Cheap Ass Gamer - Blogs - blackdog60 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php A current listing of cheap video games, video game sales and video game deals: CAG en Thu, 23 May 2013 00:09:43 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg Cheap Ass Gamer - Blogs - blackdog60 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php Behind the Counter 4 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=21089 Sun, 24 Apr 2011 23:19:38 GMT Ok been a couple of weeks, so this episode will talk more about things I discovered while owning my... Ok been a couple of weeks, so this episode will talk more about things I discovered while owning my own business. Some will seem pretty obvious.


I don't like solicitors. ( I mean who does right):hot:
Solicitors
Please Read
Prior to soliciting to any person
within this store, please note you are
agreeing to the following:

I agree to prepay $10 per hour or
fraction of hour I solicit within
these premises.

No refunds will be given for time not used.

I have changed the sign today, now it costs $25 per hour. :bouncy:
I have even went so far a while back to have a copy of Webster's definition of soliciting handy since people don't seem to know that one conveniently.

Adjusting your language is not that easy.:-#
My language has changed over the years. I was in the Navy for 20 years so you can imagine the vocabulary. Once i opened my first Brick & Mortar store I focused on eliminating certain words, most of which can change the rating for a movie. I must say that it only took a year or so to make sure I don't accidentally drop f-bombs.

I get Annoyed :roll: & I learned to sell.:)
I am not type of person who can hide my facial emotions very well. When I get annoyed, I am sure people can tell. I am sure it has cost me a few sales. But I try to make sure I am honest to people (So when people are about to pick up some crappy anime to buy, I hate the question "Is this a good anime?"). Selling something to someone that they don't really want is a good way to lose future business, always let the customer decide what they want to buy (people working for commissions break this rule often). I don't sell used cars and have no desire to run for office, so I have no real desire to learn to kiss butt. NO ONE spends that kind of money here.

I am partially OCD.
I am sure that every store owner is partially OCD. You start doing things a certain way, display things a certain way, greet people a certain way, etc etc etc...... Think of every small shop you go to that the owner works in, they all have some idiosyncrasies.(we are all slightly off the bubble folks)
(at least I am not like the Comic Book guy in the Simpsons)

I collect.:bouncy:
People collect. For business owners this is something to be controlled, "Anime: Crack is cheaper" is definitely a true statement, but collecting much of anything is going to cost you more financially than crack, but with less jail time and better teeth. If you ever want to start a small business, keep your personal acquisitions to a minimum or you find yourself selling off your prized positions. Just as ordering extras for yourself is foolish so is pre-ordering to many of anything in the early start of your business. Trust me I know I have broken this rule many times thinking that item XXX will be a sure seller. It has come to bite me in the butt more than a few times. I have been lucky a few times, but if you do it during the early days of the business you run the risk of having $$$ wrapped up in tax deductions.

and certain questions that I find annoying.
Where do you buy this stuff from?
How many of *** do you have in stock?
Do you buy baseball, football, basketball cards?
Why can't I trade my 3 year old sports game in?
Why can't you price match Walmart, Kmart, Best Buy, Hastings etc?


and for those of you that don't read OXM.
I learned something from the latest issue, big box retailers are guaranteed their ~$6 profit for video games. When the price drops, they get permission to lower the price they still make their ~$6, no wonder big box stores carry video games that drop in price in sometimes weeks. I was not aware of this before and I am sure at some price point they just take a loss and blow out the games. Small shops don't get that treatment so when the game drops to $40-$50 that is a automatic loss for them. Now we do get the option of sending the games back within 90 days or whatever your terms with the distributor are. But if I send games back I pay for the shipping back and I take a 15% restock fee. Woo hoo:cold:
(The ~$6 profit is what I was seeing back in the day when I ordered new games for the business. Guess what! I don't do that anymore) (oh a note when the Green Halo 3 360 Xbox was released it was $400, my cost $395 + shipping)

a little different this time hopefully interesting. ]]> blackdog60 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=21089 Behind the table http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=20685 Sat, 02 Apr 2011 22:10:38 GMT I have done a lot of conventions over the years, starting in 1994 at the San Diego Comic... I have done a lot of conventions over the years, starting in 1994 at the San Diego Comic Convention, I got 2 feet of table space with the stipulation I would use the money I earned to buy stuff from him, he had a lot of anime items i wanted so that was not big deal to me. I was broke and had about $1K invested in Magic:the Gathering. So over the course of Thursday & Friday I made a little over $2K, and my friend let me off the hook, he made enough off of me to be happy. But between trading, buying and selling magic cards that weekend, I had $2k in anime merchandise, $2K in cash, and a still a great selections of rares to carry forward. I thought wow this is easy money. Trust me you don't get lucky like that very often. I started with magic singles and got out of it for a few years, but got back into it since my customers asked me to.


Small convention, I still dealt in magic singles, a teenager is looking thru my singles binder. "Do you price match?"..."No.", "That guy over there has this card for $4 and you have it for $8."..."Ok, why are we having this conversation?" (obviously if 2 places 20 feet apart have the same product buy from the guy who has it for less) "Buy it from him."..."Oh he is out of stock." blink blink. "So he does not actually have this card for $4."


At the SDCC. I had a couple of nice Disney posters I posted for sale, heavy card stock posters about 4-5 years old. I had them on display for $20 each.
A woman with her daughter walks up "How come those posters are so cheap?" "I picked them up a few years ago, I don't want to keep them anymore and am trying to just recoup my investment." I let her examine them and see that they were in excellent shape. "But why are they so cheap?"..."I don't want them anymore and I don't want to carry Disney merchandise." She takes her daughter by the hand and they left. A man behind her the whole time bought both posters immediately, thanked me and left with 2 posters in a nice heavy duty poster tube to protect them, back into the fray to find more gems to purchase. The conversation with my friends who watched this whole transaction was to give me grief and told me I should have said "Oh they were misspriced they should be $50 each, sorry for my mistake."

At an anime convention in Dallas one year. I had a pair of Masamune Shirow portfolios that sell for around $200 at the time. Very nice limited edition affairs. Friday, a pair of guys show up and one of them "Why is that portfolio set you have $200?" "Well after my cost, plus shipping I want a little profit so I priced them at $200.".... "Well vendor A has them at $120." "Well at that price I would pick them up." An hour or two goes by, and I made a bathroom break, on the way back I saw the other vendor who had them. "How much for the Shirow portfolios if I take both?" I flashed my dealers badge. "If you take both $200." "SOLD!" I paid cash and took them back to my table, but them in a box and I sold 1 Friday before closing and 1 Saturday morning when I opened. BONUS. Saturday early evening (about an hour before the room closes) the guys pop up. "Hey that guy is out of those portfolios now so yours should sell." "Did you pick one up?" "Nope", "I bought the 2 he had yesterday around 3 or so and sold them both already. I still have one if you are interested?" The guy who was interested replied "No I will wait for tomorrow you will put it on sale." blink blink. "Actually if anything I will move the price up to $250, I don't mind taking it back with me it is small, rare and it will only go up in value." "Nah, you will put it on sale tomorrow." "Ok no problem but it will be at $250 first thing Sunday morning." His friend pulled out $200 bought it on the spot. "I don't think he is bluffing." One of my friends who comes to shows with me a lot "He wasn't bluffing, it was going up in price." I never saw the benefit of blowing out merchandise the last day of a con. Eventually it will sell.

Some random day at one of the anime cons, a young woman walks up and looks over the manga selection I have. "Do you give bulk discounts?" "Sure, I have no problem giving you a free book or 2 if you buy in bulk." She walk up and town the table and hands me a stack of three books. "You do understand the concept of bulk? Bulk would be 10 or more." She bought the 3 books and left. Meanwhile my friend and the people around me just shook their heads. I am sure more than one of us thought (blondes!). ]]> blackdog60 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=20685 Behind the Counter 3 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=20401 Sat, 26 Mar 2011 22:26:14 GMT ok an early installment, but I needed to vent a little. One of those days and not just bad for me,... ok an early installment, but I needed to vent a little. One of those days and not just bad for me, you will understand soon enough.

and with thelonepig's suggestion: The Store

so lets gets started.

Customer enters. "Hello, are you looking for anything in particular or anything I can help you with?", the usual response is "No" so I follow up with "If you have any questions feel free to ask."

This time a pair of guys actually. They look around and there are taking their time. No problem, they ask a few questions I answer. Pretty standard start. So more customers pop in and I greet them. I hear a yelp, spin around to see a guy pulling his foot off my dog's paw. Apparently he was looking up and backed up onto my dog. (and why are the people who usually step on my dog wearing work boots, why never sports shoes.) So he looks at me, no apology "Do I get a discount?" Blink Blink, "What?" "Its your fault for having your dog in the store." Blink Blink, "No, no discounts for you. But the door is over there." (I was not behind the counter). Meanwhile as the pair of a**h*ts where leaving, one of the new customers commented loud enough to be sure to be heard. "What an a**h*l*!". Stunned I was, yes. I had never heard her ever swear before.

Another day another series of people and transactions. Opening salvo occurs. "What series do you recommend?". So we start talking about various movies and TV shows he likes, so I make 4-5 recommendations, which he writes down the names. "I will check the reviews on them." Ok. He leaves to return about 3 weeks later. I remembered him and "Did you decide on which series you wanted to pick up?" "Oh I downloaded them and you were right they were great. What else do you recommend?" Blink Blink. "That I don't like this pattern and my door is to the left."

Just a note of information approximately 1 in 8 people openly brag to me they download licensed anime off of the net. Since almost all of these people quote the "I am a poor college student." as their justification for it. I usually ask what major they have. I would say 95% of the people quite willing to download anime & music off the net openly are Music / Business / Computer Science majors. "What will you think when people download your intellectual properties when you actually create something?" Most responses are in these 3 comments 1) "I plan on teaching." 2) "There will be better protections by then." 3) "This is free advertising for them and they don't lose any money." I bet you can match up the major to the response that normally occurs.

A guy walks into a bar, oh wait my shop. I do my normal greeting and get the normal response. He proceeds to pick up a healthy stack of mangas, about 12-13 of them, sets them on my table in the store, opens his backpack pulls out a water bottle and sits down and opens the first manga up. "Excuse me can I help you?" "Oh, no I have a few hours to kill." "Would you like me to total that up for you?" "Not necessary, I am just going to read them here." "Did my sign out front get changed to LIBRARY. That is not fair to me, last time I checked the government is not subsidizing my store." Wow, what a dirty look I got. But he did the expected actions, he stood up, put his water bottle in his back pack and exited stage (door) left. I might point out never to be seen again.

and the last story for the day. A couple comes in after a 2 hour drive to come to my store, (they have been here once before and I remembered them). So they start deciding on items to buy, I grab a couple of boxes to put their selections in. So I pack the boxes, keep track of the items, no scanner POS system here. Some more guys come in. Ok, I greet them and ask the standard. Standard response. So they are looking around while I help the couple. They pick up statues & figures and all sorts of goodies, so I give them a lot of freebies, (They spent $1920 and I gave them about $200 worth of goodies there were interested in.) "How do we get free stuff?" "Well generally I give free items for good returning customers or customers who buy a lot of stuff." "If you give us free stuff we will come back when we have money and buy stuff." "You do realize that a customer is someone who actually spends money here. You have to buy first then you get freebies." The door did not even slow down their exit to my humble establishment.

and yes today I had someone step on my dog again. She is a black lab mutt at around 65lbs, around 24 inches tall at the shoulder, not a small dog at all. I try and keep an eye on her since she likes to sprawl on the floor after greeting people at the door (unless she knows them, then she is quite the attention hound). But how hard can it be to watch where you walk.
edit: added the below link & comment.
the dog
and a couple pics are in my profile album, I need to take some new pics of her. ]]> blackdog60 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=20401 Behind the Counter 2 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=20246 Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:35:46 GMT ok hopefully you read my first blog entry, it will help to understand some things. I am sure... ok hopefully you read my first blog entry, it will help to understand some things.

I am sure some of you are old enough to remember when pokemon the TCG came out from Wizards of the Coast. (I have always had a rule when I trade with people, if you are not old enough to have a drivers license I won't trade with you unless you have a parent with you.)

ok Guy comes in, (late 20s, early 30s) "Do you trade pokemon cards?", "Sure." I proceed to pull out my binder of pokemon rares and let the guy look thru it. "What would I have to trade you to get either the Venesaur or Blastoise?" he hands over a stack of 23 rares split between foils & non foils. Nothing of any real note, I have at least 5-6 of each of the cards he is offering and at the time those 2 were going for $40 each. "You have nothing I want, I have too many of those cards already." For the next 45 minutes the guy whines about how much he wants a Venesaur or Blastoise and I should trade with him. Finally I had enough and figured a way to shut him up or get him to leave. "Fine, I want all 23 cards for your pick of either Venesaur or Blastoise." I figured no one would take that deal since even at $2 per non foil rare & $4 per foil rare I would make my money and a nice profit over the log run. "I will take the Blastoise!"......"ok" We make the trade "Have a nice weekend" as he is leaving. "Ok see you next time. Oh, no wait I am never coming back here again!" and he storms out of my store. I really don't think I should be held accountable for people demanding to make bad trades. Five minutes after he left, I had a new sign behind the counter "#1 rule when trading: if you don't like the trade Say NO!" That sign is behind the counter and I point to it often.

alas another day of utter confusion.
a man walks into the store, "Hello are you looking for anything in particular?"... and surprise the routine is shattered. "Yes I am looking for a copy of an old anime Gal Force? I have been looking forever for it." Wow a request I can complete. "Let's see I have a new copy for $30 and a used copy for $10." "Can I see it?" I walk to where the used DVDs were and pull out the used case for him to check. "Man I can't believe you have this. I have been looking forever for this." "Would you like the new one or the used one, you can check out the disc if you want the used one."
Without a word he handed me the case back and left the store....NOTE: I have never seen him again.

ok, some interesting questions that have been uttered in my response to my very helpful, "if you have any questions feel free to ask." statement.

Do you have Elvis? (He has left the building)
Do you have film? (Did I mention I own an anime store)
Do you carry paper clips? (I don't carry stapes either)
I am looking for the stuff that cleans my pee for a piss test. Blink Blink.
Do you have rolling papers?
Does your dog bite? (Yes I find it very helpful for my dog to eat the customers.)

Ah the early days, when I started bring in merchandise to appeal to my current customer base. "What things should I order from Japan and carry?" a group of young guys chimed in "Get us some Dragon Ball Z artbooks." "Ok, you do realize that those will run around $40-$50 each right?". "Sure no problem!, We really want them!"... ok I track down some books order them I bought about 6 artbooks and after shipping and all I spent about $200. (at the same time I picked up 4 HB Sailor Moon artbooks at about $40-$50 each my cost) "Hey I got some DBZ artbooks in!" "Cool" They look through them and really are excited. "I want this one, how much?" "That one is $40 and this one is $50." "Hey man that is to expensive." "Which part of they would cost $40-$50 each did you not understand."
Note 1: it took me about 1 year to sell the 1st one and 3 years to get rid of the last one.
Note 2: I sold the Sailor Moon HB artbooks that week for $70-$80 each.
Lesson learned....I take deposits for special orders now, and the more I dislike a series the higher the deposit. If I know I can sell it or enjoy it myself I don't mind ordering something for the store.


a random thought:
One of my pet peeves when I go shopping in specialty shops for anime/comics/whatever is finding really cool items that I want only to be turned away with "That is not for sale" I am not sure how many times that phrase has been told to me over the years, but damn if you aren't going to sell it don't put it out.... I did not come into your store to see your collection, I am came here to add to mine..

ok that is enough for this entry into behind the counter, I may have to do a few entries titled "Behind the table" to designate events that occurred at conventions. Trust me those can be even stranger... ]]> blackdog60 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=20246 Behind the Counter http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=20043 Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:18:31 GMT ok, 1st blog entry here. Some information to get an idea of where this will head. If you have... ok, 1st blog entry here. Some information to get an idea of where this will head. If you have never read www.actsofgord.com , I would highly recommend it. (one note" when I am behind the counter my exit door is to the left of me. You will understand soon enough.)

Now I have been in the anime/comics/TCG/boardgame industry as a retailer for about 17 years now. The first half of that was conventions and internet only. The last half in a B&M store. Now for some personal information, I retired from the military to open up the store. I really don't like professional wrestling and by default I really don't like Dragonball Z. (Considering every season breaks down to: A,B,C & D fight W,X,Y & Z and D dies. While A,B & C defeat W,X,Y & Z and in the process destroy planet/solar system/galaxy, they gather the 7 dragon balls in order to wish D alive.) those are the broad strokes of important information.

The events described in this blog and future blogs are factual happenings (maybe slightly exaggeratted or understated) to the best of my ability to remember anything happening more than 10 minutes ago.

Customer enters. "Hello, are you looking for anything in particular or anything I can help you with?", the usual response is "No" so I follow up with "If you have any questions feel free to ask."

Day 2
in my new store customer walks in "Hello, are you looking for anything in particular or anything I can help you with?" "I don't pay full retail for anime." How the hell are you supposed to respond to that. Well true to his word it took 4 years before he bought anything in my store and he came in pretty much weekly maybe missing Christmas break, Spring break and a week or 2 in the summer so figure 48 visits a year for 4 years before he bought a single DVD from me. But every visit was pretty much the same, "Can I see DVD A, B & C." followed by the phrase "No nothing this time." So at year six, yes 2 more years of this & it finally broke me.
He shows up. "Can I see DVD W & X?". "No sorry those are retail priced and you don't want to break your rule of buying retail." I have been saved from his presence ever since.

Ok Day 6xx
Ok by now you know my opening routine, I will skip that. After about 45 minutes or so customer ask me "What do you recommend?" So I start by asking what anime he likes and "I don't know." Ok that is helpful. "Well Cowboy Bebop is a good anime.""I hate Cowboy Bebop!" Now I have met people who did not think Bebop was great or even good, but this was new for me to have a guy state he hates Cowboy Bebop. Takes me a few seconds to rethink what I was going to say next....ok "So what anime do you like, Dragon Ball Z?" "Yep that is greatest anime of all time!" ok you can see where this is going. "How old are you, 12?" (he was obviously in his mid 30s (or he did some wicked drugs)). Did I mention my door is to the left.... and another satisfied customer. I bet you are thinking, good thing he is the boss or he would have a long series of jobs to put on my resume.

Day 7xx
Opening questions and answers...My store is pretty much divided along the walls in 4-6 foot wide shelves/segments. I would say 12 of them in the store. So the guy spends about 10 minutes in front of each segment. (definitely cutting into my gaming time)(& no exaggeratting this time)
So 2 hours of this guy just looking at each shelf and each item."What do you sell here?" Blink Blink . "Anime, manga, toys, posters, games what were you looking for?" Remember what is to my left, it was used and I have never seen him again.

ok the last one for this post
Day 7xx+2 a memorable week.
Opening questions and answers. (see above if you forgot the procedure)
Guy looks at DVDs for an hour or so (at the time I only had about 600 or so different DVDs) and "What do you recommend?" "Well what do you like movies, books and not just anime based likes?" "I don't know, I want something new." "Well Cowboy Bebop, Martian Successor Nadesico, Vandread would be good titles to start with." "I don't want a series what movies do you have?" now I have most of my stand alone movies on a couple of shelves by themselves, but some are scattered on other shelves as well. "Well most of my movies are on these 2 shelves here."
"Just tell me what movies you have in stock." blink blink "Let me get this straight you want me to read you the titles off of the DVD movies?" Wow another fine use of the implement of egress to my left.

I think that is enough for now. I may do this again at some point. ]]> blackdog60 http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=20043