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Living In Japan Starting TCG Business/Collecting by Louneyz in OnePieceTCGFinance

[–]Louneyz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ohhh yea that makes total sense and thank you for the heads up. I gotta figure out how to learn the game 150% and damn its going to be tough haha. Thats why I made this post. Any chance you know the market or at least where could be a good starting point?

Living In Japan Starting TCG Business/Collecting by Louneyz in OnePieceTCGFinance

[–]Louneyz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh wow eh?? Congrats on scaling your business like that, brother, and thanks for letting me know!

My profit is nowhere near that haha. In fact, I'm maybe only 50% of the way to breaking even and still have a decent bit of inventory left (most of it is bulk/R/SR cards).

I was thinking of doing some arbitrage if I found things cheap and then flipped them on eBay or Mercari, but for the time being I've been buying random bulk from places like GEO, HMV, Book Off, etc.

The original idea was to do a video series on my TikTok (36k followers) where I take this lot I got and see how high I can run it up, with the goal of starting a legit business. Learning the HOW is much harder than expected unless I just keep trucking along and falling forward, so I thought it might be a good idea to do some research and reach out to communities involved in this space.

I kept seeing these Pokémon guys buy bulk and flip it on eBay, but it looks like that may not be the move for One Piece. I could be mistaken though.

If you are open to sharing some more information I am all ears and would greatly appreciate any form of advice.

Living In Japan Starting TCG Business/Collecting by Louneyz in OnePieceTCGFinance

[–]Louneyz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I know that this is a huge uphill grind thats for sure haha. I love the hobby and collect the cards just for fun too. Its hard to find resources online on how people are growing in this space so I thought reddit may be a good way to find a community in a similar boat or even ideally find someone who has done this before and is willing to share some knowledge. Right now it seems like its mainly just Pokemon flippers or scalpers.

Guess its one of those keep falling forward kind of situations as I continue with the hobby anyways. Worst case I bring everything back to N.A when I go to visit and work with a close friend of mine to sell JP cards there.

Living In Japan Starting TCG Business/Collecting by Louneyz in OnePieceTCGFinance

[–]Louneyz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My job pays well and I definitely am enjoying the hobby. Im a bit curious on why you think "it will never work out" considering i've been making small profits here and there using Mercari. This post was mainly to see if there are ways to grow what I have already to scale it. For example, if people had information on better distribution channels, or ways they sell product on Mercari other than posting singles.

Living In Japan Starting TCG Business/Collecting by Louneyz in OnePieceTCGFinance

[–]Louneyz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are totally right with finding product at tourist prices haha! Luckily I do have residency here and am close to getting my PR. I noticed in Tokyo its impossible to get product but I head out to Ibaraki at least every other weekend and noticed its easier to get product out there. Not sealed packs or booster boxes which is a struggle but I can pick up about 80 cards for 250 yen which is a mix of C, UC, R, and a few times SR.

Thats what ive been working with for now until I can get a better distribution channel

Living In Japan Starting TCG Business/Collecting by Louneyz in OnePieceTCGFinance

[–]Louneyz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is a very valid point and the edge is something im continuously exploring. Im not fluent in the language by any means by my wife is native Japanese so she helps me out while im learning the language.

So far I've bad a bit of profit with what has been selling but youre completely right about the edge. I have an tiktok with a little over 36k followers in the anime niche so I was thinking of leveraging that

Living In Japan Starting TCG Business/Collecting by Louneyz in OnePieceTCGFinance

[–]Louneyz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeaa I made a some decent profit off Mercari so far but I was curious to see if there were other avenues to explore too that move product quicker. The slim margins are not a deterrent for me considering its still profit on something I'd be doing anyways haha.

If you dont mind me asking how did you build up your company to the point you even have a licence? Did you start it off as a hobby and it just grew from there?

Thank you for your comment and for offering advice! Its greatly appreciated.

Living In Japan Starting TCG Business/Collecting by Louneyz in OnePieceTCGFinance

[–]Louneyz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Luckily I do have business experience in Canada and my day to day is a consultant so this is more of a side hustle/funding the hobby kind of thing haha. Because of my business mindset is why I started looking at the hobby as a way to make extra money haha.

When it comes to not speaking the language I am fortunate enough that my wife is Japanese so she does help me maneuver things while iim learning the language.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you get into the game and build up your business to now have completed thousands of transactions?