Whatnot expects its sales to more than double this year, with toy and hobby up 140%
Whatnot expects its sales to more than double this year from the $8 billion sold on the platform worldwide in 2025, per ICv2 (October 28), citing the live-selling company's 2027 Consumer Trends Report. Toy and hobby sales on Whatnot are up 140% so far in 2026, the report says, with trading card games an important contributor.
Fashion is still Whatnot's largest category. The report expects nostalgia buying by adults, what it calls "kidulting," to keep driving sales in 2027, and says searches for 1990s and 2000s brands are trending on the platform.
The same week at eBay
ICv2's roundup paired Whatnot's numbers with eBay's. eBay, which owns TCGplayer and Goldin, is cutting about 1,000 jobs after cutting 800 earlier this year. Last week's issue covered the other side of eBay's quarter: TCGplayer passed $1 billion in sales over 12 months, Goldin had a record quarter, and eBay's own livestream business, eBay Live, is growing. Both companies had large live-selling setups on the floor at New York Comic Con in October, per ICv2.
The National Retail Federation, in the same roundup, forecasts holiday sales from November 1 to December 31 to grow 4.2% over 2025, while warning that inflation, gas prices and household budgets will hit shoppers unevenly.
Why it matters for the market
Live selling is now a main channel for cards, not a side one. A platform that sold $8 billion last year and expects to double it, with toy and hobby growing faster than the whole, is moving a large share of the hobby's new supply. Breaks, singles auctions and sealed product rips all run through it.
Price discovery is moving to fast auctions. A livestream auction can close in seconds. That makes for a lot of sales, but each one happens in a room of whoever is watching at that moment. Prices from those rooms can run above or below what the same card brings in a slower auction, so a comp from a stream is worth checking against other venues.
Growth figures are not price figures. Sales on a platform can double because more items sell, because prices rise, or both. Whatnot's report doesn't split those apart for trading cards. Nothing here says card prices are rising; it says more cards are changing hands live.
Trust is the weak point. More volume through fast sales raises the stakes on authentication. This issue's Big News on suspected relabeled PSA slabs and the FBI's warning on card shop fraud are reminders that checks have to keep pace with the speed of the sale.
What to watch next
- Whatnot's full-year number, when it reports one, against the expected doubling.
- eBay Live's growth in eBay's fourth-quarter report, which covers the holiday season.
- The holiday stretch from November 1, which the NRF expects to grow 4.2% overall.
Figures are as reported by the source below on the date shown. This is market data and commentary, not investment advice.