Dive Brief:
- In another effort to attract sports enthusiasts, eBay has launched the “Collectors Camp,” an event series in which sports trading card fanatics can learn about enhancing their collections, the company announced Wednesday.
- The company has enlisted eBay seller David Prince and NBA player Mikal Bridges to guide attendees in reaching their card-collecting goals. Attendees will learn how to use eBay’s buying, trading and selling tools for building out their collection.
- The first camp will take place in Brooklyn, New York, and the next will be in Seattle in time for MLB All-Star Week. Attendees will receive an eBay gift card and limited-edition eBay merchandise.
Dive Insight:
Over the past few years, eBay has concentrated more on sports memorabilia. In 2020, the company partnered with Prova Group and former NFL player Emmitt Smith to verify the authenticity of sports memorabilia. The following year, the company hosted a series of authentication events in Atlanta, Seattle and other cities where collectors could authenticate their trading cards, shoes and other collectibles in person.
In 2022, the company announced the launch of eBay Vault, a digital marketplace and storage facility for trading cards and other collectibles. At the time, the company said it aims to store up to $3 billion worth of items in the vault over the next few years. Later that year, eBay bought TCGplayer, a tech company specializing in collectibles, in a deal valued at nearly $300 million.
EBay’s collectibles category, which includes trading cards, sports memorabilia and other items, is one of the most in-demand categories on the platform, with about 1.8 billion active listings from sellers around the world, according to the company. Collectors Camp is aimed at harnessing some of that enthusiasm.
“As sports fans catch the collector’s bug, it can take many years to acquire the skills needed to formulate a valuable collection, but we have an engaged and excited community, and the tools and services to help,” Gene Cook, vice president of collectibles at eBay, said in a statement. “We see surges in interest for collectibles timed to major sports moments, like the NBA Draft and MLB All-Star Game, since collectors are always on the hunt for the next Jordan or Jeter. eBay created Collectors Camp to fuel this passion, giving enthusiasts the opportunity to connect with each other and the athletes they admire.”
Other companies are also vying for trading card collectors’ attention. Last year, sports company Fanatics purchased trading card company Topps for an undisclosed sum. The deal came after Fanatics secured trading card rights from the MLB, the NBA and other major sports leagues.
