eBay Acquisitions Show Focus and Potential

Online site eCommerceBytes reports that eBay has made two acquisitions in the last few months, one in Motors and the other in Trading Cards.

Lets talk Motors first. eBay has long been a leader in the auto parts category, and one of the most complex problems in the industry is which parts work with different makes and models of cars, something the industry calls fitment.

To this end, eBay acquired two companies in this space - myFitment and Ilumaware. I checked out the websites of these companies, and was impressed at these companies. First, myFitment is dedicated to helping not only eBay sellers but also Amazon sellers sell auto parts through marketplaces. Second, Ilumaware has a database of parts that matches with standard industry databases of parts.

So what is eBay getting out of this? Essentially three things.

One, they get employees that understand how to help parts sellers succeed online.

Two, they get fitment technology to help parts sellers succeed. The most important part of this technology is the parts catalog itself. The more comprehensive your parts catalog is, the more buyers and sellers you attract to your platform.

In other words, DATA. Data is extremely important.

Three, they get to potentially throw a proverbial wrench into Walmart and Amazon’s plans to make inroads into this category, not that they are very far -- still, it doesn’t hurt to protect your turf from competition and double-down on a strength.

With regards to trading cards, eBay just acquired marketplace TGCPlayer for almost $300 Million - a company that connects buyers and sellers in the hobby gaming industry around the world, which incidentally aligns nicely with eBay’s mission.

Do I like Fanatics strategy better? Perhaps. They went for the rightsholders in the major sports leagues, but the reality is that the small resellers are what make eBay great.

Likely this was a play for improving eBay’s selection online as well as introducing new buyers to its brand.

It’s not often I talk about eBay, and it’s not because eBay is not a great company. As one of the OGs of eCommerce, eBay is both large and very profitable. Something you couldn’t say about most of the market, including most of the other marketplaces that have traded growth for profitability in the next ten years.

On the other hand, eBay’s growth has been anemic for a long time, and the company has been plagued by at least a decade of poor leadership, strategic moves, and execution.

eBay brought in CEO Jamie Iannone as someone who could unlock the value of what makes eBay great, and that strategy has served him well in the short time he has been there. No one can turn around a company eBay’s size quickly, but Jamie’s steady leadership has been appreciated nonetheless.

The big question is, with eBay’s known technical challenges and previous execution missteps, can they integrate these acquisitions successfully?