from Goldin, will it now go through eBay Authenticity Guarantee?

:rolleyes:

Yeah I am not sure what this will look like but what an incestuous business this has become with complete acquisitions in competing entities, asset swapping, minority interests in complementary entities. Rubin, eBay or Turner should just pull out their checkbook and get everything under one roof.

From the sound of this release this did not sound like a sale, but as suggested above, more of a partnership and Turner pretty much confirms this.

“This will benefit The Hobby above all else, which is the primary goal of this innovative partnership between eBay and PSA,” said Collectors CEO Nat Turner. “We will drastically improve the collector experience by creating a seamless, end-to-end journey. No matter an individual collector’s goals, this partnership will make collecting safer, easier and more fun. We’re excited to combine the scale and trust across eBay's global marketplace with PSA's authentication and grading expertise.”

For my next vacation trip I aspire to go on "a seamless, end to end journey".

:D

If EBay can improve the Goldin search engine that would be a welcome first step.

Typing in "w514" gives such great returns as a Bob Gibson RC, an autograph Mantle baseball, and a Renaldo soccer jersey.

Fine tuning the search for "1919 w514" gives such great returns as a Bob Gibson RC, an Eric Clapton autograph, and various comic books.

Getting exact with "1919-1921 w514" gets you nothing...but figuring out the puzzle and entering "1919-21 w514" gets you a w514 card.

I do not buy much on ebay these days but when I do a search in completed or live listings, the results are not much better than your experience with Goldin. Might be why they will now be one.

Having a search return the exact info that we want is clearly not what they want us to have.

I just loathe that BS feel good corporate speak. Just an insult.

But can't you understand that this merger empowers the customer and creates new synergies between selling venue and hobbyist that will result in a win-win scenario?

This gets the hobby all the way to bright. Come on... get with it!

The below snippet from the Ebay statement confirms what I always believed about the three outfits involved:


The newly established partnership will combine complementary service offerings from each brand to remove friction from The Hobby and power a sophisticated, integrated program to buy, sell, grade, and store trading cards and collectible card games. The companies remain focused on enabling The Hobby while unlocking economic opportunity for all collectors to enhance their experiences along their collecting journey.


Indeed, what 'The Hobby' needs is integrated friction removal by a newly consolidated group of these hobby enablers. Ick. I wish "The Hobby" would revert to being just a hobby and be scrubbed clean of the corporate ooze that has crept in, but I'm afraid that's just wishful thinking on my part.


brianp(arker)-beme

As I was reading that my only thought was "Who brings the K-Y?"

The most interesting component of this deal to me is that PSA is taking the vaults. Obviously, I get eBay buying Goldin (hence I predicted it when seemingly no one else did), but eBay & Goldin wanting out of the vault game is interesting. The primary reason PWCC's vault works so well, other than the fact that they were the first to do it in this hobby, is that it gives them a portal through which sellers can easily list their cards on their marketplace and thus brings in revenue. But if they didn't have a marketplace, it wouldn't be very cost effective. I can't imagine a scenario where a vault that isn't tethered to a marketplace survives long term. Obviously, PSA has some sort of agreement with ebay here which covers the cost of operating the vault, but it sure is interesting to see ebay aborting their vault project so quickly and effectively contracting it out to PSA. But what does PSA get out of it? Surely, PSA can operate it cheaper than ebay could, just by the nature of their businesses, but it's still a fascinating strategic component of the deal.

This video is pretty funny in light of the news about ebay buying out Goldin. It's a video where Ken goes on a rant about how bad ebay is for selling cards lol

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMDPijN...Q1ZGUxMzBkMA==

In the King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch | Official Trailer | Netflix, Ken stated he is motivated by three things: Competition, Ego, and Money.

The main/primary reason PWCC’s vault works is state sales tax avoidance. Plain and simple. Take the tax savings out of the equation and I doubt vaults gain traction

For a truly seamless end to end experience, they should just buy the Psychic Friends Network and use it to determine what we want to collect and remove the troublesome, fickle hobbyist from The Hobby.


PROFIT!

Avoidance of sales tax, seems like a win. Another huge sign we've entered a frothy top of the market.

Avoidance or evasion?

The vault has appeal to most due to the ability to avoid paying sales tax. Most of us will become sellers at some point but until then I think most collectors prefer to have their cards in their possession and not located in a vault.

And maybe I did not read the wordsmith release closely enough but is PSA getting two vaults out of this? I understood they were simply keeping theirs that they had with Goldin. Did not see that eBay was giving up theirs too.

And maybe I am in the minority here but what is so obvious about why eBay would want Goldin or any brick and mortar house?

The first that I ever heard of this vault tax “avoidance” concept was on the show Billions. The lead character used a vault and eventually an actual apartment to avoid a multi-million dollar use tax bill on some pieces of art. Then I start collecting again, and lo and behold, it’s now big business in the hobby.

But "investors" don't need to see their cards.

I need to adapt to the new industry where card altering is a very good thing and the term collector is now synonymous with investor.

Avoidance. There is nothing illegal (evasion) about buying an asset in a sales/use tax free state and leaving it in that state long enough. If you buy a card, have it sent to Oregon to avoid taxes, and remove it to NY a few days, weeks, months later, that is evasion. Sending it to Oregon, to reside permanently until sold, or for a substantial period (usually a year to be "old and cold"), even if done to save taxes, is avoidance and good business/tax planning.

I think my favorite take so far in this thread is the, "aha! See! eBay didn't buy Goldin. Really, it's more like a merger."

:facepalm:

I would bet a lot more people are evading than avoiding.

And I know my favorite post on this thread will always be "hence I predicted it when seemingly no one else did" from Net54's Miss Cleo. :D

Moi?


Just commenting on the article. Don't think I ever expressed an opinion one way or another on your "scoop". ;)

I thought Travis just reported a rumor. Not the same as predicting anything.

Depends which post you are referring to. The one I am referring to and absolutely the best post he has ever made here, was his saying that he knows how eBay operates and where their interests lie, when referring to the rumor.

All I know is that he is an expert in every industry and every field or at least he thinks he is. He knows the law better than certainly any lawyer who posts here. He knew before SA Brosokas knew, that PWCC case would be shelved, he is apparently a prostate cancer specialist, he is an autograph authentication expert with a specialty in Shoeless Joe Jackson autos, he is a world class card grader and card doctor (not his admission but by his not disputing it), he knows more about eBay than the top paid execs and at any time knows the finances and business dealings of PWCC, eBay and Collectors (maybe just the PSA division) and he can profile your personality without knowing you, never having met you and simply seeing images of you on TV.

I sense a tad bit of envy underneath your sarcasm.

Oh shucks! Was it THAT obvious?

End game?
 

Why would I not be surprised that somewhere soon down the road that it becomes a requirement in order to list a sports or non-sports card on eBay that it must be graded by PSA or SGC....


Patrick

The rumor was that PSA and Goldin weren't getting along and that Collectors was looking to offload Goldin. The only thing I predicted was that ebay would be the buyer. I don't know of anyone else that was also predicting it would be ebay, though surely I couldn't have been alone on that prediction. But I was certainly laughed at for voicing it at the time.

With any luck, their narrow definition of "card" will exclude most of what we collect.