Posts mentioning Pokémon, trading cards, collectibles, Beyblade, Kayou, or Gunpla.
Imported October 2, 2026. This is a static archive. Posts follow their LinkedIn activity order; publication dates appear only when verified.
Showing 1–20 of 131 posts
You cannot sleep on this. Before I changed a single thing, my Shopify store had already made $918.70 from ChatGPT and the Shop app. No ads. No links. AI found our cards and sold them. So I had AI audit my store the way a shopping agent see…
Read the post →100 people a day want to buy the Pokémon cards nobody wants. That's bulk. The commons and uncommons left over after the good cards get pulled. They're offering 1 to 2 cents a card. Here's my problem. We generate an enormous amount of bulk.…
Read the post →Your next customer might never see your website. They'll ask an AI agent to find the product, and the agent will buy it for them. That's not a prediction anymore. Meta's new AI agent, Muse, can now check out from Shopify stores with one ta…
Read the post →Some of the toughest men I know spend their Saturdays building tiny plastic robots. Izzi's Gym is a trading card and collectibles store in Sioux Falls. Somewhere along the way it also became a hangout for veterans. I didn't plan that. It j…
Read the post →Our store screens run themselves now. No agency. No expensive signage company. I built a small app that talks to our internal system, and Yodeck puts it on every screen in the store. Here's what plays at Izzi's Gym all day: Today's events.…
Read the post →90% instant buyback sounds like a great deal. That's the problem. I sell Pokémon packs for a living, so I'm not anti-ripping. Opening packs is fun. The rip, the reveal, the chase. It's a big part of why this hobby is so great. But there's…
Read the post →Custom software becomes an operating decision We run a Pokémon card shop. We used AI to write the software that helps run it. It's called PENNY. It handles collection buying, inventory entry, pricing tools, customer records, order picking,…
Read the post →Bandai capped our Gundam Card Game 1st Anniversary Event at 64 players. We filled all 64. Then a dozen more joined the waiting list. Think about that. A little over a year ago this game did not exist. Today, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, w…
Read the post →This is why I do it. I know how this sounds. Another shop owner tooting his own horn. I do have a healthy self image. But that is not what this is. I just believe this one thing so strongly that I will keep saying it until it sticks. Overc…
Read the post →I lost $25,000 today. On purpose. A new Pokemon set hit shelves this morning. My store paid $31.50 a box, same as every other local game store in the country. We sold it at MSRP. Plenty of stores put that same $31.50 box on the shelf for $…
Read the post →Rule I keep breaking: no customer service after 10pm. Last night's ticket: "This card is not mint." Correct. It's Near Mint. That's what you ordered. Here's the thing about selling Pokémon cards online. Every single card gets a condition g…
Read the post →My life is finally complete. Finally found one in the wild. Actually found 4 and bought them all. Took it around the Pokemon store today and got a lot of confused looks, but I'm sure they'll all get used to my new faithful companion. Richa…
Read the post →My disappointment could not be measured with any scale right now. We had a massive party planned for Wednesday. Pokemon's 30th. We don't even open on Wednesdays. This week we were opening at 6am so people could get their product before wor…
Read the post →I hate shoplifters. Not "frustrated." Not "concerned." Hate. Last month we found a problem at Izzi's Gym that was a lot bigger than we thought. I won't share the number. It was enough to make me sit in my van in the parking lot for a while…
Read the post →I sold my first Pokémon card 16 months ago. I'd never owned one before that. Last month we did our best month ever. Up 25%. Here's what nobody tells you about starting over in an industry you know nothing about at 40-something years old, a…
Read the post →We love Beyblade and we can't get enough of it and the inventory is limited (like everything these days), so when we have the ability to buy pallets (this is pallet 1 of 3) of stadiums, we close our eyes and pull the trigger.
Read the post →Leaving the business I spent 12 years building was terrifying. Tens of thousands of hours mastering that craft — and I walked away. Because I was stuck. I knew I'd hit my ceiling. So I bet on myself and started over in a brand new industry…
Read the post →Looking for advice from anyone who imports from China 🇨🇳📦 We have a person on the ground in China sourcing Pokémon cards from local shops — some of it super light (raw cards), dense cases of sealed boxes. This will be low-volume air shi…
Read the post →IZZISCON 2026 was UNREAL. 🎉 Over 10,000 kids and their families 🎟️ 100% FREE event 🃏 1 MILLION Pokémon cards given away 🛍️ 100+ vendors TOURNAMENTS: 🏆 Pokémon 🤖 Gundam 🏴☠️ One Piece 🎮 Fighting games ⚔️ Beyblade battles EXPLORE: 🕹…
Read the post →60 cents of every dollar spent in trading cards now goes to graded cards. Not raw singles. Not sealed boxes. Slabs. And PSA controls 85% of that. More than half the money in this entire hobby flows through one label's plastic. Collectors s…
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