eBay Mega-Seller Probstein To Launch Competing Live Selling Platform For Sports Cards & Memorabilia
Longtime mega-seller Rick Probstein is launching BYD, a live selling platform aimed directly at competing with eBay Live, Whatnot, Fanatics Collect and more as future on eBay remains up in the air.
Probstein announced the new venture in an interview with Sports Card Madness on YouTube, saying he has been in a year to year relationship with eBay for over 20 years which will continue at least through 2025 - but he will also be launching his own live selling platform in the next few months.
So this is the first time that I'm stating this publicly...I've been in a year-to-year relationship with eBay for over 20 years...and it's been great I have no regrets, you know I have a great relationship with them.
I've met with pretty much all the Senior Management I talked to them on a weekly basis. We have a very very close relationship, so a lot of variables led to this but basically what's happening for 2025 is, and eBay is totally aware of all this, this is not breaking news to eBay they know all this...
...so for 2025 I still have a rates deal with them I still will be selling like a madman you know doing over $100 million hopefully like we normally do on the eBay platform but at the same time we will be launching our own live Commerce Marketplace off of eBay.
...13 months ago I hired a CTO and we hired a development firm and we have been building out a live Commerce auction site platform that has a lot of features.
I've done for eBay a little over 300 live shows and I feel like I have a little bit of a sense of the product. I also could do a deep dive in terms of what does Whatnot do well, what could they do better - Fanatics, eBay all these type of things, from a technology perspective, from a business perspective from an entertainment perspective, and I feel that we will be building a better mouse trap than them.
We're probably two months away from finishing the site and we'll probably hope to launch in about three months...the name that it's going to be known by is BYD.
When asked if there was any point where he approached eBay about partnering to build BYD, Probstein he's had dozen and dozens of meetings with eBay and there "still might come a point where [he] might do something with eBay and roll it back into the eBay site" - though he didn't give any insight or details as to whether that was something eBay had expressed any interest in at this point.
He went on to describe how BYD will work, with sellers being able to sell directly on the platform or consign with Probstein, and the market differentiation he hopes to bring to the table with simplified logistics and shipping capabilities.
BYD will initially focus on Collectibles, but Probstein says the plan is to expand to eventually cover handbags, electronics and other categories which have proven popular amongst live shopping consumers.
While there was no further comment on the future of Probstein Auctions on eBay, it will not be surprising if their year-to-year deal ends or at least significantly changes after 2025.
If he does end up leaving the platform after 20 years and over 5 Million items sold, it would be yet another major loss for eBay after PWCC was removed from the site (ostensibly over shill bidding accusations) and acquired by Fanatics and Burbank Sportscards took millions of cards off of eBay after signing an exclusive deal with Fanatics Collect last year.
Liz Morton
Probstein is a somewhat controversial figure in the hobby himself, with many accusations of shill bidding lobbed against him as well.
The topic was brought up in an earlier part of that interview, with Probstein largely dismissing the issue by saying they always take action if they are aware shill bidding is happening while putting the responsibility for detecting shill bidding on eBay before shifting the conversation to the problems posed by non-paying bidders on the platform.
That answer seemed to be enough for the hosts of the show, but may not smooth over concerns of hobby enthusiasts whose opinions and experiences about how Probstein operates on eBay will undoubtedly impact whether they will trust and use BYD.
Either way, this development can't be good news for eBay as they face increasing pressure to grow live selling GMV in extremely competitive market where Whatnot, Fanatics, and others have outpaced eBay's lagging efforts.
Liz Morton
Would Probstein leaving eBay be good or bad for the hobby and will you give BYD a try as a buyer or seller once it launches? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
