eBay is under fire for laying off more than 200 employees from Syracuse’s TCGplayer office, which is described as the leading marketplace for trading card games like Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon.
TCGplayer started out as a small business, but grew quickly, and was eventually bought by eBay a few years ago in a nearly $300 million deal. It’s a story that should celebrate the success of what was once a small business, but now, the very employees who contributed to that success are being forced out.
On Tuesday, employees held a rally outside of the headquarters to express their frustration, chanting, “When we fight, we win.”
Richard Vallejo, who has worked at TCGplayer for six and a half years, says he was shocked when the layoffs were announced last week.
“It was a gut punch,” Vallejo said. “The floor dropped out from beneath us.”
The news came as a surprise to everyone when it was announced over a regular, monthly company meeting — usually used to discuss business.
“They did, in a way, tell us about the company’s business this month,” said Robert Guy, a TCGplayer employee for eight and a half years. “The company’s business this month is closing the TCG Player Authentication Center.”
TCGplayer’s parent company, eBay, is moving the center’s operations to Louisville Kentucky, laying off 220 Syracuse employees in the process.
“People were crying, being escorted out by security, not even able to gather their thoughts, let alone their physical belongings,” Vallejo said.
Employees believe eBay’s decision to shift operations down south was a blatant tactic to disrupt unionization efforts.
“The only reason they would do this is to bust our union,” Vallejo said. “And they should be held accountable.”
TCGplayer joined the Communication Workers of America Union in 2023, making it the first group from eBay to formally unionize. Employees have been fighting to finalize a first contract for more than 600 days before the announcement came — which, naturally, raises some red flags among some employees.
“We were the first union under eBay. And it’s clear that they’re trying to maintain a union-free corporation moving forward,” Vallejo said.
eBay denies these claims, and instead says the shift south will give the company “access to logistics infrastructure, location, and expertise we need to sustainably serve and invest in the hobby community for years to come.”
Employees tell Spectrum News 1 that the move to Kentucky is also an interesting shift because the state’s minimum wage is almost half of New York’s rate, which signals to them that profitability is more important than the people behind the product.
“eBay’s just engaging in really bad faith economic tactics all the way around,” Guy said. "And everybody here is getting hurt but the company.”
Employees also claim they have been harassed by security since the announcement.
“We heard of people being essentially physically assaulted [and] being grabbed by security,” Vallejo said. “It feels like we’re being treated like criminals in our own workplace, and it feels like it’s been turned into a prison.”
Spectrum News 1 reached out to eBay, and in a response, the company said that it takes the well-being and safety of its team members extremely seriously and is committed to making sure safety procedures are being followed.
Despite all this, the staff at TCGplayer say they’re glad to have each other through this tumultuous time, and that they won’t be going down without a fight. The 220 terminated employees will be laid off this summer, and in the meantime, TCGplayer is fighting for better severance packages, with the hope of receiving more pay and continued benefits to help the laid-off staff find their footing after having the rug pulled out from under them.
A company spokesperson with eBay said that “We are constantly evaluating our authentication capabilities and logistics footprint to ensure we are offering best-in-class service to our customers. As a result, TCGplayer is closing its Syracuse Authentication Center to consolidate operations within an eBay logistics center in Kentucky. This was a difficult decision. We recognize the near-term impact it will have on our employees, their families and the Syracuse community, and we are dedicated to taking care of our people during this transition.”
