eBay offers unique line of pop culture collectibles
eBay is expanding its presence in the collectible market with a new partnership.
eBay is launching a series of exclusive Funko products as part of a newly formed collaboration with Funko, a pop culture brand. Through this partnership, the e-commerce platform will offer customers access to exclusive-to-eBay Funko products.
The first exclusive eBay Funko collection, focused on NBA professional basketball players, is now available here. Additional drops in the series will launch later this year.
"Creating iconic products that connect fans to their passion is at the core of what we do," said Johanna Gepford, senior VP for the direct to commerce business at Funko. "Collaborating with eBay allows us to broaden our reach delighting even more Funko collectors around the world."
eBay zeroes in on collectibles
Collectibles, digital and otherwise, represent an increasingly important product category for eBay. The company recently launched a new authenticity guarantee service for trading cards in January 2022, which it has since built upon through a new strategic partnership with PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), a trading card authentication and grading company.
The service provides authentication for single ungraded trading cards (including collectible card games, sports and non-sports) sold for $750 or more in the U.S. The company offers authentication in four key enthusiast collector categories, including sneakers, luxury watches, luxury handbags, and sports memorabilia. eBay also offers an image listing tool for collectible trading cards in its mobile app.
In addition, eBay recently opened the eBay vault, a 31,000-sq.-ft., 24/7 secured, temperature-controlled facility and digital marketplace for collectors. Single, graded trading cards worth $750 or more may be eligible for eBay vault access. Once an item is in the eBay vault, ownership transfers from seller to buyer in a matter of seconds, without need to re-authenticate or ship the item anywhere.
Utilizing the Price Guide and Collections tool natively built-in to the vault, users can monitor the real-time market valuation changes of their cards and list items directly from their collection. eBay's data catalog provides a holistic view of a collection's past and present value.
By 2023, eBay will expand the capacity of the vault to include additional collectibles categories and luxury goods. Within a few years, the retailer expects the vault to hold up to $3 billion in assets.
In the realm of digital collectibles, eBay purchased NFT marketplace KnownOrigin in June 2022. KnownOrigin's technology and platform is designed to provide artists a place to create unique, authentic, digital collectibles in the form of NFTs.
Other recent new NFT ventures launched by eBay include a May 2022 partnership with NHL legend Wayne Gretzky. The company is rolling out a series of exclusive NFTs through a strategic partnership with OneOf, a sustainable NFT platform. eBay's first-ever "Genesis" NFT collection will feature 3D and animated images of athletes featured on Sports Illustrated covers over the years.
Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay reports it enabled over $87 billion of gross merchandise volume in 2021.