A lawyer swapped his legal job to deal in Pokémon cards - and says he is already earning the same. Richard Page, 34, had a full-time law career which he ditched to trade in the cartoon cards.
He began his award-winning Pokémon business during furlough when he spent his new-found extra time on clearing out his garage.
His then hobby has now spiralled into a full time business, which makes him just as much as he did during his full time law career. Richard, from Oxfordshire, said: "It's been a whirlwind - I definitely wouldn't go back to 9-5 full-time work.
"Don't get me wrong, the hours are really long, and I probably work more now than I did when I was a lawyer. But it's a different type of work and it's more rewarding because I'm doing it for myself and my family and there's so much room to grow.
"At the moment I'm making around the same as I did as a lawyer, but the business is growing so fast. I still have the same lifestyle as I had before, I don't have to make any compromises."
Richard began the business as a security net during the pandemic, just in case he lost his corporate job. He began with just buying 'penny sleeves' of cards and selling them on, and then reinvesting the profit into the business.
Surprised by the demand for Pokémon cards, Richard decided to take his business full time in Spring 2021, a year after his venture began. He said: "At first starting the business was scary because I started the business purely on personal finances.
"I haven't borrowed any money, and I've bought everything upfront on personal credit cards. It was so scary buying £8,000 worth of essentially pieces of shiny cardboard.
"Everything's a risk - some sets do really well and others are horrendous, you never have a full idea of how they'll do until after you buy them."
Thankfully, Richard, who runs the business with the help of his husband Graeme, has got a huge boost from eBay themselves. His business, Neo Cards and Collectables, won the prestigious eBay for Business Awards 2022, which comes with a prize of £10,000 and a year of one-to-one business support.
Richard said: "It was really validating to win the award, it's made the business feel real. I was going to apply last year but I thought 'don't be silly Rich, you're selling Pokémon cards from your garage, nobody's going to care.'
"But winning has given me an extra extra drive and an extra spur on. I really want to keep growing the business and one day take on staff, because then the business becomes bigger than just you.
"We're still deciding on what to spend the money on but I think we'll convert the garage to a proper workspace. At the moment we have to have Royal Mail come to our house everyday to take sacks of orders, and I do about 100 orders a day, so I could use the extra help."
The Pokémon community has also been a big motivation for Richard and his business. He said: "I want to make sure that I'm not a faceless online card shop, I want to keep it personal and build relationships within the community.
"That's why I show my face on Instagram and I'm starting a YouTube channel - if people see you and know you, they're more likely to buy from you because they like you as a person.
"I loved Pokémon when it first came out when I was about 10-years-old. But then at 13 it wasn't cool to like Pokémon anymore so I stopped playing, but I've always loved it.
"The great thing about it is that it's intergenerational now - I have customers who are fathers and play with their sons, and it's really nice that it's bridging that gap between generations."
