Opening a Card shop...

[StainLss]

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?

Great tips Mike, I worked in a card shop for a few years and the gaming stuff sold AMAZING! If you do decided to do this, once you get set up you could hold tournaments for the gaming crowd. do pack battles and stuff like that. Make sure you have some way to cover your medical!

hope this helps :)
-John

[sivjosh]

I definitely don't think there is no hope in having a card shop these days, but the business model has definitely changed.....the hobby definitely needs that great new idea to revitalize the idea of the card shop.

[theproudestmonkey]

I definitely don't think there is no hope in having a card shop these days, but the business model has definitely changed.....the hobby definitely needs that great new idea to revitalize the idea of the card shop.

im telling ya....unless you can find a way to pay the bills selling at ebay prices, it just doesn't work.....of course there's not "no hope"....anything is possible....but to tell someone that has been out of the hobby a while (as wichita said in his greeting), that opening a card shop today is the same as it was 15 years ago, or that it is a "good business decission" is just not true

and its getting worse, not better....people dont even need to go to hobby shops to by packs, as retail blasters are as popular as ever, not to mention the competitive prices of sealed stuff online from the big boys!!

id love to see some kind of poll on here, as to how much $$ people spend at a hobby shop, and how much they spend on trade sites / ebay....it would be laughable!!!

ive seen way too many good people have their shops go under....im definately not gonna advise someone to open up a shop.

[sivjosh]

I'm with you, John. Card shops as we know them don't work anymore. My main idea is that to do it successfully, you probably need to flip the idea of the "card shop" completely around and turn it into something new. Think outside the box and all the other cliches.

[theproudestmonkey]

I'm with you, John. Card shops as we know them don't work anymore. My main idea is that to do it successfully, you probably need to flip the idea of the "card shop" completely around and turn it into something new. Think outside the box and all the other cliches.

exactly!! im just not sure that there is a way to do it that you aren't relying purely on the sales of cards (singles or wax) to make your money.....sure, you can draw people to a shop with "gimmicks" but thats not gonna encourage people to buy overpriced items with respect to the actual market. here is the bottom line: shop owners cant sell a $10 card for $2, and collectors wont pay $10 for it when they know they can get it much cheaper.

its hard just to make enough money (profit) to pay for show tables!! im just not sure what the "idea" is to make a shop work these days....ill tell ya what will make people spend money at a card shop....STRIPPERS!!!

i know this all sounds negative, but its just how it is!! thats soceity today, and ya only have yourselves to blame!! i used to drive with my pops for hours on weekends to shows....used to hit up all the shops in PA.....but that wasn't good enough for everyone....they wanted it to be easier, they wanted more options, a bigger marketplace (thats when it bacame a business - to collectors and card makers)....it is what we made it, should have supported your card shops more in the late 90s instead of abandoning the hobby (ofcourse im talking in general, and not refering to any individuals)....but theres alot that left in the 90s and have since come back after seeing the "money" thats out there

[theonedru]

i say go for it and find a decent location to do it, life is too short for what if's. and if you think you might enjoy it then what the heck, i know at least a dozens shops that make excellent business. and the gaming thing is excellent advice, does any of the older peopel remember when pokemon in the late 90's/early 00's carried alot of shops. just do your reserch and you never know

[theproudestmonkey]

i say go for it and find a decent location to do it, life is too short for what if's. and if you think you might enjoy it then what the heck, i know at least a dozens shops that make excellent business. and the gaming thing is excellent advice, does any of the older peopel remember when pokemon in the late 90's/early 00's carried alot of shops. just do your reserch and you never know

lol, i remember the one local shop gutted 1/2 its display cases and replaced cards with beanie babies!! not sure if that was before or after the pokemon days.....my favorite shop went military in the late 90s....i guess he was a collector, and when the cards stopped selling he tried the military thing....had tons of nice WWII pieces, just not enough interest in that stuff to run a shop.

[Blazin Pyro]

Just a suggestion, I think I saw it between all the ideas, don't just make it a card shop. I have lived in this area, off and on, since 1972. There is only one shop to make it the whole time. It's a combination cards and comics. He does real well with the comics and does enough with the cards. People have tried to buy him out and he sticks to it. It is a great place for some supplies. Well it's really the only place within an hour or so. his cards are kind of expensive, in my opinion, but every so often he gets something interesting. He and his wife are the only ones that work there, he is retired law enforcement, but they do well.

One thing they do every month is they give autographed pictures or comics away. Everytime you buy something, you get a ticket and place in the box that you want to win. They draw them once a month for each box. Kind of good for the kids when they come in and get a comic.

Good luck if you try. But obviously it might turn into a full-time thing just to keep it running.

[K.Pop]

Most the shops in my area have been in for 20+ years, one of the guys has a shop and does nothing but online selling. He has some but not much on the store front. He is trying to get out and just do online selling. Another has been in the Bus 20+ and he is the only shop I know of thats doing good.

From what I here starting(Getting all your permints) the place is alot harder then running the place.

I just hate to see shops go out. One of the owners in my area is selling his shop for $90k I think.

[Wichita_Greg]

I think I will stick to buying and selling over Ebay... A card shop would most likely be too much of a hastle anyway when I can just make trips to the post office every once in a while instead of sitting in a store all the time and constantly stock up on everything.