GameStop CEO says he was 'permanently suspended' from eBay — but his listings are still up, including $14,000 socks

• GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen claims that eBay suspended his account.
• Cohen listed some of his personal items on eBay in a publicity stunt after submitting an unsolicited bid to acquire the company.
• Whether he was actually suspended isn't clear. Cohen's eBay page is still up, and his listings continue to receive bids.

Ryan Cohen says his eBay auctions have hit a snag: eBay itself.

The GameStop CEO announced on Wednesday that he was "selling stuff on eBay to pay for eBay," a reference to the company's unsolicited bid, though any of his earnings here would be a drop in the bucket relative to the $56 billion deal offer.

The lot includes a GameStop hat (current bid $4,650), Donald Trump baseball card (current bid $5,770), and socks (current bid $14,188).

Less than two hours after announcing the listings, Cohen said that he was on the phone with eBay customer support, sharing a phone screenshot with a notification purportedly from eBay that said he had reached a monthly $50,000 limit for items listed.

Eight hours later, Cohen said that eBay suspended his account. He posted an image of an alleged eBay email on X that said Cohen's activities were "putting the eBay community at risk."

"We understand that this must be frustrating, but this decision was not made lightly and it's important that we keep our marketplace safe for everyone," the image reads.

Cohen's eBay page is still up

It's not clear exactly what's going on here — and there's a non-zero chance this is just the latest example of Cohen's "takeover theater."

His eBay profile is still visible and accessible online, and his listings are still active. Several of Cohen's items, including the Trump baseball card, have also received bids placed after he posted that his account was suspended (the image he shared claims "any listings have been removed").

GameStop and eBay did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Regardless of whether Cohen was actually suspended or not, his posts are helping generate awareness for GameStop's unsolicited proposal to buy eBay, a company that is several times larger than the games and collectibles retailer.

The proposal has excited GameStop's legions of retail traders on r/wallstreetbets as critics have questioned how a smaller company like GameStop would fund the deal. In an awkward, combative CNBC interview, Cohen repeated that it would be "half cash, half stock" and referred the anchors to GameStop's website for more financing details.

While the future of his eBay stunt remains up in the air, Cohen continues to turn heads and churn out intrigue on X, reminding people why he's known as the "meme king."