Seller Spotlight
Baselinecards
How a Chicagoland card shop is building a national live breaking business on Whatnot
+6K Items Sold
|
+4.5K Followers
|
+250 Hours Livestreamed
|
⭐️ 5 Rating
|
+500 Reviews
|
+6K Items Sold | +4.5K Followers | +250 Hours Livestreamed | ⭐️ 5 Rating | +500 Reviews |
Meet the Seller
Baselinecards, a Chicagoland sports card shop, opened in 2010 and launched on Whatnot in July 2025.
Ryan, once a regular customer, became co-owner in 2017 and has since grown the business into a multimillion-dollar operation with nearly a dozen employees.
Prior to Whatnot
The shop served as the go-to neighborhood card shop in a one of Chicagoland’s most populated suburbs.
Ryan introduced live card breaks in 2019, starting with Facebook Live for local customers, and also used eBay to sell singles.
They later expanded to TikTok Live in 2021, growing a strong online following.
Breaks represented only a small share of overall business sales compared to sealed boxes and in-store sales.
Managing their eBay sales was time-consuming and delivered limited returns.
Seller support on TikTok was slow, inconsistent, and difficult to navigate—they often had buyer issues and little control over the situation.
“It’s gone from just me working there to a team of eight. It’s turned into a huge operation that keeps growing because we keep pushing for it.”
- Ryan, Owner, Baselinecards
When considering Whatnot
The team worried that shifting attention away from TikTok would disrupt the business.
Ryan was concerned that having zero followers on Whatnot would make it hard to sell products profitably.
Having a small team made it hard to imagine running multiple platforms while also managing the store.
Being able to contact a member of the Whatnot team directly gave Ryan more confidence that his growth would be supported.
“We never complain when items sell for less than what we want. Instead of telling people they’re not spending enough—we tell them they're getting a great deal.”
- Ryan, Owner, Baselinecards
They hosted five shows in their first week, knowing that having early momentum would ensure long-term growth.
They took early losses on some products but treated it as a way to give buyers great deals, securing long-term loyalty.
Within weeks of launching, they shifted entirely away from TikTok to focus on Whatnot.
Breaks became their dominant sales format, with sealed boxes now a minority of sales.
Hiring and training staff allowed them to keep pace with a surge in daily shipments.
Regular viewers tuned in not just to buy but to engage in lively sports conversations.
Today, roughly 30% of sales come from Whatnot, with the rest split across eBay, their physical store, and their website.
Growing on Whatnot
They focused on increasing the number of hours they were going live each week—going from 20 to 30 hours per week helped almost double sales.
“People ask me about selling on Whatnot, I always say: don’t have any hesitation. Whatnot gives you the tools, and if you have the knowledge and product, you can take it from there.”
Ryan, Owner, Baselinecards