TAPPED OUT AT TCGPLAYER

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Workers at eBay subsidiary TCGplayer voted to form a union in March 2023 and have been bargaining for their first union contract for over a year. The workers of CWA-TCGUnion are the first group at eBay to win union representation in the U.S.

These workers, who make eBay’s trading card platform successful, struggle to make ends meet on their low wages. An analysis of wage data and a survey of TCGplayer workers reveals poverty wages and widespread worry about meeting basic financial obligations like housing, medical care, groceries, and childcare:

Wages for all the non-management workers at the Authentication Center are low, with a median wage of $18.25 per hour.
The majority (87%) of Authentication Center workers earn less than a living wage in Syracuse, NY for a single person without children.
A majority of survey respondents feel financially insecure. 78% of respondents feel worried they will not be able to meet all of their financial obligtions, and another 13% are “sometimes” worried.
The majority of survey respondents report delaying necessary medical care (57%) and buying groceries (56%) among their struggles with their low wages at TCGplayer.

These wages are not enough even for a single adult to sustain themselves in Syracuse, N.Y.—forcing 66% of workers to rely on family, friends, and public assistance to get by.

Workers are calling on eBay to live up to the commitment it made in its Human Rights Policy which states: “We respect the rights of our employees to choose to support, or not support, representation by a labor union, works council or other employee organization. We are committed to bargaining in good faith with any such representative body established under applicable laws.”¹

eBay needs to get serious at the bargaining table and agree to reasonable contract terms.

INTRODUCTION

Online auction company eBay sees niche markets like trading cards as key to its success. But after workers formed a union at trading card-focused subsidiary TCGplayer in 2023, the company opposed their efforts at every turn and is dragging its feet bargaining a first contract. The low-wage jobs at TCGplayer leave workers unable to make ends meet despite eBay’s track record of impressive growth in recent years. This report presents the findings of an analysis of wage data and a survey of TCGplayer workers about their ability to make ends meet. It makes the case that eBay should agree to meaningful wage increases and a union contract.

eBay’s success hinges on growth in “focus categories” like trading cards

eBay was founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar. In 2023, eBay had 132 million active buyers with $73 billion in gross merchandise value transacted over the year. In the past year, eBay earned $10.2 billion revenue and $2.3 billion in operating profits, a 23% operating profit margin.²

eBay subsidiary TCGplayer is a marketplace platform for buying and selling trading cards (Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and others). Additionally, the company authenticates and grades the quality of high value cards on its marketplace, which ensures the value and veracity of the products that are sold across its platform. eBay acquired TCGplayer in October 2022 for $300 million.

eBay saw massive profits over the pandemic as many people turned to hobbies, collecting, selling unused items, and starting new small businesses. Since then, in the face of competition from other online retailers (Amazon, Walmart, etc), eBay updated its strategy to focus on niche markets (which they call “focus categories”), namely: Jewelry and watches, refurbished products, clothes (most notably footwear and purses), autoparts, and collectible cards. Since eBay focuses on the second-hand market for the products on its platform, verification of quality and authenticity is a primary concern to guard the platform’s reputation.³

eBay’s anti-union campaign has not weakened workers’ resolve

In March 2023, 272 workers at the TCGplayer main facility, known as the “Authentication Center,” located in Syracuse, N.Y., organized a union with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), known as CWA-TCGUnion. The workers were motivated to organize due to low wages and unfair treatment at TCGplayer. eBay sought to block the workers’ union victory using procedural delays and pressure from managers.⁴

The National Labor Relations Board found that eBay broke the law by committing multiple unfair labor practices that include: unlawfully firing workers without bargaining with the union, refusing to bargain with the union after its certification, refusing to provide information it was legally obligated to provide, refusing to bargain over disciplinary actions, unilaterally changing working conditions by removing work chairs from workstations, unilaterally changing healthcare benefits, surveillance of the workers, and making workers sign confidentiality agreements.⁵

After the workers won their union election with the NLRB, eBay continued to retain union-busting law firm Littler Mendelson to lead bargaining and drag out negotiations by putting forward proposals that undercut basic union rights, not responding to union proposals, and only providing a few days a month available to meet with the union. Despite the anti-union campaign, the union members at the Authentication Center have stayed mobilized and committed to winning a fair contract with eBay.

“We don’t have a room to put our kid in yet. A pay raise would make all of the difference to actually being able to set up a home.”
-Megan Wheeler

TCGPLAYER WORKERS STRUGGLE TO GET BY ON LOW WAGES

At TCGplayer, workers' wages start at New York State’s minimum wage of $15 per hour, and rise only a few dollars after years with the company. Wage data for employees at the Authentication Center show the median wage for TCGplayer’s non-management employees is $18.25 per hour, with 60% of workers making less than $19 per hour.

Wage Distribution of Non-Management Job Titles

According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a living wage in Syracuse, N.Y. for a single person without children is $20.99 per hour. Fewer than 13% of non-management workers at TCGplayer’s Authentication Center make a living wage even for a single person without children.⁶

The inequities within eBay are staggering. eBay CEO Jamie Iannone made $21.6 million in total compensation in 2023 alone. His compensation is 135 times the median salary of an eBay employee of $160,007 —reflecting eBay’s workforce of mostly tech workers in Silicon Valley.⁷ When compared to the median salary at the Syracuse Authentication Center, Iannone makes 568 times the median worker.

Survey shows pay at TCGplayer is not enough to make ends meet

CWA conducted a survey of 54 TCGplayer Authentication Center workers about wages and cost of living between August 12 and September 1, 2024. The survey revealed that the workers struggle to make ends meet with their current wages.The respondents' comments reflect that TCGplayer workers care about their coworkers’ wellbeing, the success of the company, and their work in the trading card industry, but also worry their compensation cannot adequately support them.

Do you worry about meeting your financial responsibilities on your current salary (for example, paying mortgage, rent, groceries)?

The survey respondents report the hardships they face due to low wages at TCGplayer:

72% said variable hours on a check can cause them financial hardship.
71% said that they would not be able to pay for their housing if they missed one week of work due to an illness.
53% are at least sometimes reliant on overtime to pay all of their bills.

“Everything needs to be planned or I just won’t make ends meet. And, I’m dipping into credit cards a little more than I want to sometimes.” -Shawn Buckman

TCGplayer employees rely on others to get by

When asked about how TCGplayers make ends meet, a majority of respondents (57%) said they rely on friends and family. Nine percent of respondents said they relied on public assistance. The most common types of public assistance were heating assistance (LIHEAP) and food assistance (SNAP).

Survey respondents reported that they sometimes cannot afford basic necessities and must rely on support from friends,family, and from public assistance programs.

A majority of respondents (57%) said that they have delayed receiving medical care because they could not afford it, while 27% said they have delayed or went without necessary medication.
A majority of respondents (56%) said that they delayed purchasing groceries because they could not afford them.
50% of respondents with children said they struggled to afford childcare.
19% of respondents said they have stayed in an unsafe living situation due to not being able to afford moving or finding affordable housing. This is especially troubling, given that a majority of these respondents (56%) rely on others to make ends meet.

“The union is more than just a voice to stand up for myself and my coworkers. It’s the voice to talk amongst ourselves and realize that we’re not alone and the struggles that affect one or two people are not alone, they’re actually shared by a lot of us. We can stand up and do something.” -Justin Howard

TCGplayer worker testimonials on the struggle to make ends meet on poverty wages

“I am one financial incident away from a total life collapse because I don't make enough to put into savings or have health insurance.”

“I’d like to be able to afford groceries and the necessities needed for a comfortable living at the very least, but can’t even do that with the current pay”

“I take out of my savings for certain emergency charges. While I understand some may view their savings as emergency funds, I would like to see myself... Actually save up money? And not see it go away within a few months because what I saved up had to be put towards an emergency charge.”

“I love my co-workers, I stay at TCGplayer to work with them. I cannot afford to stay at TCGplayer if we do not get paid more.”

“I work two additional jobs as well as at TCG. Due to childcare being so expensive I am only a 30 hour a week employee at TCG in order to be able to be with my step kids while their dad works. Even though 30 hours a week for pay is a struggle, paying for child care would be even harder.”

“I sit at home like a hermit, scared to do anything that costs money. Time off? Forget about it. One bucket with slow accrual is not enough. What if I get sick? Or need that time because we are off shelf early? I need that money more than I need time to rest.”

“Things are getting more expensive. We spend more on groceries, utilities, gas, and housing every year. I've been able to stay above water through a promotion I got 2 years ago but even with 2 of us working full time at TCGplayer, we're saving less and less every month.”

“Management is incredibly toxic and hostile and they don’t take anyone’s financial issues seriously- ‘living within means’ and ‘just moving closer’ isn’t a great strategy for keeping people at your company.”

“As much as eBay talks about supporting families and this “caregivers month”, I would hope that they would help support us more and let us advance and support our families. Maybe even get full weekends, I would love to have full weekends with my daughter.” -Angie Matheus

RECOMMENDATIONS

eBay should bargain a fair contract with CWA-TCGUnion that fairly compensates workers and demonstrates respect for their contribution to eBay’s success.

eBay’s hired attorneys have intentionally dragged their feet to prevent workers from achieving an agreement in a timely manner. These tactics and eBay’s anti-union activities should cease at once. The company should make an effort to bargain and secure a fair collective bargaining agreement as soon as possible if it intends to live up to its commitments in its Human Rights Policy.⁸ Together, workers hope to build a more equitable TCGplayer and more sustainable careers in the trading card industry.

“Good faith isn’t being given. The company isn’t putting the effort or care into their employees that they claim they are and that is visible through bargaining. They’re purposely stalling." -Justin H.

ENDNOTES

eBay Human Rights Policy. https://www.ebayinc.com/company/human-rights-policy-statement/
2Q2024 Quarterly Earnings Presentation. https://ebay.q4cdn.com/610426115/files/doc_financials/2024/q2/2024_Q2_eBay_Earnings_Deck_FINAL.pdf
eBay Investor Day 2022 Presentation. https://static.ebayinc.com/assets/Uploads/Documents/Investor-Day-2022-expanding-our-focus-category-playbook.pdf
Carpenter, Nicole. “Workers at eBay-owned trading card marketplace TCGplayer want to unionize” Polygon. 1/25/2023. https://www.polygon.com/23561476/tcgplayer-union-ebay-cwa-announcement
Roscoe, Jules. “eBay Violated Labor Law Trying to Bust Its First Union, NLRB Finds” Vice. 12/19/2023. https://www.vice.com/en/article/ebay-violate-labor-law-nlrb/ ; Moriarty, Rick. “eBay-owned TCGplayer and union settle unfair labor practice charges” Syracuse.com. 3/12/2024. https://www.syracuse.com/business/2024/03/ebay-owned-tcgplayer-and-union-settle-unfair-labor-practice-charges.html ; Valezquez, Eddie. “Workers accuse eBay subsidiary TCGPlayer of disciplining worker for missing shifts during miscarriage scare,” Central Current. July 16, 2024, https://centralcurrent.org/workers-accuse-ebay-subsidiary-tcgplayer-of-disciplining-worker-for-missing-shifts-during-miscarriage-scare/.
MIT Living Wage Calculator, Syracuse, NY Metropolitan Area. https://livingwage.mit.edu/metros/45060
eBay 2024 Proxy Statement
eBay Human Rights Policy. https://www.ebayinc.com/company/human-rights-policy-statement/