Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathon Kelsey.
Hi Jonathon, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started with Pokemon in 1999 after a neighbor gave me a Squirtle from Team Rocket, a Rhyhorn from Jungle, and a Metapod from Base Set for helping him sort his cards. Eventually I learned to play the card game and started playing in Pokemon Leagues, which continued when my family moved to Belgium. I began playing more competitively there, almost qualifying for the World Championship in 2005 and 2006.
I then started playing Magic: the Gathering in high school and continued in college, eventually realizing I was much better at trading for profit than actually playing the game so I started playing significantly less and almost exclusively trading, buying, and selling. After college and realizing that the job I had in corporate admin wasn’t something I would happy doing long-term, I began working for a Magic card dealer that vended Magic’s largest tournaments, called Grand Prixes back then.
After a while I set out on my own with a partner I met through those shows and the rest is history.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The main challenge in the collectable and game store space is that there is no conventional wisdom or playbook to guide you, so lessons have to be learned by making mistakes. If I were opening a restaurant or a carwash there’s a glut of information, advice, and models out there to help. There is no resource on how to effectively source rare product profitably or how to navigate the line between creating a clubhouse where people will love to interact with their hobby and a professional and efficient operation.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We specialize in single cards. Like most places we carry a broad range of sealed product like booster boxes and decks, but anyone with the right distributor relationship can do that. Single cards have to be sourced on the secondary market from collectors, players, or other businesses since you can’t call your distributor and buy single cards.
What sets us apart is our ability to pay the best rates on singles and graded cards as well as sealed product together with our constant and active efforts to source things that may not walk into the store every day in order to fill holes in our offerings. This equips us to have the best inventory in the state by a wide margin at competitive prices.
What I’m most proud of is that no matter whether you’re looking for a an inexpensive Totodile for your collection, a graded 1st Edition Charizard for your portfolio, or a card for your Modern or Commander deck, regardless of whether it was printed 30 years ago or yesterday, you can come to us where you’ll be met with knowledgeable people that are just as passionate as you are about your hobby.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
After growing up in Belgium and Italy for almost 10 years I’m fluent in Dutch and Italian.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.levelupgamesmd.com
- Instagram: @levelupgamesmaryland
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/levelupgamesmaryland
