going to start a new and used game store.....thoughts???suggestions???

[pimp_daddy_smurf]

i already have the store(well a cleared out section of my dads store) and i have tons of stuff to get rid of.................i have a few questions though

1. should i open an online counterpart that has all the inventory i have instore
2. any things i should always try to keep in stock or hot sellers
3.what are some cheap but good ways of advertisement?
4. and cool name for it?(i havent though of one myself)
5. i am going to have a TV for chillin with people inside the store, do you think a computer would be good to have as well?
6. am i just walking into a mess? and should i not even think about it?

[Wshakspear]

this is where defender shows up, tells you the downfalls of a game store, tells you you should sell porn, then tells you his top pics.

:)

actually, depending on how your getting your product, being part of a larger store makes it so your running a lemonade stand...but with games.

[bignick]

good luck.

[pimp_daddy_smurf]

well i dont want to do eb shit, i want it so i can give out higher rates than EB (well just a bit more) but it will still leave me with money making opportunitys.........im looking to have a MOSTLY used with a few new NIG release games(IE san andreas, halo 2, etc...) because the walmart nearest to me......doesnt have new releases until a month after they are released or more

I AM STILL WAITING FOR WALMART TO GET MK:DD IN!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT

but i think i am sick of working for other people, and just work for myself...........i think i would be better off and make much more profit

i also have a love for games and i do know what im doing(well price wise on most games atleast)

[bignick]

Hold tournaments and stuff.

[imacheapasstoo]

this is where defender shows up, tells you the downfalls of a game store, tells you you should sell porn, then tells you his top pics.

:)



hahahahaha

That's exactly what I was thinking but you beat me to it. :D

As for suggestions, have you thought about the financial and legal stuff you'll have to take care of, especially being part of your dad's store? If you don't have accounting books tracking all of your sales and all of your expenses, and you don't file taxes for your business, or your dad doesn't do all of this for you as part of his business, you run the risk of legal troubles.

And what if someone buys a game from you but comes back and says it's damaged (and they may or may not be trying to return the same one they bought from you), or what if they say something you sold them damaged their console? And how will you prevent shoplifting?

I don't want to put a damper on your plans, but I'm hoping you're taking the possible problems into consideration as there are many.

[pimp_daddy_smurf]

yeah, i was going to do some halo lans and such, but hold that in the basement where all the room is at

tournaments are also very profitable!!!

oh and i LIVED! at a locally owned gamestore so i think i have then hang of working all day(i would help people find games in the store and i would get rewarded with some free games and such when i left the store)

but the space i have to work with is pretty small so im thinking about shelves from the top to bottom of the walls, a counter at one side, and a huge DVD rack type thing in the middle of the floor or by the window

[Sartori]

I've had the same opportunity for a while here - but the local market is too poor, I think.

[hiccupleftovers]

I'd say to make it a hybrid with a comic store. Then you could have video game tournaments, card game tournametns, etc.

[Mookyjooky]

Give out free games.

[Xevious]

I would talk to Defender first. Its not easy working on your own business.

[darkmere]

go with the tournament idea...its easy to run...just set up a lan party and have teams pay like 5 bucks to enter...you could do halo one week...madden (i hate ea, but the rest of the world eats their crap up) another...socom...you get the idea...you set up all the game rules and stuff before it starts so that people just have to start playing...at the end you give the winning team like 25 bucks in store credit and pocket the rest of the money either for yourself or to accumulate inventory...come to think of it...i'm in the wrong business...

[whiteboy]

for cheap advertisements i would look into putting ads in school newspapers. At my old Jr. High they sold ads for like $10 and every kid in the school would read the newspaper. I'm sure if you put an advertisement for a video game tourney with a prize like some store credit kids would come.

[XboxMaster]

I just thought of a name!!! It's a FUBU rip-off, but oh well. Name it FGBG, For Gamers, by Gamers.

[b3b0p]

I highly recommend you contact 'World Of Games' here on the forum. He has a shop and seems to be doing great! In fact he is opening up more stores. Great guy. Give him a pm. He said it was the best thing he ever did.

Chris

[guardian_owl]

Don't let your inventory remain static. When I was going to college there was a used game place a couple of blocks from the campus. I went there a couple of times but had no desire to return since they had the same stuff (mostly shit) every time.

[rabbitt]

If I were you, I would get a few things that other stores cannot supply (such as imported games). This would add a touch of originality. That tournament thing is a good idea.

[Reality's Fringe]

Be ready to lose money. I'm not questioning your business sense, but there are many more facotrs to running a business than people would like to focus on. People have already mentioned things such as inventory control and accounting, but there are the other thigns such as customer relations and personal liability. Since you're setup in a larger store, I agree with whoever used the analogy of a lemonade stand. You're only going to make little if anything like that, not to mention you run the risk of pissing off/detering the customers to whatever it is that your dad sells. Also remember that you don't have anywhere near the buying power of the big chains, which means you're probably going to get shafted by the game companies, and your profit margin on them will be even smaller. And remember that to even get a distribution agrement with them you need a tax ID and a business license. If you think you have somethign, then by all means, do what you must. Just don't be surprised if in 30 days you realize that you're in the red.

[epobirs]

Examine the rental scene in your region. This can add a lot to your bottom line if you can offer a wide range of rental items nobody else within reasonable travel distance can match.

This is also a good application for when you find rare games in trashed packaging. A game in high demand as a rental can very quickly be a serious cash cow compared to selling it once for a small margin.

[Reality's Fringe]

I agree about the rentals to a degree, but exercise caution. Rare games, while sought after for rentals, tend to be "Lost" often. Unless you have a deal with a debt collection agency, you're out of a rare game and just have to hope you made up the cost of a replacement in prior rentals.

[OutlawJT]

Opening a game store is a very challenging prospect. Just initially stocking the store, even if it's very small, could be very expensive. Retailers only make about $5 a copy on full price new release games and they lose money on consoles. If you do the math the start-up cost grows exponentially. For the type of small store you seem to be thinking of doing, stocking new releases is not a good idea in general. You should obviously carry the major releases but beyond that you should probably stick to used games and games that are hard to find. As an idea for drawing in business and encouraging customer loyalty, sell new releases below msrp. Holding tournaments is also a great idea but without several employees you couldn't hold one while your store was open. That'd just be inviting theft. Also, charging for the tournaments may or may not go over well. It depends on the area and the way the tourney is set up (ie comfortable space, enough tv's/pc's provided for each event, prizes, competition, game being played). There are a lot of factors as to whether or not enough people will be willing to play. Not everyone will want to play just for store credit. A lot of people won't want to participate at all if the collective entrance fees far exceed the value of the prizes that could be won. Meaning if 10 people enter at $5 a pop, those 10 people are going to want to see prizes totalling $50 or more.

I have a lot more ideas and comments but no time right now to post them. If the topic stays active I'll be back later with more.

[PittsburghAfterDark]

Read about the perils of being an independent game store. (http://www.actsofgord.com/)

:D

[Moxio]

Good luck. If I visit you, I'll tell you the secret CAG password to you can sneak me some discounts. ;)

[Mr. Anderson]

Read about the perils of being an independent game store. (http://www.actsofgord.com/)

:D

I saw this a loooong time ago in OPM, but never checked it out.

[crazytalkx]

Free porn mags with any purchases totalling
over 50$.

[pimp_daddy_smurf]

nah, there is no way in hell i am selling porn, im pretty sure i know about stocking and i really want to carry rare/ import/ popular games and only 2-3 new games a month(with few copies of each....somewhere around 5-10 copies

there wont be any taxes for me really, its just going to be added merchandise to my dads store and not like its going to be a whole seperate store

rentals would be a good idea, but i would get fucked over and burnt alot because everyone in this area is a damn theft.........i already have one of those moving fake cameras to put in the store

i right now have over 200 games to initially start the store out with..... so i will have a good first run atleast, keeping new stock in should be fairly easy around my area(garage sales, pawn shops, good walmart and kmart clearances)

[thatstoobad]

do you know how you are going to stock new games? meaning what distributor you are going to be working with and such. also, from what i understand you can not do returns on video games, unlike other media products (cds and dvds), so if there are price drops or things that don't sell you are stuck (i was told this from defender, as i had a few questions recently since i was looking into carrying games at the store i work at), so you have to be prepared to take a hit often from price drops and things not selling.

also, what type of store is your father's store? i mean, is it like a hardware store or something that makes more sense to be carrying video games?

[pimp_daddy_smurf]

well my dads shop is like a fishing tackle and all that fishing stuuf and a bunch of gifts, toys, water toys, 2-3 hundred dollar tubes, pretty much a sporting good shop with a big gift section in it

i know it makes no sense, but there are ALOT of people who would spend all of their money on videogames(as i am selling things out of my room right now.......i have so many games its hard to believe........ but i know that it would sell well because the only good place o get games is the pawn shop......and i buy all the games they get there since they are 1$ for 2 older games(ANY PRE PS2 GAMES!) and 10$ a piece for the new gen stuff.....but i get them for 5$ a piece because i shop their alot

[Kaijufan]

Read about the perils of being an independent game store. (http://www.actsofgord.com/)

:D
That’s one of the funniest websites I have ever seen. Sometimes when people are complaining about gamestore employees I have to think back to all of the stories on this website.

[epobirs]

I agree about the rentals to a degree, but exercise caution. Rare games, while sought after for rentals, tend to be "Lost" often. Unless you have a deal with a debt collection agency, you're out of a rare game and just have to hope you made up the cost of a replacement in prior rentals.

This is what return deposits are for. You lose it, you bought it. Rather takes a lot of the incentives out of rental theft. This is why so many places require a credit card on file even if the transactions don't use it.

Unless you can offer something Blockbuster doesn't there is little point to rentals. which means you need some assurance of your stock's safety.

[Reality's Fringe]

I totally agree, but I'm not sure how old Smurf is. I know I'd be less apt to give my credit card number to a kid selling games in his dad's hardware store. If he does require a Credit Card and ID for rentals, and has a nice copy of something such as Chrono Trigger, then there are profits to be made.

[slidecage]

i say DONT DO IT well not until next year or when the new systems hit why cause you will be stuck with tons of games noone wants i know a dude who ownes 3 game stores here and they r stuck with 1000's of dollars in nes, snes, n64 ps 1 games and systems they cant even sell


so if u do open a store try to limit your overhead or your going to be stuck with a lot of ps2 gamecube and xbox games noone will want in 2-3 years

[Medium_Pimpin]

You should talk to defender first. I also tried to start a company like you mentioned, and found it wasnt profitable....

Unless you're looking for a way to launder money, i wouldnt suggest it.

[shoobywizard88]

if you are going to open one up, start off of a franchise. I have a friend that owns a store that does real well. In fact he has only been open a year and a half and already has a second store.you just buy the name of the store and you can run it the way you want. you should check out his website www.worldofgamesonline.com

[dracula]

I think you would make more money per hour by flipping burgers(tho this would be more fun).

Seriously,i would look into another line of work.

[JSweeney]

I'd look more at making a "gaming" section, where you can bring in other lines of products with fat margins, and then carry a limited supply of videogames if the demand for it arises.

Stuff like Magic the Gathering, Yu Gi oh and such can be bought at fairly resonable prices, has a built in consumer base, and on top of that, Wizards of the Coast and Upper Deck offer programs to help stores get return customers through incentive programs and organized play (Friday Night Magic, Arena League, etc. for Magic, and official tounements for Yu Gi oh).

On top of that, you could build a little money by getting Poker supplies and selling them as well. Poker is hot right now, and lots and lots of people would love to have ceramic chips for thier Saturday Night games... but ceramic poker chips aren't exactly the easiest things to find, even in larger cities.

Build up a base of returning customers with fairly profitable product like this, and you could then introduce LAN gaming and at a limited level, videogames as well.

You may think it's funny for a hardware store/bait shop to carry this kind of stuff, in Michigan, Sibley's Lumber actually did a fairly brisk business with this product.

(Not to mention that if you deal with CCGs, you get to tap into the really, really large profits that can be made on single card sales.)

[sying]

I would talk to Defender first. Its not easy working on your own business.

Just sell porn, it'll be easier

[sying]

well my dads shop is like a fishing tackle and all that fishing stuuf and a bunch of gifts, toys, water toys, 2-3 hundred dollar tubes, pretty much a sporting good shop with a big gift section in it


Fishing and videogames. Damn all i need now is porn and id be set

[pimp_daddy_smurf]

whats up with everyone here and porn........cant get laid or sumthing?????i feel bad for you