Opening a Card shop...

[Wichita_Greg]

Think it is a tough thing to do? There is only one in Wichita and I figured I could look into it...

I figure sell cards for all major sports, wrestling cards, UFC cards, jerseys, t-shirts, and other things of that nature. But have it be more of a collectors type store. There is nothing like that here.

[theproudestmonkey]

man, it is really tough to do these days.....ebay killed the card shops.....unless you have money to waste (doing it just for fun, and dont need to turn a profit), its hard to do

good luck

[Wichita_Greg]

man, it is really tough to do these days.....ebay killed the card shops.....unless you have money to waste (doing it just for fun, and dont need to turn a profit), its hard to do

good luck

Disreguard then... I will stick to selling on Ebay, lol... Thanks!

[sealedpwr]

You can alway's open up a store on Ebay.

cliff

[theproudestmonkey]

sure, there's tons of online options, and other options for selling in-person (shows, flea markets, etc).

[protegeV]

the card shop I go to is only there because of eBay. The guy spends all day on eBay and only pops up from the computer screen when the rare customer walks in the door. He only has the store front so he can get all the wholesale deals which he turns over on eBay.

[golfermatt91]

you have to either have a lot of money or get a big loan to start up.

[golfermatt91]

man, it is really tough to do these days.....ebay killed the card shops.....unless you have money to waste (doing it just for fun, and dont need to turn a profit), its hard to do

good luck

That is why I like to go to my card shop as often as possible.

[mikesilvia]

Honestly, I think someone can be very successful with a card shop if they do it right. Here are my tips if you are going to open one.

• Stick to a high traffic area like a mall ONLY if you can afford it
• Hold weekly trade nights
• Sell gaming cards as well. Yeah, they are not sports, but they are hot and they draw the kids in
• Sell prices much lower than Beckett. I'm sorry to say, but card shop owners that stay rigid to Beckett prices go out of business. If you are getting the cards at 10% of Beckett sell them much lower than 100%.
• Use Sports Card Forum and site like Ebay to move hard to get rid of cards
• Keep all your cards in an inventory that is searchable. There is nothing more I hate than having to spend an hour to find a card.
• Keep a newsletter and hand out product fliers months out. Keep your customers informed and they will keep comign back
• Keep fixed costs low!
• Write a business plan
• Have at least 2 years of rent, utilities and other costs in a separate account.
• Sell Beckett and Tuff Stuff at cost. The only reason I visit a card shop any more is to pick one up. Keep it cheap and at least it will draw people in.

Anyone else have any more tips?

[theproudestmonkey]

i think your last statement kinda sums it up though mike...."the ONLY reason i visit a card shop is for a price guide"....you're not alone in that....heck, you you own 3 online trading card sites, can you really say that a card shop is a "good business decission" these days? yeah, with ALOT of inventory, ALOT of extra money (you mentioned 2 years worth of costs - thats a very healthy chunk of change, and thats without inventory)....ive seen 10 hobby shops go under in the last 10 years....there is 1 open now, and i dont see that lasting more than another couple years

again, if you have the spare money that you can afford to lose, go for it....its lots of fun....but i speak from experience that its a headache trying to make money off of a hobby shop these days....too hard to compete with ebay, thats the bottom line