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GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

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Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the difference is that GameStop already has this network of pawn shops, and those stores are doing enough business to justify their existence (at least somewhat; GameStop wasn't doing great before all the craziness). I could see something like the UPS kiosk in my local Walmart working; if you offered eBay returns at GameStop stores, you would be adding revenue without needing to justify an entire store to it…

> GameStop already has this network of pawn shops, and those stores are doing enough business to justify their existence Gamestop closed 2,400 stores from 2020 to present, and operates just 2,200 stores currently. They'll continue to close stores as their revenue continues to shrink (down 60% in the last decade). >used gaming inventory physical used game inventory is a fraction of what it was a decade ago, and contin…

It's reasonable to predict that as physical media is phased out by the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, that the value of offline capable inventory will shift to an investment instead of a liability. Increasing their percent cut as a result.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#512
post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's friction though, if the process is under one roof end-to-end, ebay can take 30-40% (15-20% today) of every transaction by just letting you dump your old stuff. Might even eat FB marketplace and CL.

People trying to sell their used junk aren't going to accept a 30-40% cut. It's why they aren't using eBay these days in the first place.

Checkout the insane amount of money Goodwill makes because of people getting rid of their "junk". There are 151 independent Goodwill organizations and all of them have a CEO, usually making 6 figures a year.

https://paddockpost.com/2025/02/14/executive-compensation-at...

If people are giving stuff to Goodwill with no compensation, I'd say they definitely would give eBay stuff for a 30-40% cut.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

eBay already had warehousing ops, I assume larger than tcgplayer’s. Last year, eBay shut down tcgplayer’s only fulfillment facility in Rochester, NY and switched to using eBay’s facility in Kentucky.

That wasn't about size, it was a labor play. The NY workers were negotiating for unionization for 500 days because of unfair conditions and low pay. I would have projected the same outcome though. Quality of TCGDirect operations, from an enduser perspective, took a nosedive with the move and never recovered.

I am familiar with all the particulars, check my HN profile ;)

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#515

Earlier quoted context omitted.

eBay has also started doing strongarm middleman things as well. If you list an item, it strongly "suggests" a price. Sounds innocuous, right? However, when every seller knows they would be stupid to list a product for less than the suggested price, that means that eBay is enacting a collusion process on their sellers to regulate prices for products sold on their platform. I don't think this is illegal in any way, but…

Yeah, I got fucked over by eBay and will never sell on there again. eBay let someone scam me out of $700. I sold a Mavic 2 Pro drone with 5 batteries. The whole process was a mess. Scammer initially complained that it didn't come with a CrystalSky tablet that was in one picture (that was only added AFTER after he had bid already and asked to see Flight Logs, and was explicitly disclaimed as not being a part of the pa…

Had similar issues. eBay being a mediator for your money but not the actual items is maybe inherently a dysfunctional system. They don't make any representations as to the accuracy of a listing, but will happily pass judgment on whether to refund or not based on... the aacuracy of a listing.

Maybe not every sale needs a middleman, but in a lot of cases, seems like there would be a benefit to it.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Operating income was $232.1 million, not $285.9 million. https://investor.gamestop.com/news-releases/news-details/202... That total revenue also declined 5% YoY

Total revenue declined because they closed stores. But income went up because those stores were losing money. They also made a lot off of interest on their cash, but that is going to get cut by about 30% if this goes through, as the combined cash position Gamestop has access to declines from 9 billion to 6 billion. Or so I've heard.

Total revenue has declined for several years, -27% in 2024, -11% in 2023 (2023 rev was $5.9b, to $3.6b in 2025, this is a shrinking business).

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#517
post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's friction though, if the process is under one roof end-to-end, ebay can take 30-40% (15-20% today) of every transaction by just letting you dump your old stuff. Might even eat FB marketplace and CL.

People trying to sell their used junk aren't going to accept a 30-40% cut. It's why they aren't using eBay these days in the first place.

I regularly accept a 40% cut or more at “Hard Off” (a chain store that buys and sells used electronics in Japan). Why? Because I don’t want to deal with the hassle and risk of selling the items myself.

I’m able to bring in a box of items that I don’t use and are taking up space, and they pay me cash on the spot. It’s very convenient.

I think eBay buyers would also have more confidence buying from eBay/Gamestop than direct from other users.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#518
post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> GameStop already has this network of pawn shops, and those stores are doing enough business to justify their existence Gamestop closed 2,400 stores from 2020 to present, and operates just 2,200 stores currently. They'll continue to close stores as their revenue continues to shrink (down 60% in the last decade). >used gaming inventory physical used game inventory is a fraction of what it was a decade ago, and contin…

It's reasonable to predict that as physical media is phased out by the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, that the value of offline capable inventory will shift to an investment instead of a liability. Increasing their percent cut as a result.

Their margin was highest on used physical media, which continues to plummet. Physical sales are down from $13b in 2015 to $1.5b in 2025, while total sales of physical + digital went from $23.5b in 2015 to $60b in 2025. Physical media is a tiny fraction of current game sales, even if their margin skyrockets, they're stuck in a tiny kid pool of potential sales.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#519

The original shorting of GameStop back in 2021 gave them a bit of a boost back into the green. While people were doing the GME to the moon, GameStop made more shares to sell, and paid off a bit of its debts, I think it made about a billion dollars in profit, they're still struggling, but it helped prolong their life. A friend of mine also pointed out and this made it click for me that it makes 100% sense, GameStop is…

> The original shorting of GameStop back in 2021 gave them a bit of a boost back into the green. IIRC, the short (borrowing stock, selling high, waiting for a downtrend, then buying low to pay back the borrowed stock buy an agreed date) was accelerating the fall of GameStop's stock price. Then some Reddit knuckleheads noticed the hedge fund shorting GameStop was over-leveraged. They also found the deadline the hedge…

Eh. The capital was provided by various share offerings and, most recently, a bond sale, which retail probably and definitely did not buy, respectively.

But here's the fun part. All of those issuances were made during periods of weirdly high prices. The biggest one was this time 2 years ago. The price jumped to $80. Doesn't seem like much, but there was a share split in 2022, 4:1. Between that and the offerings, buying the same proportion of Gamestop The Company as one share did in late January 2021 would have cost about... $350? The intraday high from 2021? Weird. Oh, but it happened in after-hours. When non-institutional traders usually aren't active...

I don't think anyone truly knows exactly what's going on with Gamestop's stock price.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it still riding the meme stock wave or has GameStop made a turnaround?

Liquid Assets: May 2020: $570.3 million Jan 2026: $9.013 billion

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