Current Events > Thinking about opening up a TCG card store

(+) Yeah! (+)

obviously its a bad idea for 95% of people, or any business im not business smart but i have two things slightly gogin for me which doesn't matter too much

1) 1000sq ft commercial space in a small town FREE ( due to a cousin) only pay utilities and he said he could help a lil with that (wants a storefront there in this town since commercial doesn't move often

2) don't have to worry about housing since im a basement dweller

proof of concept, sell cards next 6-8 months see if volume goes up, if so i can maybe then take the plunge?

serious about this even tho its generally a very bad idea. i think the above 2 helps me AND teh fact that my business would NEED to be 90% online which is why proof comes in forst

...do you know how to run a business?

MarcoRubio posted...

...do you know how to run a business?

my cousin and his family have real estate and have owned nd reitred from owning pizza shops they know well and have learned from them but i also am doing and have done my research

so yes and kinda no?

Idk why you're getting roasted so hard. Obviously it's likely going to fail, but free overhead, why the fuck not?

Just sell Funko Pops instead, easy.

@MatzoTov
thats what my cousin said, try it for a year

thast why my proof of concept I think is big no?

are you at all familiar with TCGs?

stores in this genre of product often provide a certain amount of play space and often also host various TCG events, which you don't seem to be thinking about at all?

Theres one by me, dude lives above the shop, they host something every Thursday night and its always packed with nerds, seems to do alright, been there as long as Ive been here
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9937d41e.jpg

Damn, you're saving a lot on overhead cost. You're luckier than most sole proprietors that open up their business.

With that said, TCG card stores don't tend to make high margins, especially if you're looking to sell things at MSRP unless you have regulars that are big spendors. It's very hard for a TCG store to even make profit, a lot of the times you make more money just selling cards online than you'll ever make having a store up. Also since you're a brick and mortar store, you're going to have to rely/invest heavily on online marketing to create a market share for yourself. You can't half ass it and it's not guarantee to turn a profit. There's a lot of risk to it, but one thing I do hear consistently is that a lot of TCG store owners tend to be happy because they're doing the very thing they enjoy doing, being in a community of others who love TCG's like you.

Robot2600 posted...

do you really want to be selling cards for a living?

the packs are artificial rarity in print format. it's like the worst part of human civilization.

you'll be selling to literal cardboard crack addicts. i couldnt do it.

Better than selling to actual crack addicts. I mean I would assume.

MatzoTov posted...

Idk why you're getting roasted so hard. Obviously it's likely going to fail, but free overhead, why the fuck not?

Rent is nowhere near the only overheard in a business.

How about the actual product he's proposing to sell?

Robot2600 posted...

it's marginally better yet somehow functionally comparable

Back when I was a kid, there was some dude who sold fake cards from his truck. You think that's like selling flour to drug addicts or nah?

I've always wanted to have a place to host local tournaments and stuff. Add that in, have fun, and see where it takes you. Just don't mess up on pricing individual cards. That will break you fast.

why tcg shop?

Most sales are online where its a race to the bottom price wise. The succesful LGS around my area also sell snacks and drinks to the people playing at the store. Those probably have the best margins.

@kirbymuncher

i think my loicaton si dogshit, the town im gonna be in is only 6k and the other town is a colege otwn of 12k 10 misn away and another 3k towns within 5-10 mins away and teh biggest town is 30 mins away that already has one in a pop of 40k so not really a big walk in traffic i dont think I can rely on that

but YES i will tery to do FNMS, duel nights, maybe branch out to other stuff like vid games if I get the loft set up etc

Advertising is going to be your most important investment. Gotta let all the nerds know where you are, then you gotta hope there are enough people who care to show up.

If you don't host events, there's no point to a physical place even existing.

@Robot2600
this is family he has offered multiple times ot help me financially etc and I said no he just wants his last 2 commercials rented out the town he is in has ofhe real estate so he thinks its goood for the store frtons to have stuff in them

he said he would have to re build it but would take him a month before I go in, its just been sitting ther for 6 months so he said fuck it why not have something in it he just needs to re make some things in there

Robot2600 posted...

so your selling poison at inflated rates to children if snacks end up being your game. do you really want to live off marking-up cokes that you buy at sam's club?

Gonna sell chill pills to the parents of basement dwellers, I'll never run out of business.

i thought you were asking for opinions i didn't mean to shit all over your cardshop dream

family and money, like oil and water

theres a tcg store near me that host tournaments everyday of the week. they do mtg, yugioh, pokemon, and one piece as of recently.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]



many places started off tehre and for something like me, i think 1k is enough until I build it liek I said i thikn i woudl use it just to hoslt 12 man fnm capbility so i getr that distributors of mtg and pokemon etc, im doign it for the margins to direct boxes most of all

1k is enough by wotc supposedly

18k rent seems a lot tho

You have the space, but do you have deep pockets? With these kinds of businesses that's really all it takes. Deep pockets will get you started with a stock and an employee or two to sort, track, and ship.

Also run snacks and drinks there. You'd make a lot just on that if it becomes more like a hang out spot

Robot2600 posted...

family and money, like oil and water

i get it but mines ben different for a long long time dont want to go into details but weve helped each otehr out

think a strong italian family of sorts

yes i always lived in the USA and open in the USA

voldothegr8 posted...

You have the space, but do you have deep pockets? With these kinds of businesses that's really all it takes. Deep pockets will get you started with a stock and an employee or two to sort, track, and ship.

i dont want any employees thats the cost I can run it myself with a small operation then when we are profitable get 1 maybe 2 PT
as for liquidity and such yes i think the starting cost cn vary and im still researching. whe nI first started out learning they said 10k-20 was enoug but now it should be 50k proly but it dpeends what im tryign to do

I'm concerned about the impact of your grammar could have on your business. Clear communication is crucial, and consistent misspellings could potentially turn away customers or investors. I strongly advise you to prioritize improving your grammar before proceeding further with your business venture.

NPC posted...

I'm concerned about the impact of your grammar could have on your business. Clear communication is crucial, and consistent misspellings could potentially turn away customers or investors. I strongly advise you to prioritize improving your grammar before proceeding further with your business venture.

He can do that while doing the other stuff. Also, shut the fuck up.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]



first year im not gonna pay myself I wont need to since I live in my parents basement and i would put the money i doi make into utities, being liquid and ofc the business if that makes sense

get a liquor license

there's a niche

bnui_ransder posted...

Also run snacks and drinks there. You'd make a lot just on that if it becomes more like a hang out spot

absolutely the best margin is in that lol

Guide posted...

Advertising is going to be your most important investment. Gotta let all the nerds know where you are, then you gotta hope there are enough people who care to show up.

If you don't host events, there's no point to a physical place even existing.

true but I need online presene first thus proof o concept

anyone else with comments questions?

Don't trust customers, no matter how much of a regular they become

Our local card shop got shut down because, and I don't know specifics, but a trusted long time customer was put in a position of trust and ended up stealing a bunch of money and an unreleased Magic draft set or something like that

I used to work with a guy who almost exclusively made his living buying and reselling baseball cards. The job we worked together was just some extra income during the "ebay slow season". Granted he was a single man in his 40's but he did alright for himself.

As for an actual store, there's two in my hometown. One of them has been around since I've been alive, and the other is the only successful store in a rundown strip mall.

It's a doable business model, but you have to know what you're doing.

electricbugs2 posted...

I used to work with a guy who almost exclusively made his living buying and reselling baseball cards. The job we worked together was just some extra income during the "ebay slow season". Granted he was a single man in his 40's but he did alright for himself.

As for an actual store, there's two in my hometown. One of them has been around since I've been alive, and the other is the only successful store in a rundown strip mall.

It's a doable business model, but you have to know what you're doing.

thast crazy with baseball cards

FolkenRawr posted...

Rent is nowhere near the only overheard in a business.

How about the actual product he's proposing to sell?

..that's expenses, not overhead.

How much do you have on credit? Distributors are going to require a lot if you want to be stocked.

Don't do it bro. You are opening yourself up to a ton of problems besides financial issues if you fail. Don't do it. I mean you just said you live with your parents too. Forget it.

https://archive.citybuzz.co/article/656357/how-to-start-a-trading-card-store

Capital and Labor
You'll likely need to have at least $30,000 available for starting your store. It's best to get a small loan or business line of credit from the bank before buying too much inventory so you can test out what sells and what doesn't. You'll also need employees to help run the store, so be prepared to pay at least minimum wage.

mystic_belmont posted...

https://archive.citybuzz.co/article/656357/how-to-start-a-trading-card-store

i WOULDNT DO ANY LOANS i THIKN SATRTIGN WITH A LOAN FOR THIS TYPE OF BUSINESS IS BAD sorry caps