Okay so, for some context, I've only ever bid on a few whatnot auctions and decided to delete the app after getting junk.
A buddy of mine has what I definitely recognize as a gambling problem has wasted a lot of money on the site. He did win at least one ETB so far that I know of, which has only inspired him to pay attention to the auctions more.
He seems to think that the streamers on whatnot who sell Pokémon cards have some kind of special connection with Nintendo or whoever is distributing the cards, and in his mind, this is why they're able to sell the ETBs even if the winning bid is significantly lower than the market value of the ETB.
I think this notion is absurd. Although I don't have nearly as much experience with the app as him, I've seen winning bidders that (to give one example) spent just shy of $100 that only recieved a couple foreign language booster packs.
From what I gather, these guys on whatnot could purchase an abundance of ETBs at or above market price from eBay or another platform, and still make off like bandits simply because of what people are willing to spend for a chance to win an ETB.
Am I onto something here? Like I said, I have limited experience with the whatnot app. My reason for posting here is an attempt to better my understanding of whatnot so I can explain to my friend that he has a legitimate gambling addiction.