We were lucky to catch up with Kyle Kania recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyle, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

To be successful in a niche industry I believe it takes hard work, structure and checks and balances. It also takes extreme dedication to your craft because you will only get out of something what you put into it. One important thing I have learned is to make connections within the industry. This will help you become successful because these connections are very valuable. By expanding your network you’re also expanding your customer base. Another extremely important part of being successful is your customer service. We pride ourselves on our great customer service and doing the small things right.

Kyle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

About yourself- My name is Kyle, i own and operate KKsportscards, a 35 person team that facilitates people getting their sportscards/Pokemon cards/ Trading cards graded and professionally assessed by PSA and SGC. I was a college baseball player, got hurt my senior year and decided to start a business in the industry i was passionate about. How you got into the hobby- I got in at a young age about 15 years old realizing there was money to be made by buying sportscards, getting them graded and reselling them. With a busy schedule i did not have time for a job to clock in and out at in highschool so that is what i did in my free time to make money.
what service do we offer- We offer card grading services through PSA and SGC, we are PSA’s largest customer. We take your cards in, handle the nuances of the card submission prep and submission process. And get the back to you for cheaper than going direct to the companies since we submit in bulk.
whatnot- In addition we livestream on the Whatnot app selling packs and boxes of sealed sportscards, opening them live for customers. We also do consignments where we sell collections to our customers live on the app it is a 140+ hour a week operation, with over 185,000 packages mailed out from us last year in 2022
what do we do for our clients- We are able to educate our customers on grading cards and different types of products and handle all the work of getting the cards safely and securely back to them. Not many people know how to submit cards, we handle all the fine details and have a great working relationship with PSA and SGC. We handle the entire grading process cheaper than going direct, so people can maximize the value of their sportscards
what sets us apart- We have a fully API integrated website which shows vustomers what stage their cards are at in the process, we have great customer service, secure shipping and efficient processes all while handling every card with care as if it was our own in our fully insured and Video monitored facilities

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I funded this business in college 100% on my own from grading and flipping my own sportscards. I sold everything i had to get the capital to begin this venture. I have since gone back and bought some of the cards from my collection i sold. It was 6 years of discipline on spending, holding cards til the value went up, and selling. I realized i could hold my collection and watch it go up 10% a year or i could sell it all and turn those funds over quicker and start a legit business. It was a wise decision.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Social media presence on Instagram @kk_sportscards, doing all the small things right. Shipping things in and out same day, answering and communicating with customers in a timely manor, cutting bulk deals for high volume clients. Word of mouth on social media spread and thats how we got to where we are today. It wasnt spending a ton on advertising it was treating every customer like they are our only customer and being consistent and transparent through the process

Contact Info:

• Website: kksportscards.com
• Instagram: kk_sportscards
• Twitter: kk_sportscards
• Youtube: kk_sportscards
• Other: kksportscards2020@gmail.com, or hit contact us on the website