https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/gamestop-preparing-offer-for-ebay-1678e6de

If there was ever a business I was wrong about, it's GameStop. For the life of me I can't understand how or why they are still in business. And not only that they seem to be getting stronger. People hanging onto physical media for games has lasted way longer than I ever thought possible considering I personally haven't purchased physical media in at least 15 years or more.

Quote:

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GameStop is preparing to make an offer for eBay , according to people familiar with the matter, part of CEO Ryan Cohen's audacious plan to turn the retailer into a $100-billion plus juggernaut. If eBay isn't receptive, Cohen could decide to take the offer directly to eBay's shareholders, one of the people added. Details of the potential offer for eBay couldn't be learned.

GameStop, which had a market value of around $11 billion as of Friday's close, has been quietly building a stake in eBay's shares ahead of a potential offer, the people said. EBay is several times GameStop's size, with a market value around $45 billion as of Friday's close.

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Quote:

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GameStop had around $9 billion in cash on hand at the end of March, up from $4.8 billion a year earlier.

GameStop adjusted Cohen's compensation package at the beginning of the year to give him extra incentive to boost the company's market value and profitability. He stands to make as much as $35 billion in stock if certain criteria are met, including if the market value hits $100 billion, the Journal previously reported.

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FaceMask said:

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Welcome to the world of Roaring Kitties .

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See, I have no idea what this even means.

Why one should avoid trading in stocks/companies they do not know or understand....something I do practice because this is a stock I would have shorted multiple times over the years and got burned every time.

eBay has hosed sellers for so long, I think they are just shrinking over time. That and there's probably a generational shift on consumer purchasing. I'm sure PayPal's shenanigans and the ever increasing seller fees drove folks off. It did me. GameStop also hoses sellers but the transaction has zero friction, no tax implication, and I'm willing to bet their base hasn't shrunk that much. GameStop also had that stock event and I'm sure they did as much as they could to use it.

PeekingDuck said:

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eBay has hosed sellers for so long, I think they are just shrinking over time. That and there's probably a generational shift on consumer purchasing. I'm sure PayPal's shenanigans and the ever increasing seller fees drove folks off. It did me. GameStop also hoses sellers but the transaction has zero friction, no tax implication, and I'm willing to bet their base hasn't shrunk that much. GameStop also had that stock event and I'm sure they did as much as they could to use it.

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Yeah, I wonder how much being a meme stock may have actually helped them. I don't know if it did or not but it got their name out there all over again.

I've never actually even logged onto eBay and I deleted PayPal many years ago after they stole money from me. Do people actually use PayPal still? I built a website for a small business about 20 years ago and incorporated PayPal into the site for them and that was the last time I ever really even touched it.

So, three companies I thought would have long since died all intermingled. I guess PayPal lives on through Venmo.

One crap company buying another.

I just use eBay to buy used cellphones as I never buy new. The site is more or less the same in the last 10 years.

I used to sell a lot of stuff on it, old junk but not lately. I just use FB Marketplace. I don't do Amazon as they want my SSN.

I'm curious how GameStop has $9B of cash on hand...

Proposal to acquire eBay.https://t.co/FwjcxbDmyt

— Ryan Cohen (@ryancohen) May 4, 2026

YouBet said:

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https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/gamestop-preparing-offer-for-ebay-1678e6de

If there was ever a business I was wrong about, it's GameStop. For the life of me I can't understand how or why they are still in business. And not only that they seem to be getting stronger. People hanging onto physical media for games has lasted way longer than I ever thought possible considering I personally haven't purchased physical media in at least 15 years or more.

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I know I am starting to get old, but there is no way I would ever buy a digital copy of something if I can get the physical version for the same price. I've been reminded too many times that a digital copy is just a right to access that digital asset for as long as the company feels like letting you have access to it. You also can't resell a digital assest, and while you may not get much out of it, not much is more than none.

That being said, GameStop has completely closed all of its locations in my town (there used to be 4-5 just a few years ago), so despite being one of those customers for a long time, they are dead to me now.

Ugly said:

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YouBet said:

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https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/gamestop-preparing-offer-for-ebay-1678e6de

If there was ever a business I was wrong about, it's GameStop. For the life of me I can't understand how or why they are still in business. And not only that they seem to be getting stronger. People hanging onto physical media for games has lasted way longer than I ever thought possible considering I personally haven't purchased physical media in at least 15 years or more.

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I know I am starting to get old, but there is no way I would ever buy a digital copy of something if I can get the physical version for the same price. I've been reminded too many times that a digital copy is just a right to access that digital asset for as long as the company feels like letting you have access to it. You also can't resell a digital assest, and while you may not get much out of it, not much is more than none.

That being said, GameStop has completely closed all of its locations in my town (there used to be 4-5 just a few years ago), so despite being one of those customers for a long time, they are dead to me now.

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I understand this thought process because I apply it towards certain books, but I don't hold games to the same standard because they are games. I will play them once and never look at them again so it's total throw away for me and digital means one less thing junking up my shelves.

I also think this is a generational thing. I doubt younger people give a damn about your point. I'm older so it matters to Gen X, and I'm clearly in the minority for Gen X as someone who is fine with digital. At one point, this would have been an internet bandwidth issue and financial issue for younger folks and might still be? As in it's cheaper to buy used at GameStop and you don't have to worry about download speeds.

PCs no longer default with drives and consoles require you to select drives as an option now which should be pushing more to digital.

But WTF do I know. I've clearly been wrong on this company so maybe I'm utterly wrong here.

Waffledynamics said:

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aggiesherpa said:

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I'm curious how GameStop has $9B of cash on hand...

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"We'll give you $3.50 for this game that you paid $70 for".

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Kinda like a Harley dealership. lol.

How would this be gamestop buying ebay?

GameStop marketcap == $11.90 billion
eBay marketcap == $46.21 billion

what am I missing?

Bag said:

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How would this be gamestop buying ebay?

GameStop marketcap == $11.90 billion
eBay marketcap == $46.21 billion

what am I missing?

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Welcome to the most confusing company on the NASDAQ.

I like the stock

Bag said:

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How would this be gamestop buying ebay?

GameStop marketcap == $11.90 billion
eBay marketcap == $46.21 billion

what am I missing?

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sounds like an old school leveraged buy out

Deal is out:

Quote:

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GameStop has submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire eBay for $125 per share in a half-cash, half-stock deal valued at $55.5 billion, marking an audacious bid by the video game retailer to buy the e-commerce marketplace.

The gaming retailer plans to fund the acquisition with $9.4 billion in cash and liquid investments on hand as of January 31, supplemented by up to $20 billion in third-party financing from TD Securities. GameStop projects $2 billion in annual cost savings within twelve months, primarily by cutting what it views as inefficient spending at eBay.

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I think he is trying to run up the price of eBay so he can dump his stake in the company for a profit. It's not a pump and dump if he can claim he was going to buy it but the financing fell through or the price got to expensive.

Looks like he's incentivized to get the market cap up by any means necessary

Ryan Cohen's interview on @cnbc this morning was equal parts painful, hilarious, and predictable. $GME's proposed acquisition of $EBAY is a transaction that Charlie Munger would love. Show me the incentives, I'll show you the outcome.

Here's Ryan Cohen's incentive package.… pic.twitter.com/tUSrkzTT4w

— PAA Research (@ActAccordingly) May 4, 2026

aggiez03 said:

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Diggity said:

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GameStop CEO is something else.

Here's the most contentious part of Ryan Cohen's CNBC Squawk Box interview about the GameStop-EBAY acquisition.

This is a HEATED back and forth, uncommon for financial news. $GME

Sorkin, at one point is in disbelief at RC's repetitive answering to his question. pic.twitter.com/MWAbYWStlp

— Reese Politics (@ReesePolitics) May 4, 2026

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I wouldn't deal with the guy. What a moron.

Does he not know how TV works? No one watching TV wants to go to a website. Explain it idiot.

How is this guy a CEO of a BILLION $$ Corporation??

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He has a martin shkreli vibe to me.

Ugly said:

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YouBet said:

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https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/gamestop-preparing-offer-for-ebay-1678e6de

If there was ever a business I was wrong about, it's GameStop. For the life of me I can't understand how or why they are still in business. And not only that they seem to be getting stronger. People hanging onto physical media for games has lasted way longer than I ever thought possible considering I personally haven't purchased physical media in at least 15 years or more.

---

I know I am starting to get old, but there is no way I would ever buy a digital copy of something if I can get the physical version for the same price. I've been reminded too many times that a digital copy is just a right to access that digital asset for as long as the company feels like letting you have access to it. You also can't resell a digital assest, and while you may not get much out of it, not much is more than none.

That being said, GameStop has completely closed all of its locations in my town (there used to be 4-5 just a few years ago), so despite being one of those customers for a long time, they are dead to me now.

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10-15 year ago I would agree with you, but now so many games require online access to even work that most of the discs are practically just license keys. At least having a physical license key lets you have a market choice when buying as opposed to digital only consoles where you only have one market for purchasing.