eBay Making Moves To Protect Market Share In Sneaker Industry

eBay Inc EBAY, one of the world’s largest online resellers, on Monday acquired Sneaker Con Digital’s authentication business. This authentication service verifies the legitimacy of high-end footwear.

What You Need To Know: eBay is making strides to protect its market share in the sneaker industry. Once the largest online reseller of sneakers, eBay has lost a good chunk of its market share to competitors such as StockX and Sneaker Con.

eBay was previously working with Sneaker Con. In October 2020, eBay launched its "Authenticity Guarantee," powered by Sneaker Con. eBay executives, led by CEO Jamie Iannone, saw the value in Sneaker Con’s technology and made the decision to acquire the company.

See Also: PayPal's eBay-Less Future Is In the Making

How Much Is The Sneaker Resale Industry Worth? eBay clearly wants to maintain a strong foothold in the sneaker resale industry. This is because the industry is highly lucrative, and poised to grow tenfold in the next 10 years.

According to a July report from Cowen and Co, the sneaker resale industry is currently worth $2 billion in the North American market alone, with a 20% year-over-year growth rate. Cowen states the industry could be worth as much as $30 billion by 2030.

StockX Closes In: In its most recent funding announcement in April, StockX raised $255 million, valuing the e-commerce startup at $3.8 billion and further stoking flames that the company will IPO in the near future.

Detroit-based StockX reported closing more than 7.5 million trades and hit $1.8 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2020, which resulted in GAAP revenue of over $400 million.