Thread Recap (last 10 posts from newest to oldest)
Feb 14, 13 at 2:56amJeremy
You have to support Magic. Just gonna put that out there. My local shop gets about 30% of it's income on FNMs (and related sales) alone, and it's first and foremost a comic shop.
Anywho, you also want competent employees. People who play the games you're trying to host. You need people who can tell what's good and what's not, and you need to stock merchandise accordingly. It's a hard business, but you can do it.
Oh derp, old thread. How did it turn out?
Anywho, you also want competent employees. People who play the games you're trying to host. You need people who can tell what's good and what's not, and you need to stock merchandise accordingly. It's a hard business, but you can do it.
Oh derp, old thread. How did it turn out?
Feb 14, 13 at 2:49amperson_47
quote NagareI agree with this, all the card shops I know of are dilapidated shit holes now. They usually look like grungy variety stores. Unless you have a huge amount of capital to make your store look great and are planning on selling comics and are also a local monopoly on collectibles and have a massive variety of product then your overhead will always outweigh your profit if you're planning on having a physical storefront. Online wouldn't be a bad idea though.I wouldn't. Hobby shops don't see much success any more and all the local ones have closed. Even the ones that offered tourneys for a small fee every week.
Jul 10, 12 at 12:43pmRoy
Pretty much if you want to make money this way, you are going to have spend money first to get yourself started; and it helps to have someone to work with you in a partnership owned business.
Jul 09, 12 at 8:02pmdaveyd
This is probably stating the obvious, but... starting your own business requires a lot of money. Obviously you're going to have to pay the lease and utitlities for your store, but you'll also need to factor in the wholesale cost of the products and employees (if you plan to have any). And then figure out about how much you'll be paying in taxes at the end of the year. Do you have enough money to get this off the ground? If you really have enough money to invest in the project and are fairly confident that it could succeed then go for it. If you are unsure as to whether you have enough then you are far better off trying to start out as on online store; you can sell items on eBay and Amazon to attract new customers to buy directly from your website.
I don't want to kill your dreams or anything; I only say this so you realize that you could lose any money you invest in this business... I have a cousin who inherited a lot of money from his mother and started 2 small businesses simulataneously; one for his wife and one that he and his brother run. His wife's store has already gone under and last I heard his store is not doing so well.
I don't want to kill your dreams or anything; I only say this so you realize that you could lose any money you invest in this business... I have a cousin who inherited a lot of money from his mother and started 2 small businesses simulataneously; one for his wife and one that he and his brother run. His wife's store has already gone under and last I heard his store is not doing so well.
Jul 03, 12 at 11:56pmMisty
I'd be careful to know your location. In a lot of areas in the US Pokemon has a certain stigma attached to it, and if a PokeCenter even failed in NYC (it's in Manhattan, right? I think I've been to the Nintendo store in NYC anyway...) then I'd be cautious about focusing on that. If you do choose to focus on a youngish demographic (ages 9-15, say) I would think having minor events or maybe even a TCG league after school on particular days (kind of like a bowling league but for card games, where you go and pay $10 or so once a week to play) might be a good idea to draw people in.
The only surviving hobby shop in this area has a good selection of comic books, tabletop games (D&D, Settlers, and a lot of others), tabletop and board/card game leagues, a good selection of trading cards, accessories for tabletop RPGs (D3/6/8/12/20 dice, figurines, board layouts, etc), and some odds and ends like RPG and collector-oriented jewelry (stuff like the Green Lantern ring, some dragon stuff, things like that) and odds and ends like that. They're pretty successful, but a huge part of their success is the fact that they have lots of leagues and tournaments and groups who come to play D&D and the likes every week. Any hobby shop can sell stuff, but the key is to keep getting people to come back. Leagues and regular events are a good way to get repeat customers.
The only surviving hobby shop in this area has a good selection of comic books, tabletop games (D&D, Settlers, and a lot of others), tabletop and board/card game leagues, a good selection of trading cards, accessories for tabletop RPGs (D3/6/8/12/20 dice, figurines, board layouts, etc), and some odds and ends like RPG and collector-oriented jewelry (stuff like the Green Lantern ring, some dragon stuff, things like that) and odds and ends like that. They're pretty successful, but a huge part of their success is the fact that they have lots of leagues and tournaments and groups who come to play D&D and the likes every week. Any hobby shop can sell stuff, but the key is to keep getting people to come back. Leagues and regular events are a good way to get repeat customers.
Jul 03, 12 at 9:13pmRoy
You have to reach out to the particular audience of people who are interested into these things. It's not just going to be a regular Tom, Tick, Harry, Sue, Lisa, or Emily.
Jul 03, 12 at 8:27pmMister MacPhisto
Seriously, dude... you might want to try doing some sort of survey in the area you live in. But then again, if the CONTENT you'd be having in such a store is so foreign to you, one has to wonder why you thought you'd make a go of it anyway. This isn't the 90s where anyone can grab some collectibles, jack up the price, and still make a few bucks.
Jul 03, 12 at 6:49ammightyheracross
quote VeGiTAX2Ok thank you. I agree. If you wouldn't mind, since this field is kinda greek to me, I was wondering what you like about card shops, comic stores, and just oter toy stores. That would really help me when I'm organizing my store.We've said plenty, it's up to you to run the statistics on the demographic in the area and the sales figures for the region to have something that a bank will be willing to bite into if you don't have the capital. As far as distributors you have tons, Nintendo self distributes much of their stuff and if you need imports most people know AAA handles anime and manga distribution for pretty much every area of the US which would include your Pokemon inquiries. Keep in mind they only take bulk orders and as I noted before if you can't move that volume you're eating losses on that merchandise.
No one here is going to draft a proposal and run the numbers for you though, we're just giving you options and information so you can get yourself set in a direction and go from there. I'm pretty sure we've gone above that mark by this point.
Jul 02, 12 at 10:36amVeGiTAX2
We've said plenty, it's up to you to run the statistics on the demographic in the area and the sales figures for the region to have something that a bank will be willing to bite into if you don't have the capital. As far as distributors you have tons, Nintendo self distributes much of their stuff and if you need imports most people know AAA handles anime and manga distribution for pretty much every area of the US which would include your Pokemon inquiries. Keep in mind they only take bulk orders and as I noted before if you can't move that volume you're eating losses on that merchandise.
No one here is going to draft a proposal and run the numbers for you though, we're just giving you options and information so you can get yourself set in a direction and go from there. I'm pretty sure we've gone above that mark by this point.
No one here is going to draft a proposal and run the numbers for you though, we're just giving you options and information so you can get yourself set in a direction and go from there. I'm pretty sure we've gone above that mark by this point.
Jun 30, 12 at 7:56amMister MacPhisto
I think I already gave you plenty. 