Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n- Bruni helped his dad sell coins online, then did the same with his Pok\u00e9mon collection.<\/li>\n
- After graduating from college, he turned his part-time hobby into a full-time business. <\/li>\n
- Now, Bruni sees millions in annual sales and is eyeing his first brick-and-mortar store.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
Growing up in Milford, Massachusetts in the 1990s, Nick Bruni attended local coin shows with his father. Occasionally, Bruni would help his dad sell the collectibles online, back in the early days of eBay \u2014 listing items and packing orders.\u00a0<\/p>\nImage Credit: Courtesy of Old Skool Pokemon. Nick Bruni.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201c\u200aI was never hugely passionate about coins,\u201d Bruni, 34, tells Entrepreneur<\/em>. \u201cBut I liked the idea of being your own boss and selling your own stuff to make a living.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nIn high school, Bruni was cleaning out his room one day when he stumbled upon his Pok\u00e9mon collection from the 1990s. He wondered what the cards were worth and asked his dad to help him list them on eBay to find out. They organized the cards, took pictures and put together the offering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nI fell in love with the eBay process.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201c\u200aI fell in love with the eBay process,\u201d Bruni recalls. \u201cI would come home from school every day checking the view count, the number of watchers, what the bid was at and answer any questions. Seven days later, when the auction ended, we shipped the order out, and I was hooked on selling something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Bruni sold his first Pok\u00e9mon collection online, he reinvested the earnings into another Pok\u00e9mon collection, which he broke apart to sell as individual cards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For years, through high school and college, Bruni continued flipping Pok\u00e9mon collectibles on eBay as a part-time hobby.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From part-time hobby to full-time eBay resale business<\/h2>\n
When Bruni graduated from college in 2016, he began to take his online sales more seriously. Bruni was working in the Merchant Marine on a cargo ship, which meant three to four months on, followed by three to four months off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aSo that\u2019s when I would focus on the eBay business,\u201d Bruni explains. \u201cI needed something to occupy my time, and I also really enjoyed Pok\u00e9mon, so it was definitely a passion project and a secondary source of income.\u201d<\/p>\n
About five years later, at the beginning of 2021, Bruni decided to focus on flipping collectibles full-time \u2014 and his business, Old Skool Pokemon<\/a>, has seen steady growth since. In 2022, Bruni pulled in $660,000 in annual sales.\u00a0<\/p>\nBy October 2023, the business had taken off to such an extent that Bruni hired his first remote employee to keep up with demand. That year, annual sales surpassed $1 million, then increased to about $1.3 million the following year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Old Skool Pokemon achieved over $2 million in annual sales by 2025. What\u2019s more, the business has already generated $1.5 million in 2026, so Bruni is eyeing the $3 million milestone this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1233874342.jpg?w=1024\")
Image Credit: Sara Stathas\/Bloomberg via Getty Images. A Pokemon Co. card collection in Random Lake, Wisconsin, U.S., on Thursday, July 1, 2021. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHigh-volume selling in a competitive collectibles market<\/h2>\n
Pok\u00e9mon collectibles remain the business\u2019s bread and butter. Bruni sells vintage collections going back to the 1990s and current sets released today, typically as single cards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The business relies on a significant volume of sales, with margins at about 15%, Bruni says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, when we did $2 million in sales, we sold 96,000 items,\u201d he adds. \u201cAverage sale price $21. So it\u2019s never a really high-value card, making a lot of money off one single item.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bruni sources his products from wholesale distributors Mad Al<\/a> and Southern Hobby<\/a>. He notes that as Pok\u00e9mon has enjoyed a \u201cmassive resurgence\u201d in recent years, getting his hands on the newest sets can be difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cA couple years ago, you could buy collections all day at 65%, 70%,\u201d Bruni says. \u201cNowadays, you\u2019re having to pay 80%, 85%. So you\u2019re working on razor-thin margins and having to make up for that in the volume that you\u2019re selling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pok\u00e9mon only works with eight distributors in the U.S., and demand has increased to the point that those distributors primarily accept new applications from sellers who have brick-and-mortar stores, Bruni notes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Live streaming unlocks a new level of scale, first hire<\/h2>\n
One of the biggest recent changes \u2014 and boon for business \u2014 is Bruni\u2019s commitment to live streaming, which allows him to open and sell packs to his audience in real time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen eBay announced it was going to introduce a live streaming aspect [in June 2022], I knew I wanted to get on there,\u201d Bruni says. \u201cI liked the idea and knew that it could be a really big thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bruni\u2019s initial assessment has proven correct. Live streaming ramped the business up considerably in 2023, requiring that first hire, a fellow seller (KetchumAllCollectibles<\/a>) in Chicago whom Bruni had met through the Pok\u00e9mon community.\u00a0The duo also co-hosts the PokeFlipz<\/em> podcast on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n
Growing up in Milford, Massachusetts in the 1990s, Nick Bruni attended local coin shows with his father. Occasionally, Bruni would help his dad sell the collectibles online, back in the early days of eBay \u2014 listing items and packing orders.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aI was never hugely passionate about coins,\u201d Bruni, 34, tells Entrepreneur<\/em>. \u201cBut I liked the idea of being your own boss and selling your own stuff to make a living.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In high school, Bruni was cleaning out his room one day when he stumbled upon his Pok\u00e9mon collection from the 1990s. He wondered what the cards were worth and asked his dad to help him list them on eBay to find out. They organized the cards, took pictures and put together the offering.\u00a0<\/p>\n I fell in love with the eBay process.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201c\u200aI fell in love with the eBay process,\u201d Bruni recalls. \u201cI would come home from school every day checking the view count, the number of watchers, what the bid was at and answer any questions. Seven days later, when the auction ended, we shipped the order out, and I was hooked on selling something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n After Bruni sold his first Pok\u00e9mon collection online, he reinvested the earnings into another Pok\u00e9mon collection, which he broke apart to sell as individual cards.\u00a0<\/p>\n For years, through high school and college, Bruni continued flipping Pok\u00e9mon collectibles on eBay as a part-time hobby.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Bruni graduated from college in 2016, he began to take his online sales more seriously. Bruni was working in the Merchant Marine on a cargo ship, which meant three to four months on, followed by three to four months off.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aSo that\u2019s when I would focus on the eBay business,\u201d Bruni explains. \u201cI needed something to occupy my time, and I also really enjoyed Pok\u00e9mon, so it was definitely a passion project and a secondary source of income.\u201d<\/p>\n About five years later, at the beginning of 2021, Bruni decided to focus on flipping collectibles full-time \u2014 and his business, Old Skool Pokemon<\/a>, has seen steady growth since. In 2022, Bruni pulled in $660,000 in annual sales.\u00a0<\/p>\n By October 2023, the business had taken off to such an extent that Bruni hired his first remote employee to keep up with demand. That year, annual sales surpassed $1 million, then increased to about $1.3 million the following year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Old Skool Pokemon achieved over $2 million in annual sales by 2025. What\u2019s more, the business has already generated $1.5 million in 2026, so Bruni is eyeing the $3 million milestone this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pok\u00e9mon collectibles remain the business\u2019s bread and butter. Bruni sells vintage collections going back to the 1990s and current sets released today, typically as single cards.\u00a0<\/p>\n The business relies on a significant volume of sales, with margins at about 15%, Bruni says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, when we did $2 million in sales, we sold 96,000 items,\u201d he adds. \u201cAverage sale price $21. So it\u2019s never a really high-value card, making a lot of money off one single item.\u201d<\/p>\n Bruni sources his products from wholesale distributors Mad Al<\/a> and Southern Hobby<\/a>. He notes that as Pok\u00e9mon has enjoyed a \u201cmassive resurgence\u201d in recent years, getting his hands on the newest sets can be difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA couple years ago, you could buy collections all day at 65%, 70%,\u201d Bruni says. \u201cNowadays, you\u2019re having to pay 80%, 85%. So you\u2019re working on razor-thin margins and having to make up for that in the volume that you\u2019re selling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Pok\u00e9mon only works with eight distributors in the U.S., and demand has increased to the point that those distributors primarily accept new applications from sellers who have brick-and-mortar stores, Bruni notes.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the biggest recent changes \u2014 and boon for business \u2014 is Bruni\u2019s commitment to live streaming, which allows him to open and sell packs to his audience in real time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen eBay announced it was going to introduce a live streaming aspect [in June 2022], I knew I wanted to get on there,\u201d Bruni says. \u201cI liked the idea and knew that it could be a really big thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Bruni\u2019s initial assessment has proven correct. Live streaming ramped the business up considerably in 2023, requiring that first hire, a fellow seller (KetchumAllCollectibles<\/a>) in Chicago whom Bruni had met through the Pok\u00e9mon community.\u00a0The duo also co-hosts the PokeFlipz<\/em> podcast on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\n
From part-time hobby to full-time eBay resale business<\/h2>\n
High-volume selling in a competitive collectibles market<\/h2>\n
Live streaming unlocks a new level of scale, first hire<\/h2>\n