eBay TCGPlayer Sellers Urge FTC, DOJ Investigation In Comments On Corporate Consolidation & Roll-Ups
Collectible trading card game sellers are continuing their campaign urging federal regulatory and law enforcement bodies to investigate eBay's 2022 acquisition of TCGPlayer, alleging the company's aggressive moves to consolidate their position in the industry have resulted in a substantial loss of competition.
The group of sellers, represented by the Responsible Online Commerce Coalition, submitted a public comment this week to the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice joint inquiry on Corporate Consolidation Through Serial Acquisitions and Roll-Up Strategies.
"There used to be a more competitive ecosystem for online sellers and buyers of Magic The Gathering, Pokemon and other trading cards. Today, however, sellers have no real option other than to use TCGplayer and that has had many negative effects for sellers like me and my customers. The company is squeezing us and card-buyers because they can, now that they have eliminated nearly all the competition.” - DJ Johnson, seller and ROCC member.
Johnson's comments echo concerns he and his fellow sellers raised in a petition filed with the FTC in May, alleging eBay TCGPlayer has violated federal antitrust law by engaging in apparently deceptive and anticompetitive conduct including illegal monopoly maintenance, anticompetitive rollups, and overcharging sellers and consumers through unfair and deceptive junk fees.
Liz Morton
This group of sellers had written to eBay CEO Jamie Iannone, TCGPlayer CEO Rob Bigler and eBay's Board of Directors with their concerns in January, but they say eBay was dismissive and non-responsive, with Chief Ethics Officer Aaron Johnson denying all allegations and declining to further address any of the issues the sellers raised.
The petition claims that eBay TCGplayer has consolidated the online trading card game market through both horizontal and vertical acquisitions of ChannelFireball and BinderPOS, which has allowed them to eliminate competitors and make key industry tools exclusive to its own marketplace.
eBay's acquisition of Goldin Auctions was cited another example of the company using M&A to eliminate competition in the online auction market for sports trading cards and memorabilia as well.
The sellers say TCGPlayer shut down 50+ accounts for using 3rd party tools to synch inventory across platforms and that this "exclusionary conduct" forces sellers to use TCGplayer exclusively, erecting insurmountable barriers to entry for any would-be competitors.
They also allege selling fees are unfair and deceptive; doubling, tripling, quadrupling, or more on pass-through charges to extract additional profits using the “Cart Optimizer” feature as well as overcharging for PayPal/Credit Card Fees and shipping.
The petition went on to call out eBay's anti-competitive and deceptive practice of competing with 3rd party sellers on its own site under the TCGPlayer name without adequate disclosure that TCGPlayer is owned by eBay, citing Value Added Resource's investigation into the practice.
Liz Morton
In addition to anti-competitive practices, sellers have raised concerns about eBay TCGPlayer's treatment of employees, particularly authentication workers who voted to form eBay's first US union last year, and the company's ongoing delays in bargaining and union-busting activities which have resulted in new Unfair Labor Practice charges being filed with the National Labor Relations Board in recent months.
Liz Morton
Several of the sellers represented by ROCC have been publicly vocal supporters of TCGUnion-CWA and believe eBay TCGPlayer took retaliatory action against their accounts at least in part because of their pro-union positions.
Continued violations of labor laws and engaging in anti-competitive business practices could lead to increased regulatory scrutiny and legal action which the company can ill afford on top of a historic $59 Million settlement with the DEA, an ongoing EPA lawsuit, and a deferred prosecution agreement after being criminally charged in connection to the 2019 cyberstalking of journalists Ina and David Steiner of EcommerceBytes that includes enhanced compliance monitoring with a specific focus on Mergers and Acquisitions.
Liz Morton
eBay is also currently conducting an "investor recommended" Values Assessment, promising to "[take] a close look at our workplace practices, policies, culture, and [hear] directly from our employees and external stakeholders" to determine if the company is living up to their Human Rights Policy Statement, including the United Nations Principles on Business and Human Rights and the ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
Liz Morton
Unfortunately, recent reporting by Luke Rosiak at the Daily Wire raises troubling questions about whether Lina Khan and others occupying top spots at the FTC can be trusted to be objective and unbiased when reviewing consumer complaints and petitions or comments regarding eBay's business practices, due to ties with eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.
Omidyar stepped down from active membership on eBay's Board of Directors in September 2020 after the cyberstalking scandal became public, but he is still a major shareholder and retains the honorary title of Director Emeritus.
That honorary title may not come with voting rights, but that doesn't necessarily mean Omidyar no longer has any influence at the company.
Notably, Shripriya Mahesh was appointed to eBay's BOD in 2023 after previously rising to VP Product Management and Product Strategy in 2006, then joining Omidyar's First Look Media as Head Of Product in 2013 and later becoming Partner Emerging Tech at Pierre's "social change venture", Omidyar Network.
While serving on the eBay Board of Directors, Mahesh has actively maintained her position as Founding Partner of Spero Ventures - a for-profit venture fund spunout from Omidyar Network in 2018 with Pierre Omidyar as its sole limited partner at the time.
Omidyar Network has strategically funded freelance journalists through their their Reporters in Residence program, supporting coverage of big-picture economic issues like "Reimagining Capitalism" and "The Future of Workers and Work."
Over the last few years, this Reporters in Residence program has awarded several grants to labor journalists like Kim Kelly, Hamilton Nolan, s.e. smith, and Brian Merchant - all of whom appear to have been curiously quiet about the first union in eBay's ~30 year history and the year long battle TCGUnion-CWA has fought trying to bargain their first contract.
The scant mainstream media coverage this historic organizing effort has received compared to similar campaigns at Amazon likely won't come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to eBay leadership's hostile attitudes toward free speech and independent journalism revealed in the cyberstalking case or more current initiatives aimed at leveraging media connections to manipulate and influence public perception and discussion about the company.
In addition to the conflict of interest and regulatory capture concerns that should be raised by Omidyar's relationship with the FTC, it's become increasingly clear that eBay is also engaging in strategic media capture with it's exclusive deal with New York Times owned The Athletic to provide sports trading card and memorabilia content in exchange for paid product placement.
Liz Morton
The Athletic readers were skeptical about the deal, questioning how it might impact editorial standards and journalistic ethics at the publication and whether any New York Times owned property can be trusted to objectively cover future stories related to eBay in light of the financial tie up now in place between the two companies.
If legacy business, tech and financial media like the New York Times were to regularly cover eBay with the same lens they apply to Amazon or even Etsy, it might help assuage those reasonable reader concerns.
And if Lina Khan and others at the FTC want to prove they are not unduly influenced by their personal histories with Pierre Omidyar, taking these public comments and the ROCC petition seriously and launching a thorough investigation into eBay's business practices would be a good place to start.
Read the sellers' full public comments submitted to the FTC:
