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The ice cream shop that makes money when it's cold

28 Wishes sells ice cream in Los Angeles. Below 70°F, sales fall about 20%. The weather is out of their hands. Rent isn't.

So the owners started putting about $20 a day into Kalshi weather markets, taking the cold side. The days that keep customers away now pay something back.

This is hedging. Big companies have done it for decades, buying protection against bad weather, fuel spikes and rising rates. It used to take a broker, a trading desk, and an order size no corner shop could meet.

Kalshi opens it up. Contracts on weather, fuel prices, inflation, tariffs and regulation, starting at a few dollars. Take a position on the outcome that would hurt you. If it hits, the payout softens it. If it doesn't, the contract expires and the good month was the point.

See how other owners are doing it at Kalshi.com/hedging

Could a $1 digital pack really land you an $8 million basketball card? PrizePicks says yes, it's possible. Before you start ripping, though, it's worth reading how it works and who sets the prices.

What PrizePicks launched

PrizePicks, best known for its sports picks app, launched PrizePicks Packs on Oct. 21. You buy a digital pack, open it, and reveal one real, physical trading card stored in PrizePicks' vault. Then you sell it back for cash or have it shipped to you.

The packs come in nine price tiers from $1 (Basic) to $2,500 (Diamond), in basketball, football and Pokémon. PrizePicks says the product is available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

The $8 million chase card

Cooper Flagg 1-of-1 debut patch auto, PSA 10. Image: Fanatics Collect

The headliner is Cooper Flagg's 1-of-1 2025-26 Topps Chrome Update Rookie NBA Debut Patch Autograph. Fanatics Collect's completed auction listing shows it sold Sept. 25, 2026 for $8,040,000 with buyer's premium, after 83 bids, graded PSA 10 with a 10 autograph. The patch comes from the jersey Flagg wore in his first NBA game, on Oct. 22, 2025 against the San Antonio Spurs. PrizePicks' Packs page calls the card "worth $8 million."

PrizePicks lists three other launch headliners: a Pikachu Illustrator, the Pokémon card given out through a 1998 illustration contest, plus the Dylan Harper and Kon Knueppel 1-of-1 Rookie Debut Patch Autos, which PrizePicks says sold for $2.88 million and $2.34 million in September. PrizePicks doesn't say which copy or grade of the Pikachu is in the pool, so we're not putting a number on it.

The odds, as far as PrizePicks shows them

PrizePicks calls any card worth $50,000 or more a "Grail" and says every pack, from $1 up, has a shot at one. It also says a $1 pack normally lands somewhere between $0.30 and $20, and that higher-priced packs have better Grail odds.

Before you buy, the app shows each pack's max and min card value, the odds for each pull tier and your shot at a Grail. We didn't find a published odds figure for pulling the Flagg card specifically, so nobody outside PrizePicks can say exactly how long that shot is. PrizePicks' terms note its values may not match any particular third-party valuation or other published market value, and a card can be worth less than you paid for the pack.

The fine print on buybacks

• "100% of FMV" is PrizePicks' number. The buyback pays 100% of the card's Fair Market Value, which PrizePicks sets using Card Ladder, ALT or recent sales data. The value locks the moment you pull the card.

• Where the cash goes. Buyback money lands in your PrizePicks balance, usable across PrizePicks products. PrizePicks says you can also withdraw it.

• Some cards can't be sold back. PrizePicks' terms allow for shipment-only cards, and shipping fees apply when you ship.

• The clock is 24 hours. PrizePicks' help center says you have 24 hours from the moment you open a pack to sell back or ship, with no extensions. If you do nothing, the card sells back automatically at 100% of FMV.

What it means for collectors and flippers

For collectors, this is a cheap way to chase cards you'd never win at auction. The trade-off is that you're paying for a chance, not a specific card. PrizePicks offers deposit limits and self-exclusion and tells users to rip responsibly.

For flippers, the key question is the gap between PrizePicks' FMV and what a card actually sells for on the open market. If you ship a card and resell it, fees and shipping cut into your margin. If you sell it back, you get PrizePicks' number, not the market's. Our take: count each rip as entertainment spending, not an investment.

What to watch next

• Whether anyone actually pulls the Flagg, the Pikachu or one of the other Grails, and whether they ship it or sell it back.

• Whether PrizePicks publishes odds for individual Grail cards. PrizePicks says more Grails will be added regularly.

• How its buyback and FMV compare with other digital rip platforms as more of them compete for collectors. That's speculation for now.

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