There are two kinds of resellers on Whatnot, and you can spot the difference in about thirty seconds. The first kind can’t even pronounce the Pokémon they’re holding. They’re playing loud music, cracking jokes, ringing a bell on a loop. Some of them just pay a pretty girl to sit in front of the camera repeating “let me know if you have any questions.” And sure, people show up. But they’re not there to buy. They’re there for the noise, the bit, the face on the screen. The sales trickle in at a dollar a pop, if they come at all. That’s the trap. They built a stream for entertainment, not for buyers, and then wonder why the cards don’t move. The second kind loves Pokémon, and you can feel it. They know the names. They know the sets. They’ll tell you why they’ve always had a soft spot for a certain card. Their collection is curated, not just dumped on a back wall. Some of them have the flash too, the music, the same tactics as everyone else, but that’s not what’s selling. What’s selling is the passion bleeding through. I watched one of them take a dollar Palafin and sell it for $8 last night. Eight bucks. Not because of a gimmick, but because the room could tell this person actually cared about what they were holding. That’s the whole thing. Know your market. The people buying Pokémon cards love Pokémon, and they can smell when you don’t. You can fake energy. You can’t fake passion, and the cards know the difference.

When I got into the Pokémon card hobby, my plan was to dip a toe in. I started picking up singles off Whatnot, figuring I’d flip a one-dollar card into a two-dollar sale. Turns out, once you add $0.78 shipping and 9.75% tax, that math loses money every time. But I ran some shows, got a few wins, and kept studying. I watched other sellers to figure out who was winning and why. Several things stood out. You need inventory. Empty back walls get no viewers. Period. Cheap cards don’t move people. The strugglers were all running the same 20-cent cards, trying to squeak out a dollar. Even their best stuff topped out around $5. Nothing that makes you stop scrolling. But the real gap was connection. The people who win in this hobby do what others won’t. They know their stuff and respect the space and they build community. I’ve seen streamers with a hundred people in the room still answering questions, remembering names, sharing stories, locked in the whole time. And that community feeds itself. Lone guns don’t last. The ones who build together go further. That’s the bar. Be willing to buy. Be willing to trade. Spend big when the moment calls for it. Push past comfortable and take the shot when there’s a real one to take. So I put my money where my mouth is. I’d spent weeks hunting for someone offloading cards in bulk. Found a guy on Whatnot listing at 80% of market. Came into his channel, grabbed three lots at around 78%, then saw there was more to be had. I asked him to hop off stream. Turned out he was getting out of the hobby entirely. This was the riskiest buy I’d ever made. Before this, I’d never spent more than $20 on a card, and barely that. But we’d built rapport in his chat, and I used it to talk a 113-card lot down to 67% of market. The lot came fast. But I had that itch, more meat on the bone. So I reached back out. He had another 80 or so ARs and IRs. I leaned on the relationship and offered 60% for all of it. He said yes. Two big buys. My two biggest rolls of the dice, and my real shot at this. If I hadn’t taken a risk that still makes me cringe at the cost, I’d be fooling myself. I’d peter out, because I wouldn’t have the motion I have now.

Don’t sell. The longer they listen, the sweeter the pitch. I do contracts with clients for construction. They have already bought me before I come and look at the job. I don’t have to sell, but those are warm leads and when there are 5 and 6 figures on the line people buy with emotion. It’s highly emotional for someone to give you their life savings and ask you to turn it Into a house. And when you start getting into 7 figure conversations it’s only emotion. I’ve been offered million dollar contracts and turned them down because of a gut feeling about the person offering it. If my gut feeling says no to the person, I’m going to say no. Million dollar contracts usually put you next to those people for a year or two in construction. Or I charge triple the price and hope they say no. Some have said yes, which sucks lol but hey, the money is good. When it comes to cards and selling to cold-ish leads it’s still all emotion. The guys that I do shows with will tell you, I’m the loudest person there with the most energy. I’ll yell at people from across the room and get them over to our table. Found out a few years ago I have free will and I just do what I want now! 😂 Once you get them to the table you have to build immediate trust. How do you do that? Ask them what they are interested in. Ask them questions about them because the one thing people love to talk about is themselves and have a reflection of their personality reflected back to them by another person. We are hilariously self obsessed creatures! Use it to your advantage. Typically at these shows they will be wearing shirts with art for anime, or bracelets, watches, some will have binders or graded card boxes. I always ask what’s inside and can I look at it. No matter what it is I always find a way to connect to people based on what they collect. This is where watching anime makes me money. You must have that knowledge to really connect with people and get them to trust that you know what you are talking about. It’s that easy to build trust. I’m not saying they need to trust you like they trust their partner in life, but for that moment you can’t lie and hope to close a sale. As soon as they get a bad feeling which their gut will say, it’s over. I’ve seen it and I’ve done it because my gut, heart, and head run my businesses.