From Hobby to Thriving Business: Nick Bruni’s Journey with Pokémon Collectibles
Growing up in Milford, Massachusetts during the 1990s, Nick Bruni was introduced early to the world of collectibles. Accompanying his father to local coin shows, Bruni occasionally helped list coins online, navigating the nascent landscape of eBay — a platform that would later become central to his entrepreneurial journey. In those formative years, Bruni learned not only the mechanics of online selling but also the empowering idea of being his own boss and earning income through personal initiative.
Reflecting on his early experiences, Bruni, now 34, shared with Entrepreneur, “I was never hugely passionate about coins, but I liked the idea of being your own boss and selling your own stuff to make a living.” This mindset laid a foundation for his later ventures.
Discovering a New Passion Through Pokémon Cards
Bruni’s true entrepreneurial spark ignited during high school when he stumbled upon his childhood Pokémon card collection. Curious about their value, he enlisted his father’s help to list the cards on eBay. Together, they methodically organized the collection, photographed the cards, and created listings to test the market.
I fell in love with the eBay process.
Bruni vividly recalls, “I 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.” This hands-on experience was pivotal, transforming a pastime into a budding business interest.
After successfully selling his first Pokémon collection, Bruni reinvested the proceeds into purchasing another collection, which he then disassembled and sold as individual cards. This strategic move allowed for greater sales volume and profitability.
For years, Bruni maintained this part-time flipping hobby through high school and college, leveraging the growing popularity of Pokémon collectibles on eBay to generate supplemental income.
From Part-Time Hobby to Full-Time eBay Resale Business
Graduating college in 2016, Bruni took his online sales more seriously. While working in the Merchant Marine — a position with alternating three- to four-month shifts on and off a cargo ship — he dedicated his downtime to focusing on his eBay business. This blend of passion and opportunity fueled his entrepreneurial growth.
By early 2021, Bruni committed fully to his collectibles business, Old Skool Pokemon, which experienced steady growth. In 2022, his annual sales reached $660,000, a testament to his dedication and market acumen.
By October 2023, Bruni’s expanding operations necessitated his first hire — a remote employee from Chicago he met through the Pokémon community. That year, his business surpassed $1 million in sales, growing to approximately $1.3 million the following year.
Old Skool Pokemon’s trajectory continued upward, hitting over $2 million in annual sales by 2025. Already in 2026, the business has generated $1.5 million, positioning Bruni to potentially reach $3 million in sales within the year.
High-Volume Selling in a Competitive Collectibles Market
Pokémon collectibles remain the cornerstone of Bruni’s business. He sells a diverse array of products, including vintage collections dating to the 1990s alongside current releases, often offering single cards to appeal to a broad customer base.
With profit margins around 15%, Bruni emphasizes the importance of high sales volume. “Last year, when we did $2 million in sales, we sold 96,000 items,” he explains. “Average sale price $21. So it’s never a really high-value card, making a lot of money off one single item.”
To maintain inventory, Bruni relies on wholesale distributors such as Mad Al and Southern Hobby. However, Pokémon’s massive resurgence has made sourcing new sets increasingly competitive and costly. “A couple years ago, you could buy collections all day at 65%, 70%,” Bruni notes, “Nowadays, you’re having to pay 80%, 85%. So you’re working on razor-thin margins and having to make up for that in the volume that you’re selling.”
Pokémon only partners with eight U.S. distributors, and these distributors prioritize sellers with physical storefronts, making Bruni’s upcoming brick-and-mortar plans strategically important.
Live Streaming Unlocks a New Level of Scale and Growth
One of the transformative developments for Old Skool Pokemon has been Bruni’s embrace of live streaming on eBay, introduced in June 2022. This feature allows him to open and sell packs in real time, engaging directly with his audience.
“When eBay announced it was going to introduce a live streaming aspect, I knew I wanted to get on there,” Bruni recalls. “I liked the idea and knew that it could be a really big thing.”
Live streaming accelerated the business’s growth in 2023, leading Bruni to hire his first employee — a fellow seller, KetchumAllCollectibles, whom he met through the Pokémon community. Together, they co-host the PokeFlipz podcast on YouTube.
Shortly thereafter, Bruni relocated from Massachusetts to Chicago to collaborate more closely with his team and brought on a second employee to sustain daily live streams, which can last from three to eight hours.
“It was tough to bring on additional help,” Bruni admits. “My business is my baby. I would have to give up some control. But hiring employees to help you scale your business is very beneficial. I’m at the point now where I would not be able to handle everything that’s going on by myself.”
Today, Bruni dedicates about 10 hours daily, seven days a week, to his business, balancing the demands of live streaming with inventory management and customer engagement. Despite the workload, he describes the work as both a job and a passion.
Expanding Into Physical Retail and Future Plans
Looking ahead, Bruni is preparing to open his first brick-and-mortar store in the Chicago area, aiming for a September launch. He views this expansion not as a departure from eBay but as a complementary opportunity to blend in-person and virtual sales.
“I can be walking around the shop, showing people in the stream, ‘Hey, this is what we have available today. What do you guys want to bid on?’” Bruni explains. “It will give a virtual card shop experience to the internet, the people that come into my streams.”
The physical location will also serve as a hub for purchasing Pokémon products directly from customers, further enriching the business’s inventory and community engagement.
Bruni’s journey from helping his dad sell coins to building a multimillion-dollar enterprise centered on Pokémon collectibles offers valuable insights into leveraging passion, technology, and adaptability to create sustainable success.
Key Takeaways
- Bruni helped his dad sell coins online, then did the same with his Pokémon collection.
- After graduating from college, he turned his part-time hobby into a full-time business.
- Now, Bruni sees millions in annual sales and is eyeing his first brick-and-mortar store.
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