eBay has furthered strengthened its sneaker business, acquiring Sneaker Con's authentication platform, which has operations in Australia, US, UK, Canada and Germany.
The deal builds on the existing partnership between the eTailer and Sneaker Con, which sees sneakers for sale on eBay verified for authenticity.
In just over a year, more than 1.55 million sneakers have been authenticated globally on eBay, while in Australia, the authentication guarantee drove a 51% lift in sneaker sales among Aussie shoppers.
"We partnered with Sneaker Con to launch sneaker authentication on eBay last year because the team shared our passion for the category – with best-in-class capabilities to deliver what our customers want most," eBay SVP and GM of North America Jordan Sweetnam said.
"The response to our authentication offering has been overwhelming, and this acquisition allows us to continue to transform eBay and bring a higher level of trust and confidence to every transaction," he said.
eBay's acquisition only includes Sneaker Con's authentication service, with Sneaker Con to continue running the events side of the business.
"eBay is the industry pioneer and the marketplace was my first exposure to the sneaker community," Sneaker Con CEO and co-founder Alan Vinogradov said.
"We at Sneaker Con remain committed to providing premier global events for our community to come together and share their passion for sneakers," he said.
eBay reports that it has 1.9 million pairs of sneakers available to buy every day.