Sports Card Dealers
Whatnot brings joy of live shopping experience to sports card collectors
There is no denying Whatnot’s presence at this year’s National Sports Collectors Convention with its eye-catching, mega-sized selling board, highlighting live breaks on-site and throughout its incredibly popular collectibles platform.
Whatnot was founded in 2019 with the belief that shopping should be a fun and social experience. It is now the largest livestream shopping platform in North America and Europe. Millions have discovered the joy of shopping alongside a global community of people who share the same interests.
Whatnot has helped thousands of sellers turn their hobby into a passion and their passion into a business doing what they love. It offers options for trading cards, comic books, fashion and beauty products, electronics, and much more.
At the 2024 National, Whatnot hosted its inaugural Breakers Bowl—an on-platform and in-person celebration of sports cards that united Whatnot sellers of all sizes in a live-selling competition for a chance to win a Tesla Cybertruck. The Breakers Bowl was brought to life with an astonishing 80-foot-by-13-foot LED screen behind the booth, simultaneously streaming more than 80 live breaks in real-time while also highlighting premier singles auctions and interactive seller leaderboards.
At The National, Whatnot’s booth served as the epicenter of live shopping programming, with the Breakers Bowl stage becoming a must-watch venue for key moments hosted by sellers and influencers, including Dennis Rodman breaking packs with Backyard Breaks.
In fact, Backyard Breaks broke the world record for the most trading card packs sold during a live commerce event on July 27 on Whatnot. The livestream saw 31,194 packs sold, with all proceeds donated to children’s charities.
“It was emotional, seeing where we are at, what we have at this year’s National, knowing where we came from, in a back corner for our first National, with basically no space,” said Armand Wilson, Whatnot’s vice-president of categories and expansion. “It’s cool to see how far we’ve come. This is the [convention] of the year and we really bring it for The National.
“Our plan was, how can we show off, showcase Whatnot for the crowd.”
The LED screen did that a la sports casinos in Las Vegas.
Wilson said the jumbo-sized screen, which showed countless sellers in-action live, “was a lot cooler than I thought it would be.” “Seeing it come to life was great,” he said.
BUILDING BRANDS
Whatnot, which also has a large presence at other big card shows, launched its Sports Card category in October 2020 and today offers an incredible range of sports card inventory and fun breaking and buying experiences from knowledgeable and entertaining sellers. Plus, the live programming means shoppers can see the cards being opened and evaluated in real-time and chat with other collectors. Knowing and interacting with sellers you’re buying from and seeing cards being pulled directly from sealed packs during a live session creates a more trustworthy experience.
And trust is a major emphasis for Whatnot, especially in an industry that has been plagued by fraud, scams, and bad characters in recent years.
“We want sellers to build their brand through Whatnot. We are constantly thinking, how can we make sellers more money,” Wilson said. “We want to help small businesses sell more and sell more efficiently, building their brand.
“For buyers, we were built on the concept that we could build a better outlet for collectors. Built with trust in mind, Whatnot’s policy is buyer-friendly with high standards for sellers. From the buyer’s perspective, we aim to replicate that awesome experience you get from being at a shop with your friends, opening packs of cards.
“We’re trying to build a platform that is very inclusive of everyone—from the sports card collector of 30 years to the brand-new collector. We’re trying to build the selection for everyone.
“Whatnot was established to further build the trust of buying. Trust has always been the core of what we do, dating back to Funko Pops. Everyone has to be trustworthy. We hold that to the highest standards.”
For sellers, Whatnot’s livestream shopping format, product innovation, and large community allows them to make more money per hour while connecting on a deeper level with their audience. Sellers can sell spots in live breaks, singles and memorabilia—live or through auctions—all in one place.
Also See: How The National ‘broke’ Cleveland
Livestream shopping has transformed the sports card sector by replicating the magic of shopping at your local card shop and opening packs with friends—online and in real-time. By combining the excitement of live video with the convenience of online shopping, anyone from anywhere can access amazing products and experiences with members of the community all on one platform.
Sports Cards was the second category developed by Whatnot, following Funko Pops. Two collectors conceived the company after getting frustrated trying to collect things they love. So, as Wilson said, “They built [a platform] for themselves … to solve a problem for collectors.”
Whatnot truly is a home for sports memorabilia collectors. Just consider:
• A sports card is sold every second on Whatnot, and viewers spend an average of more than 80 minutes a day watching live streams.
• Over 2 million hours of livestreams are watched every week—the equivalent of 800,000 NBA games watched.
• One in 10 Whatnot sellers sell full time on the platform.
• Sports card sellers on Whatnot sell more than twice as much on Whatnot than other livestream shopping platforms.
EXPANSION
When first launched, Whatnot was very male-focused. It evolved quickly, especially since fashion is Whatnot’s fastest-growing vertical and women’s fashion is the fastest-growing sub-category.
Whatnot users are 60 percent male and available to collectors in the U.S., Canada, UK, France, and Germany.
“In five years, we want to [stay] on the same trajectory,” Wilson said. “We’ve grown to a big scale over a short period of time. The reason we’ve grown and had the success we have had is, we are focused on giving great experiences to this specific community.
“We want to build more depth in these communities and make it a complete purchasing experience for the collector. We want to continue launching more categories, [ones] that add more value.”
And continual excitement. Case in point: Half of all Logoman cards from 2022-23 Panini NBA Flawless were pulled during breaks on Whatnot.
And let’s not forget the LeBron James Triple Logoman card that was pulled on Whatnot. The 2020-21 Panini Flawless Triple Logoman LeBron James card, numbered #1/1, was sold by Goldin Co. for $2.4 million, including buyer’s premium.
Logoman cards, which feature the NBA logo cut from a player’s jersey, are some of the most sought-after modern cards. The James card featured NBA logo patches from game-worn jerseys from each of his three career teams: the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers.
“That was a fun sale,” Wilson said. “Everyone was looking for that card. It was a fun experience.”
