New auction platform - SNYPE - ( Probstein )

[Crosby 87]

This is not a joke.

I have it on good authority that SNYPE is in financial trouble and may not make it past Q2 2026. I would recommend having your cards shipped to you as a counterstrike.

I am posting this as a heads up to my fellow collectors to get out ahead of this.

[sheetskout]

Hmm....

https://x.com/SportsCardNews/status/...608110325?s=20

There's a lot to unpack here.

[Blazed]

Originally Posted by sheetskout

Hmm....

https://x.com/SportsCardNews/status/...608110325?s=20

There's a lot to unpack here.

If true, no one should be shocked or surprised

🚨Probstein BUSTED?!🚨

Rick Probstein spent 21 years on eBay, selling nearly $1 billion worth of cards. Last month, he took the leap & launched his own auction platform: Snype.

On Monday, as the first auctions closed, everything fell apart.

"We're experiencing a system-wide technical issue due to high volume," the official statement read.

But that wasn't the real story.

A Pokemon forum user discovered something far worse: Snype's entire backend database was exposed to the open web. No authentication required.

Anyone with basic technical knowledge could access:

Full bidder & consignor information
Names, emails, addresses
Birthdates & payment information
Complete bid histories

All of it. Just sitting there.

But the security breach wasn't even the worst part. The exposed database revealed something damning: multiple accounts shared addresses linked to Probstein, his wife, & known scammer Kevin Burge.

One account placed 11,277 bids. The username? "Hunny Bunny." The email address? Rick Probstein's.

In total, 1,331 auctions were allegedly impacted. Total bids placed across them: 29,000, totaling $1.28M in bids. 96 auction “wins” are attributed to the flagged accounts.

Every suspicious account was verified as a "Super Bidder"—a status requiring eBay feedback and industry references.

But the eBay usernames provided? They don't exist. The industry references appear fabricated.

The hobby is in the middle of a shill bidding crisis. Pryan. Dr. Beckett. Fanatics Collect marketplace. All under fire for auction manipulation.

And now Rick Probstein—appears to have launched a platform specifically designed to facilitate shill bidding while leaving customer data completely exposed.

[rubendn]

Snype is done before it really started.

It looks like it was just a giant shilling operation built on insecure technology.

They needed to manufacture activity to get started and they got caught.

[Scottish Punk]

this thread is producing gold.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by hammertime

From net54:

LOL LOL LOL.

This is too good.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by MiamiMarlinsFan

Over.

Right now he’s free from eBay seller fees and buyer protections. He’s going to fight for that as long as he can.

That being said, there’s still a decent chance he returns to eBay at some point if he’s never able to figure out how to run an auction website on his own.

What if eBay tells him to pound sand? He’s the one who bailed on them and if this shilling stuff is proven to be true they have grounds to stick it to him and refuse to do business with a shiller.

[Inferno]

The greatest investigator of our generation Rattle Pokémon is on the case now.

[MiamiMarlinsFan]

Originally Posted by Inferno

What if eBay tells him to pound sand? He’s the one who bailed on them and if this shilling stuff is proven to be true they have grounds to stick it to him and refuse to do business with a shiller.

If this new info that has come to light is true, anything is possible from here. Either way, this whole SNYPE thing seems to be a disaster for Probstein.

That being said, while eBay probably isn’t hurting too much from losing Probstein, they’re also not in the business of saying no to money. If he wants to return to eBay, they would probably find a way to make it work.

[rudan007]

I bought from Probstein on eBay a few times, each time it felt kinda shady. Now its clear why.........

Its possible eBay was going to open up his auction records and he had to flee. Instead of spending time building a quality site, he rushed out a crapshow. Feel sorry for the people who bought into his shenanigans

[fabiani12333]

Release the Probstein files!

Oh, wait -- they already did. Well, that was easy.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by hammertime

From net54:

Translation: we disperately need eBay again to hide our in-house shill bidding

Release the Probstein files, Rick! Damn -- it already happened. This isn't fun.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by MiamiMarlinsFan

For the buyers who signed up and gave SNYPE your personal and financial info, what made you want to do that? Was there a specific rare card you wanted?

Probably hoping for a good deal.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by Crosby 87

This is not a joke.

I have it on good authority that SNYPE is in financial trouble and may not make it past Q2 2026. I would recommend having your cards shipped to you as a counterstrike.

I am posting this as a heads up to my fellow collectors to get out ahead of this.

Thanks for the heads up -- I knew I could trust you, whoever you are.

I have it on good authority that Comc is going as strong as ever while still taking months to process or ship cards.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by Inferno

What if eBay tells him to pound sand? He’s the one who bailed on them and if this shilling stuff is proven to be true they have grounds to stick it to him and refuse to do business with a shiller.

They have leverage to stick it to him with selling fees -- but they'll happily welcome him and his shilled cards back.

[Asian62150]

But what about those people who personally had only good experiences with Ricky P?

Their vouches must mean something!

[MiamiMarlinsFan]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

Probably hoping for a good deal.

From the website that was set up to allow sellers to shill their auctions? Bold strategy…

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by MiamiMarlinsFan

From the website that was set up to allow sellers to shill their auctions? Bold strategy…

Think about it, though -- the lower initial prices would entice others to join the site. Don't price gouge until you become popular enough to be sustainable. A lot of good deals were had on Fanatics Collect until they became popular enough to shill. They were needing to liquidate all the cards that were used as collateral during the PWCC era.

[MiamiMarlinsFan]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

Think about it, though -- the lower initial prices would entice others to join the site. Don't price gouge until you become popular enough to be sustainable. A lot of good deals were had on Fanatics Collect until they became popular enough to shill. They were needing to liquidate all the cards that were used as collateral during the PWCC era.

That would have been a better strategy than what actually happened.

[49ersSF]

Apparently, Probstein is attempting to get back on eBay. No joke.

[livfreely]

There’s a thread in the Basketball forum about how he was caught shill bidding. Apparently his email placed over 11,000 bids worth a couple hundred thousand.

Also ALL users data was compromised


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[49ersSF]

The thing about it is that because Shillstein created the sight, he also can see what the top set bid is, so he can always bid it up until he is just under the top set bid.

Basically, he left eBay because it was much easier to max out his shilling.

[majestik101]

Originally Posted by 49ersSF

Apparently, Probstein is attempting to get back on eBay. No joke.

[jduds]

There are allegations of a massive data breach with Snype that shows clear massive shill bidding activity before the site crashed. The highlight for me was he and his wife have tons of different usernames. Popcorn time.


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[Snowcat]

Personally, I avoid Probstein auctions. I've seen too many altered, counterfeit, and suspicious bidding in their auctions. At least with eBay you had some level of buyer protection.

Snype is a no-go for me, but I'm sure the scammers will love it.