Collektr connects collectors

Adlin: We focused on collectables because South-East Asia is a region that is rarely prioritised for these items.

TWENTY Pokémon trading cards appear on the screen in steady succession, each one introduced in turn to a virtual audience.

From behind the camera, the host cracks jokes and playfully responds to live commenters while eager collectors race to outbid each other with growing intensity.

A flurry of bids rattles off in the live chat, drawing users into a frenzied anticipation until finally, a winner is declared.

“There’s a high dopamine rush and a fear-of-missing-out feeling that happens when you’re in a live bidding war,” says Adlin Yusman, founder and chief executive officer of collectibles marketplace platform Collektr.

“The fun part about it is that it’s a community. People join the stream, get to know each other and become friends.”

These livestream auctions take place every day on Collektr, which was founded in 2023 to provide a secure environment for facilitating safe and seamless buying, selling, and trading experiences among collectors.

Encompassing a range of pop culture collectible categories such as trading cards, comic books, and figurines, the platform provides a space for avid collectors to connect over shared interests and passions.

In addition to livestreams, the platform also features an eCommerce marketplace for users to shop for and sell collectible items.

However, Adlin reveals that the marketplace makes up 30% of the business while livestreams represent 70% – a reflection of the rising popularity of live commerce (a combination of livestream and eCommerce) in the online selling realm.

“Following the boom of eCommerce, we’re now seeing the growth of live commerce with platforms like TikTok Shop, eBay, and Shopee all introducing livestream shopping,” he observes.

Recognising the increasing prominence of collectibles as an asset class, Collektr was created to cater to a gap in the collectible space.

“When you look at global auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s, they typically auction very high end collectible items like art and wine, but there was no place that specialised in pop culture memorabilia,” he explains.

The startup draws inspiration from US-founded livestream shopping platform Whatnot, which began initially as a ­marketplace focused on buying and reselling Funko Pop figurines.

“We also decided to concentrate on collectables because South-East Asia is a region that is rarely prioritised for these products.

“We’re the last to receive any allocation and even then, it’s usually a small quantity,” he adds.

As a centralised online platform, Collektr is also able to bring together collectors from across the nation.

“There’s a collector in every nook and cranny, particularly in overlooked states where there’s demand but no access to supply.

“In fact, one of our biggest spenders comes from Sarawak.”

“Before us, they’d have to buy the items they wanted on eBay or Amazon, and pay taxes, duties, and shipping, but now we provide a dedicated platform that connects this community of collectors.”

Today, Collektr operates in Malaysia and Singapore, boasting an international user base of over 60,000 and more than 80,000 transactions across the platform.

For each transaction, the platform takes a commission ranging from 8% to 13%, with rates determined based on the category and rarity of the item.

While Malaysia remains its largest market in terms of revenue, the second largest notably comes from the United States.

Part of this was owing to the collaboration Collektr struck up with Flesh and Blood, one of the world’s most popular trading card games.

The partnership resulted in an exclusive card that could only be bought through livestreams on Collektr.

“Buyers from the United States came in droves and we became global overnight because of this,” Adlin says.

He points out that collectors from countries in the West often benefit from arbitraging due to lower prices in Asean marketplaces, which can lead to large-scale buyouts that create scarcity in the local supply and force local collectors to pay a premium for items.

However, Collektr addresses this by enabling local collectors to compete with international buyers, driving prices up and creating a more level playing field.

“In this way, we’re seeing the market mature as locals are now understanding that the knick-knacks that our mums threw away actually have value, and we can realise that value through a free market system,” he says.

To ensure authenticity on the platform, Collektr takes a highly stringent approach towards onboarding sellers.

“We have a very strict KYC (know your customer) ­process and 50% of potential sellers are rejected daily,” he adds.

Additionally, an in-house built artificial intelligence system is used to check trading cards for authenticity with a 99.9% accuracy rate.

High-end items are sent to Collektr’s trusted partner stores to carry out thorough physical inspections before they are handed over to the buyer.

Currently, the business is finalising its expansion into Indonesia and the Philippines through partnerships with local live streamers and store hubs, while also exploring markets outside of South-East Asia.

It is also developing a new vertical based on collectibles beyond the pop culture category.

At the same time, Adlin shares that a major challenge for Collektr is convincing local hobby retailers to make use of its livestreaming platform for selling stock, which would allow them to maximise sales during slow or “dead” in-store hours.

“There’s so much opportunity for shopfronts to unlock.

By helping these stores bring in more revenue, we can provide a chance for them to have a new lease of life.”