Watching GameStop, a company for which most people had already written a quiet eulogy, try to swallow eBay whole is ironic in a certain way. Avoid nibbling on it. Don’t collaborate with it. Purchase it for about $55.5 billion at a 20% premium, even though its current value is less than 25% of that amount. It’s the kind of move that causes you to put down your coffee and take two looks at the headline.
According to reports, Ryan Cohen, the CEO of GameStop and the man who turned Chewy into a massive pet supply company before most people considered online pet food to be a serious business, has quietly acquired a 5% stake in eBay. He told The Wall Street Journal that he sees eBay growing to a value of “hundreds of billions,” secured up to $20 billion in financing commitments from TD Bank, and hinted that it might become a serious competitor to Amazon. It’s still unclear whether that’s a vision or a delusion, and it’s precisely this uncertainty that warrants careful consideration.
It’s difficult to ignore how much of this narrative depends on the surge in collectibles. Cohen repositioned GameStop in addition to stabilizing it. GameStop’s collectibles revenue increased from $737.5 million to slightly under $1.1 billion between fiscal 2019 and 2025, accounting for nearly a third of the company’s total revenue. Individuals who used to store their Pokémon binders beneath their beds as children are now financially independent adults who still have a strong emotional attachment to a first-edition Charizard. When Cohen noticed that current, he purposefully rode it.
Conversely, eBay has subtly emerged as the main hub for the world of vintage gaming and used trading cards. Every collector community, whether online or offline, uses eBay prices as a benchmark. It’s where a PSA 10 Shadowless Blastoise draws forty viewers before noon, and a used copy of Earthbound is listed for $400. There are undoubtedly flaws in the platform, but it functions with a sort of competitive equilibrium that keeps buyers with options and sellers honest.
Collectors are now concerned about precisely that equilibrium. The possibility of two businesses merging is not the only worry. It’s because this specific merger, which combines eBay’s market dominance with GameStop’s retail presence and grading aspirations, may give one corporate structure an uncomfortable amount of control over the used collectibles market. Here, the Microsoft-Activision deal serves as a warning: within months of closing, almost 1,900 jobs were eliminated, and the gaming industry changed in ways that many who had been closely observing felt were irreversible.
Cohen has actually gained some legitimacy. He reduced expenses, increased margins by seven percentage points, brought GameStop back to profitability following five years of losses, and accumulated more than $9 billion in cash. There’s a feeling that he may genuinely believe this, rather than just acting ambitious. However, it’s still unclear how a $12 billion company will close the remaining financial gap on a $56 billion transaction. Believing something and being able to carry it out at this scale are two different issues.
The outcome of this bid has more intimate ramifications for the collector community than most business transactions. These aren’t just marketplaces; they’re communities centered on crafts, nostalgia, and occasionally real money. Spreadsheets don’t adequately convey the unsettling possibility of one entity controlling the storefronts, the grading, the resale platform, and the retail floor space. This is a deal worth keeping a close eye on, not only from Wall Street but also from the card table.
