Sports card articles, reviews and box breaks
Hobby Boxes In Retail Stores?
Guest Article by gmoney168
Wal-Mart and Target are both great stores to pick up a few packs of sport cards or a blaster box quickly and conveniently, but they could be better. Just imagine walking into retail stores and finding some brand new hobby boxes, or at least, hobby packs. The main way most collectors currently pick up these items is through either their local hobby shop or online. However, there are some problems to this method. The harsh issues that individuals face include prices and inconvenience.
In hobby shops, the prices of most boxes are marked up way more than they should be. However, they do allow you to simply drive to the closest one and see what you want in person. On the flip side, there are less and less card shops that you can find, as the hobby has slowed down a bit. Another thing is that they might not just carry cards, but comics and action figures or other collectables as well. This tends to limit the card products and inventory that are carried. This does not help especially concerning the driving time is takes to get to the closest one. An example of the bad situation you find yourself in is this: It takes 15 minutes and 20 miles to get to your closest store that carries hobby boxes and packs. When you get there, the particular product that you are looking is $20 more than what you saw at an online store, and there happens to be none in stock. What is there to do next?
There are similar issues with online card stores even though they tend to be a cheaper option. However, you usually end up paying that difference in shipping and handling charges. There are only about 3 online stores that have exceptional reputations and prices, but even they can charge outrageous shipping prices sometimes. Even the cheapest of shipping costs can get up to around $5-10, which is a lot considering the price of the box already quite a bit of money. When you consider how many boxes you normally buy online and you add all the shipping totals together, could have bought you another box. Another issue with buying boxes online is that once you order it, it can usually take another day to “process the order”. Since most of us don’t have the money to pay for two or three day shipping, this adds to the waiting time.
Both examples are why Wal-Mart and Target should begin a selling hobby boxes in their stores. As long as the prices are somewhere in the middle of the online stores and hobby shops, it would be perfect. You can cut out shipping costs, and at the same time, pay less money for gas and high hobby store prices. Almost everywhere you drive, there always seems to be a Wal-Mart or Target that is right off the road or highway. It would just be a quick stop in, and you would be right on your way with that box of hopeful MOJO!
Even with the hobby packs, most of the employees wouldn’t be into sports cards that much, so you could eliminate the possibility of pack searching from the sellers. This is another slight misfortune that you could have when buying single packs online or from your local hobby store. Most of the salespeople have a decent knowledge of the hobby and might be smart enough just to do a little feel of the pack before they are sent to you. Although this may, and probably will, never become a reality; just imagine how pleasant it would be.
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about 4 years ago
Hobby Boxes in retail stores? The quickest and simplest way to totally destroy the hobby. And I emphasize HOBBY.
Fist thing – I am not a hobby dealer. I am a collector, who when he sells cards it is only so I have money to buy other cards for my personal collection.
Second thing – I have been ripped off by some hobby stores in my time.
That being said, having hobby boxes in retail stores is the worst possible idea for card collectors. Why?
The fact is that small hobby stores can’t buy in bulk or sell the large quantities that retail stores can. Therefore their mark-up needs to be higher. A Wal-Mart or Target can afford to sell boxes, packs with a mark-up of only 5% because they sell thousands of packs/boxes a day. Your local hobby shop would be lucky to sell the same amount in a month. Because of this, they need a higher mark-up to survive. If Hobby boxes were sold in retail stores where they were cheaper than hobby stores, then this would quickly drive small hobby-stores out of business as theyb would not be able to compete. Why is this a problem you say?
Let’ say you collect cards of a certain player, or collect sets and are looking for a few commons to complete your set. If there are no hobby shops to buy these from, you might think you could go down to your local Wal-Mart or Target to buy these. So you go there, go to where they sell there cards, and look for the cards you need for your set or the cards of your favourite player – and they aren’t there. Why? Because they don’t sell them. The time and effort involved in this, and the problems with buying in bulk and selling in bulk means that there it isn’t profitable enough given the turnover and such a small mark-up. So they don’t engage in these sort of card sales. Which means if you are a player or set collector you are out of luck if there are no hobby shops, which would happen if hobby boxes were sold in retail stores.
As a result, the hobby would be destroyed. The hobby, that is those people who collect cards for fun, not just buy packs and boxes to rip them open and sell them to make a profit. The card companies realise this and this is why they have hobby only product. The only people who would really could seriously want hobby product in retail stores are those pepople who buy boxes and packs to rip them open in the hope that they can sell the cards in them for a profit, and not people who truly collect cards for the fun of it.
I must also point out the extremely flawed logic used as well. The article says:
“Even with the hobby packs, most of the employees wouldn’t be into sports cards that much, so you could eliminate the possibility of pack searching from the sellers. This is another slight misfortune that you could have when buying single packs online or from your local hobby store.”
Such reasoning is ludicrous in it’s logic. Wouldn’t customers come in and search packs in retail stores? Pack searching is even MORE of a problem in retail stores as there is no one who will stop it, and there is no reason why retail stores would want to stop it. Policing this is just too much time and effort.
On the other hand honest hobby dealers (and yes, not all hobby dealers are honest) not only do not engage in pack searching themselves, but also stop others frm doing this. The fact is that hobby dealers can provide greater protection around pack searching than retail stores.
Thus, the idea that hobby boxes should be sold in retail stores is not something that anyone who has seriously thought about the issue or truly cares about the hobby would advocate.
about 3 years ago
I’m sure the hobby shops who are doing everything they can to survive would just love this idea. That’s really a bad idea.
about 1 year ago
I would have to agree, it would be stupid to put hobby boxes in retail stores. The retail stores can afford to buy in hundreds at a time where the hobby store pretty much are limited in buying several cases where if they sell out, they are out. There is also a thing called “Hot Packs” where if a customer goes searching, feeling if the can is guaranteed a game used card or some can even tell if it’s a autographed or limited #’d card. Also the problem is that if the stores were to sell them, wouldn’t a dealer just come up and buy all they can as well, let it be: retail boxes should just stay away from hobby stores as well as hobby boxes should stay away from retail stores. So just stick with the basics. The best way to buy boxes are probably online if they offer free shipping and no sales tax.