Auctions
Trading card company Alt files lawsuit against PWCC
Trading card company Alt has filed a lawsuit accusing rival marketplace PWCC (now known as Fanatics Collect) of fraud and breach of auctioneer’s duty over allegations of shill bidding.
The complaint, filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, alleges that PWCC Marketplace orchestrated a “widespread, years-long” scheme of shill bidding, using internal and external actors to artificially inflate auction prices for high-end sports cards. Fanatics, which purchased PWCC in 2023, is not named in the lawsuit.
Alt alleged in its lawsuit that PWCC retained access to confidential maximum bid information and used it to drive up prices and mislead prospective buyers, including Alt, which claims it spent more than $10 million on cards in PWCC auctions.
PWCC, which was founded in 2008 by Brent Huigens, became known for brokering the sale of some of the hobby’s top-selling sports cards, including a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card and a LeBron James rookie card, both for $5.2 million. It also sold a Patrick Mahomes rookie card for $4.3 million in a private sale in 2021.
PWCC had been plagued by controversy and allegations of shill bidding for years, however, and was restricted on eBay in 2021 over accusations of shill bidding. PWCC fiercely denied the allegations and left eBay to start its own auction house and marketplace.
Fanatics purchased PWCC in May 2023, shortly after the Oregon-based company had laid off about three dozen employees. Two months later, Fanatics parted ways with Huigens.
In July 2024, Fanatics dropped the PWCC brand and relaunched Fanatics Collect, a new auction house and fixed-place marketplace.
The Alt Platform Inc. lawsuit accuses PWCC leadership of knowingly soliciting fake bids even after public scrutiny when eBay banned PWCC. It alleges that rigged sales involving high-end cards like a $528,000 Patrick Mahomes rookie card and a $3.12 million Luka Doncic card involved undisclosed relationships between sellers, shill bidders and PWCC inflating market prices and distorting fair value across the industry. Alt seeks damages for millions of dollars in overpayments and says it intends to hold PWCC accountable for practices that harmed both Alt and the broader trading card market.
“For years, customers around the world trusted PWCC’s assurances that when they made a bid on a sports card on their site, that those transactions were fair, transparent and free from manipulation—today’s complaint shows that those assurances were patently untrue,” Alt CEO Leore Avidar said in a statement released by the company.
“PWCC’s leadership knowingly engaged in fraudulent practices, inflating auction prices and skewing the fair market value for the entire collecting community, including against one of its biggest competitors, Alt. This lawsuit is about more than just one company, it’s about ensuring the integrity of the trading card market as a whole and holding bad actors accountable. Alt remains committed to building a marketplace where collectors and investors know their purchases are fair and free from price gouging at the whim of executives.”
A spokesperson for PWCC called the lawsuit “completely baseless” and “a desperate attempt for a payday by a failing company.”
”Alt has filed a completely baseless lawsuit against PWCC that lacks any substantive evidence. Even though the accusations they are claiming occurred before PWCC changed ownership in May 2023, we carefully looked into their allegations and found zero evidence to support their claims. We even asked Alt for evidence, but they provided none. This is clearly a desperate attempt for a payday by a failing company. Alt is hoping to disparage the PWCC reputation and recoup from its own failings. Meanwhile, our growing business continues to innovate and relentlessly focus on improving the collectibles industry and collector experience overall.”
According to the lawsuit, Alt alleges that PWCC regularly monitored their site for high-end buyers and arranged or encouraged its personnel to solicit shill bids, or fake bids, to drive up the price. Alt claims that its own “independent analysis” showed that PWCC had access to customers’ private maximum bids, allowing it to drive up the price.
Alt claims that it spent more than $10.7 million on trading cards between 2021-23. The company claims that it discovered from confidential sources in 2023 that PWCC was still allowing and participating in shill bidding, saying it directly encouraged and allowed other external parties to place fake bids on certain auctions, boxing out the authentic bidders and artificially inflating prices.” Alt claims that it found irregular bidding patterns, revealing a suspiciously high number of auctions closed at or just below Alt’s supposedly “private” maximum bid.
In its detailed complaint, Alt points to an August 2021 sale of a 2017 Panini Prizm Gold Prizms Patrick Mahomes II Rookie Card, which Alt purchased for $528,000, or 32 times the sales price of $16,500 in 2019.
Alt also claimed that a seller and a top bidder on PWCC were a father-and-son duo connected to PWCC, part of “the known group of bid manipulators.”
Alt also claims that in November 2022 it dropped out of bidding before the winning bid of $3.12 million for a Luka Doncic card that it says was the result of shill bidding.
Alt also claims that in February 2022, it won a one-of-one 2003 Exquisite Collection Limited Logos Kobe Bryant Patch Auto PSA 10 card for $360,000, only to discover that another bidder had “coincidentally” placed a bid equal to or just below Alt’s maximum bid, despite the card having no previous sales history.
