Brother and sister turned £10 into £10,000 by 'flipping' games and trading cards
A small £10 investment a few years ago helped these siblings make an impressive £10,000 which they then turned into a business.
Harry Reynolds, 26, is the founder of the London Card Show, which allows collectors to show off their trading cards - including popular brands such as Pokemon and Disney - and meet others with the same interests. Collectors can buy, trade and sell items at these events, with some cards worth anything from 10p to £20,000.
The London Card Show was started by Harry two years ago when he was at university. To make some extra cash, he started the "flip up challenge" and would purchase old boxes of games, cards, action figures and other collectable items to sell on for more. Harry would scour places such as eBay and Facebook marketplace for unique items. He would also head down to car boot sales and markets to see if could spot some treasures.
Harry told The Mirror he had always been a fan of trading cards and other collectables. He said: "Since I was a kid I was always collecting the Premier League and World Cup football stickers, and Match Attack and Shoot Out Cards, The family then moved out to America, and I became interested in the American Football stuff. But I wouldn't say I fell out of love with them but I did grow up a little."
The first London Card Show took place in 2021 (Plus 1 Communications)He explained: "I remember being down at university in Southampton and I had £10, and I thought 'do I go all or nothing on one item or split?' I decided to split and I bought a range of PlayStation One games which I found on Facebook marketplace and a box of action figures. I then sold all the items individually and it just grew from there."
'I started my business with £50 at uni - now it's a multi-million pound empire'
After a year of grafting, Harry managed to hit a profit of £10,000 and the seed of the London Card Show had also been planted in his mind as he realised just how popular trading cards and other collectables were in the UK. More fuel was added to the flames during the COVID-19 lockdown when he rediscovered his own love for trading cards. He said: "During the COVID-19 lockdown, I was just clearing out my room, which I'm sure everyone did, and I came across these cards and I wanted to get back into it."
Harry then began to establish himself as a key player in the trading card world as he very quickly built a brand on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch and he became popular online for the trading card mystery boxes sent out to subscribers. As his platform grew, Harry decided to create a physical event specifically for the collectors he had been selling to.
Over 4,000 people are expected to come to this weekend's event (Plus 1 Communications)He said: "The flip challenge did reignite the love for me and I've always been taught that entrepreneurship is mainly about three things. You can either make a product, develop a product or fill a market and the market for this was there to be filled. This type of stuff is massive in America so I decided to give it a go.
"The challenge definitely had a correlation to the show because it made me realise I could grow something from nothing, really start something from its roots and grow it to something special."
The very first London Card Show took place in July 2021 at a local community hall. The event covered half the hall - with badminton being played in the other - and featured around 10 tables and 40 attendees. The company just hosted its tenth event at Sandown Racecourse with 550 tables and over 4,000 attendees. It is a ticketed event, starting from £5.50, and the siblings also make money from sponsors. Harry said: "There is quite literally everything for everyone and for everyone's budget. There will be 10p cards and there will be cards upwards of £20,000.
Harry and Katie say the event offers a range of different activities for people to enjoy (Plus 1 Communications)"If you bring your kid who is a football fan or Pokemon fan for the first time and you have a budget of £10, you're going to have a great day. If you're a multimillionaire and you're looking for some collectables to balance the books. There's something there as well. If you want to start collecting, this is the best place to help you start."
Harry's older sister Katie Hughes, who has been appointed London Card Show's director of marketing and communications, said the event is much more than this. She added: "Really it's a hub of people that have very similar interests, and they come together and they can completely be themselves. They trade they buy, they sell, they chat, they get to know each other, and they form relationships.
"But we wanted it to be way more than this though, we wanted it to be a place where you actually didn't need to be a big fan of the cars. We say that two people in the family could be coming because they love cards and the other two are tagging along for the added extras."
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