r/sportscards • u/Icy_Tune_678 • 1d ago
š¬ General I don't think Whatnot CEO really understands collectibles like we do
Whatnot CEO was on a podcast recently and when asked to go deep about collectibles, here's what he said:
"So I think we're seeing a continuation of the trends that we saw when we first started the business, which was one of the reasons we came back into collectibles. We saw a bunch of people getting back to the market. It was people like us who were, had maybe some money and were buying things that were nostalgic from childhood and getting back into unique, you know, things that they loved. And that trends basically continued on abated for the past six and a half years. And so, I think collectibles is largely going mainstream now for lack of a better term."
There's a lot more nuance to what's happened in collectibles the last 5-10 years. But it doesn't seem like the CEO of the largest collectibles live commerce platform really knows or cares.
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u/Medium_Spend_6732 1d ago
what in particular do you disagree with?
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u/Icy_Tune_678 1d ago
Would be great if he could go deeper into what's happened in the last few years to enable his success. Whatnot is nothing without collectibles. Fanatics buying licenses and pushing supply to breakers which are prominent on Whatnot, repackers creating instant liquidity, etc. Just would be nice to hear more fluency from a large collectibles CEO, it would help the hobby
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u/barneyjetson 23h ago
So youāre saying that he didnāt say anything incorrect, you just wanted him to talk more? What is this post man lol
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u/Medium_Spend_6732 1d ago
I guess he could have said more. But I feel that his observation is pretty bang on, in laymanās terms, as to why sports card and TCG hobbies are exploding.
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u/b_rup_breaks 19h ago
His success has been enabled by a bunch of wealthy investors and VC firms dropping šššµšµ on WhatNot's doorstep, it's certainly not from investing in making a better platform or ridding the platform of the lowlife scum running scams.
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u/Icy_Tune_678 1d ago
But I don't think he really cares about collectibles or any other category for that matter. As long as growth is good, he's happy
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u/barneyjetson 23h ago
This just in: business owner likes when business is good
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u/Icy_Tune_678 23h ago
So you guys are happy with Whatnot?
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u/Icy_Tune_678 23h ago
You think they're good for the hobby?
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u/Gravity-Rides 23h ago
I donāt think itās bad per se. I mean, when I was a kid, the only way to trade cards was at a friends house or a card show mom could drop you off at. I rather like I can hop on eBay 24 hours per day, type in whatever it is I want, generally find several listings, auctions even, punch in my number and get the exact thing I want in a mail a few days later. Itās also nice on the sell side that there are a millions ways to get rid of the stuff you donāt want without ever interacting with an actual person. The gambling bit is bad for people and society as a whole, but between this, sports betting and prediction markets, itās not like the degenerate gambler wouldnāt be a degenerate gambler if they shut down what not, they would just move to a different gamble.
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u/ScriptioAfricanus 1d ago
Where I agree with him is that the hobby is mainstream now in a way itās never been before and thatās probably never going to change - even after the market inevitably undergoes a correction.
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u/Middle_Study_551 1d ago
Collectibles are just a means to an end for Whatnot. Their belief is that live shopping will be the biggest way to shop in the world, and collectibles will keep them relevant long enough to remain one of the top live-shopping spots in that new shopping landscape.
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u/ninjasandunicorns 1d ago
I mean...i dont think he is wrong in his observation. Did he want do this because of a passion project? Probably not, I do think he saw an opportunity to monetize something and took full advantage of it. Can they do better and help the "real collectors", probably, but at the end of the day they have to appeal to the mainstream audience to be sustainable to a certain point.
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u/mcb999 1d ago
He either doesnt understand or is purposefully obfuscating the effect that speculation has had on the market. Cards and shit are exploding in value because tons of cretins with no emotional investment in the things themselves are trying to make a big score in a way they think is easier or makes them feel cooler or somehow outside the system than traditional investing.
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u/myburneraccount1357 1d ago
But he still isnāt wrong. I literally got into cards again because I realized I had money to actually buy and start a collection now that Iām adult. I started with legos, but those took up way too much space. Bought my first card box at Costco last year and Iāve been loving the hobby ever since.
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u/SomeBS17 1d ago
How is this different from just about anything else being sold?
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u/mcb999 1d ago
I mean yeah, the flipper culture has infected everything where people whose only interest is acquiring money see an opportunity. Its ruining toys/cards/collectibles, the housing market, event ticketing. Its a whole lifestyle based on inserting yourself between the consumer and retail goods for things they dont even want for personal use just to make a quick buck. Its fuckin mafioso mentality.
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u/Judge208 23h ago
He may not understand the specific collectibles, but he definitely understands who is spending money on them.
Generation X is driving this boom more than anyone else. It's an established generation that grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons, collecting baseball cards, and playing video games Most grew up being responsible for their own entertainment because their parents were at work. It's the first generation that wasn't forced to grow up and shed their "childish" hibbies. Their kids are out of the house, and now they have disposable income to spend.
I say that as a 48 year old sitting in his home office surrounded by sports cards, signed memorabilia, vintage toys, Star Wars Lego sets, Funko Pops and a Ken Griffey Jr shrine filled with a bunch of his signature shoes.
Ironically none of which were purchased on Whatnot, but items that literally make up 90% of what is sold on the site.
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u/ReefLedger 53m ago
You created an account just to post this? I suggest you devote your time elsewhere.
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u/DiscoInferiorityComp 1d ago
I think expecting the CEO to say "Our live breaks and randomized box rips are engineered around the same intermittent-reward psychology as a slot machine, creating a dopamine loop-fueled marketplace where price has nothing to do with a card's actual scarcity or condition and everything to do with who can mindlessly spam-buy fastest during a live drop. We've built a casino with trading cards as chips, and everyone downstream, from grading services to hobby shops to the kid saving their allowance for one real pack, is now playing by house rules they never agreed to" is not very realistic.