From Card Shows to Warehouse: How TCG Empire Built a Thriving Trading Card Business on Temu
The trading card industry has experienced a remarkable resurgence over the past several years, fueled by nostalgia, investment interest, and a new generation of collectors. At the center of this boom is TCG Empire, a trading card seller that started from the humblest of origins — two founders combining their personal collections and selling at local card shows — and has since grown into one of the leading sellers on the Temu online marketplace. Their journey is a compelling case study in how small businesses can scale rapidly by leveraging the right ecommerce platforms at the right time.
The Origins of TCG Empire: A Passion Project Turned Business
TCG Empire was officially founded in January 2024 by Joshua Howell, who brought with him over 13 years of experience flipping trading cards on the side. Before launching TCG Empire, Howell had worked for another card company, giving him invaluable insider knowledge of the trading card market, supply chains, and customer demand. When the time was right, he merged his personal expertise with a business partner's collection and turned a side hustle into a full-fledged enterprise.
By March 2024 — just two months after launching — TCG Empire had already established both a physical retail store and a functioning ecommerce website. That kind of rapid expansion speaks not only to the founders' ambition but also to the enormous and ready-made demand that exists for trading card products in today's market.
The company's name reflects its product focus. TCG stands for Trading Card Game, and TCG Empire carries cards from some of the most iconic franchises in the hobby, including Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and One Piece. However, Howell has been candid about where the real volume lies. As he told Digital Commerce 360, "It's mostly Pokémon and the other things are ancillary." Pokémon cards remain the dominant force in the trading card industry, commanding enormous collector interest and consistent resale value across all age groups.
How Temu Became a Game-Changer for TCG Empire
While TCG Empire operates across multiple sales channels, one platform has had an outsized impact on its growth trajectory: Temu. The Chinese-founded discount marketplace, which launched in the United States in 2022, has rapidly grown into one of the most visited shopping sites in the country, attracting tens of millions of budget-conscious consumers eager for deals across virtually every product category.
For TCG Empire, listing on Temu opened the door to a massive new customer base that might not have found them otherwise. Howell acknowledged the platform's transformative role directly, stating, "Temu definitely helped us accelerate what we're doing." That acceleration was significant enough to prompt one of the business's most concrete expansions yet: the opening of a dedicated warehouse to handle the increased order volume.
Operating a warehouse represents a meaningful step up in operational complexity and cost, but it also signals that TCG Empire's Temu sales have reached a scale where informal fulfillment processes simply can't keep up. For a company that started just over a year ago, graduating to warehouse-level logistics is a remarkable milestone.
A Multi-Platform Strategy Built Around Visibility
One of the smartest aspects of TCG Empire's business model is its deliberate multi-platform approach to sales. Rather than relying solely on its own website to drive revenue, the company has strategically positioned itself on the platforms where trading card buyers already congregate. Howell explained the reasoning clearly: "We really didn't focus much on our website because a lot of the sales are generated from other platforms because so many people use them."
Beyond Temu, TCG Empire sells on several other major marketplaces, including:
- TCGPlayer — A niche marketplace dedicated entirely to trading card games, making it a natural fit for reaching serious collectors and competitive players who know exactly what they're looking for.
- eBay — One of the oldest and most trusted platforms for buying and selling collectibles, eBay remains a powerhouse for individual card listings and rare pulls.
- Amazon — With its vast reach and fulfillment infrastructure, Amazon provides access to casual buyers and gift shoppers who may not frequent dedicated hobby sites.
- Walmart Marketplace — Walmart's growing third-party marketplace extends TCG Empire's reach into a demographic that values convenience and competitive pricing.
This diversified presence means TCG Empire is not at the mercy of any single platform's algorithm changes, fee structure adjustments, or policy shifts. It's a resilient strategy that many small ecommerce businesses aspire to but few execute as deliberately.
Using the Website for Bulk Sourcing, Not Just Sales
While TCG Empire's own website may not be its primary sales channel, it plays a uniquely important role in the business ecosystem. Howell explained that the site is mainly used for bulk sourcing — collectors or individuals who have large quantities of cards can submit them through an on-site form, and TCG Empire will purchase those cards directly. This creates a steady pipeline of inventory that feeds the company's listings across all its marketplace channels.
It's a clever use of a company-owned digital property. Rather than competing with established giants for search traffic and consumer sales, the website serves as a procurement tool, allowing TCG Empire to build inventory at scale without being entirely dependent on distributor supply chains. In a market where rare cards can fluctuate wildly in value and supply can be unpredictable, having multiple sourcing avenues is a significant competitive advantage.
What TCG Empire's Growth Tells Us About the Trading Card Market
The story of TCG Empire is more than just one company's success — it's a window into the broader dynamics of the modern trading card industry and the ecommerce landscape that supports it. A few key takeaways stand out for other sellers and entrepreneurs paying attention.
First, niche marketplaces matter. TCGPlayer exists precisely because trading card buyers have specific needs that general marketplaces don't always serve well. Being present on a platform built for your audience will almost always outperform fighting for visibility on a general-purpose site.
Second, emerging platforms like Temu can be legitimate growth accelerators for small businesses, not just a race to the bottom on price. TCG Empire's warehouse expansion is evidence that Temu sales can generate real, sustainable volume — not just one-off transactions.
Third, inventory sourcing is as important as sales strategy. TCG Empire's bulk buying program through its own website gives the business a supply advantage that competitors relying solely on wholesale distribution may lack, especially during periods of high demand or product scarcity.
Looking Ahead: What's Next for TCG Empire
With a new warehouse in place, a growing Temu storefront, and listings across multiple major marketplaces, TCG Empire appears well-positioned to continue its upward trajectory. The trading card market shows no signs of cooling, with new sets releasing regularly for Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and other franchises, each generating fresh waves of collector excitement and buyer demand.
For Joshua Howell and his team, the journey from combining personal collections at local card shows to operating a multi-channel ecommerce business with warehouse infrastructure in roughly a year is a testament to what's possible when deep product knowledge meets smart platform strategy. As the trading card hobby continues to grow, TCG Empire looks ready to scale right along with it.