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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

#521

Post by ball_of_lint »

whamlastxmas wrote: post #357
rahimnathwani wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I think it made about a billion dollars in profit" It raised over a billion dollars of capital (i.e. issued shares in return for cash). It did not make a billion dollars in profit (and has never had a year when it did).

The TLDR for people who don't intuitively understand why: existing shareholders are diluting their stake in the company by issuing new shares and getting money for those new shares. It's simply selling part of the company. Not profit.

You're conflating two things here.

Yes, in 2021 GameStop did sell shares to raise cash in a dilutive way. [1]

No, that is not being treated as profit or revenue.

Gamestop had ~418 million in profit in 2025. [2] A fraction of that profit does come from interest income. Ignoring that (say to value the business separate from the cash) they still made ~110 million in profit.

In my personal opinion (not financial advice) Gamestop with the cash it has today is a much more attractive investment than without. If you have worries about an economic downturn, it's a hedge. If you worry about GameStop being able to maintain it's current revenue/profit or volatility, it's runway. There's a variety of ways it reduces the risk of an investment.

[1] https://investor.gamestop.com/news-releases/news-details/202...

[2] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326380/000132638026... page 27 has the consolidated results.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#522

Post by radlad »

TheCondor wrote: post #404
radlad wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never had this happen, but I don't buy from first-time eBay sellers. There are definitely scams on there, but they seem to be "too good to be true" prices with 0 reviews on the seller. Surely you're not getting scammed by sellers with lots of reputational history? I actually am more nervous as a seller, as their buyer protection almost always sides with buyers, at least in the US (and the fee is astronomical.)

Well, a month ago was my last use for about a year. A user with a 96% positive feedback and definitely a lot of sales slow played and then issued a fake UPS tracking number. The negatives in their history sounded mostly like communication issues so I assumed they were okay. They sell a lot of things in the $30-$90 range, this was a $200 item they had listed for $145, and they supposedly had a couple of them. A local…

That sounds incredibly frustrating, I'm sorry. Good luck.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#524

Post by SwellJoe »

59percentmore wrote: post #509
SwellJoe wrote: post #452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does it give structural advantage to own a bunch of dead mall and strip mall brick and mortar stores that have been on the verge of bankruptcy for well over a decade?

They haven't been on the verge of bankruptcy since they paid off their own loans. This deal will actually be the closest they've been to bankruptcy since like 2022, because they'll actually have interest payments to make.

That's an accident of becoming a meme stock. That's not a business model.

Revenue continues to decline year over year. Nothing about the business has materially changed the trajectory they have been on throughout all of this. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/GME/gamestop/reven...

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#525

Post by bombcar »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #385
metalliqaz wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, exactly. In fact there were some ebay "helper" companies that made a go of it in the early 2000's. They went out of business because it doesn't add enough value. USPS created Media Mail and flat rate boxes, and UPS stores are found in nearly every community. They handle the hard part (shipping) well enough. The only thing I can think of is Gamestop positioning to become a clearing house for fan swag or gaming it…

Yes, exactly. In fact there were some ebay "helper" companies that made a go of it in the early 2000's. They went out of business because it doesn't add enough value It didn't add enough value back then, but IMHO it does now. Selling on eBay is a massive hassle these days for a variety of reasons, and much less profitable for onesy-twosy transactions than it used to be. If I could just drop off a bunch of stuff at my…

They’re called consignment stores and some have an online component (which can involve eBay or other similar marketplaces).

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#526

Post by ball_of_lint »

this_user wrote: post #397
weard_beard wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My take? The strategy is like a contractor fixing up houses. GameStop was the crappiest house on the block. He’s fixed it up and is using it as collateral to take out a loan and buy the dilapidated mansion next door (eBay). He’ll keep going until he’s gentrified the whole neighborhood using the value of the current business as collateral to buy the next. He wants to sell only when the value of the entire gentrified n…

The only thing that Cohen has done is shut down stores and cut costs massively at the expensive of revenue. He hasn't really fixed anything, he is just managing their demise. All of his strategic initiatives like expansion of e-commerce or an NFT platform were complete disasters that had to be wound down. The only reason the company is even showing a profit is because they repeatedly diluted shareholders to raise cas…

> The only reason the company is even showing a profit is because they repeatedly diluted shareholders to raise cash and then re-invested that money into Treasuries.

That's simply not true.

Profit excluding the interest from the cash in 2025 was ~110 million. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326380/000132638026... page 27.

Yes, closing unprofitable stores reduces revenue. It also improves profit. You're describing... Good business.

You're entitled to your opinions about the products and the merger. We'll have to see how it plays out

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#528

Post by CamperBob2 »

bombcar wrote: post #525
CamperBob2 wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, exactly. In fact there were some ebay "helper" companies that made a go of it in the early 2000's. They went out of business because it doesn't add enough value It didn't add enough value back then, but IMHO it does now. Selling on eBay is a massive hassle these days for a variety of reasons, and much less profitable for onesy-twosy transactions than it used to be. If I could just drop off a bunch of stuff at my…

They’re called consignment stores and some have an online component (which can involve eBay or other similar marketplaces).

Yes, consignment stores have existed for a long time, but they aren't generally functional interfaces to eBay. If you want your stuff to sit on a shelf for the next few years, a consignment store is OK, I suppose.

When I sell something, I usually want the item gone ASAP in exchange for a modest amount of money.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#529

Post by pavon »

radlad wrote: post #156
GaryBluto wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you used eBay in the last few years? It's awful for sellers and awful for buyers. This is coming from somebody who buys on eBay twice a month on average.

What would make it better? My only complaint as a seller is fees. I have no complaints as a buyer. The best part is eBay works exactly the same as 10 years ago, as far as I can tell.

As a seller, the buyer can claim that the package they received was empty or just had a brick or whatever, and eBay will almost always side with them. I have multiple friends who were been hit by this.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#530

Post by FrojoS »

prirun wrote: post #512
delfinom wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"Goodwill Industries was established in 1902 and is widely known across the country as the place where we all donate clothing and household goods to help others."

That's the first sentence from your link. Clearly people don't treat this org, literally called "good will", the same as they treat freakin eBay.

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