Purchasing a Videogame store: What would make you want to come to my place?

[quote name='Landsharkk']bingbangboom, any updates for us eager listeners?[/QUOTE]

We are still waiting on state approval that we thought we already had months ago. They said they should review it this week and will follow up. Once we have that we can go to the township for approval. It is unfortunate but more and more I feel like I will miss the holiday season completely. It is a pro and a con though which might balance itself out. The thing is that if we did open in the thick of the holiday season, I would need like an additional $30,000 or more for all the games that came out. I don't have that, so I will have to make do with what I can. Its basically just about survival now though this tough storm of the economy. I was talking to a store owner who is closing his store soon. He sounded like he really tried and one thing that he said was that he was under capitalized from the beginning based on the numbers from Play N Trade Corporate. It sucks but hopefully we are not in the same boat.
 
wow it's been a while since i checked out this thread. how long have you been working on this store??

are you feeling the hurt of the credit crunch?

must be a bitch to start a business like this regardless of the state of the economy.
 
I have basically read almost all of the pages on this thread. Took about 45 minutes, but I got it done almost at least. There was about 5 pages I didn't read because well, I'm tired lol. Anyways, glad to see how dedicate you are about the business so I'm positive you'll have a great return. Dedication and listening to this and other gaming communities shows you are very inquisitive and care about the business in general. I hope you can weather out the remaining storm of paperwork and bad economy and recieve the "fruits of your labor."
 
The one positive about starting a business in an economy like today's is that if you are able to be successful it means you will already know how to keep costs down and increase profits as much as possible.

I mean, you have a good chance of becoming exponentially successful when the economy starts improving.
 
Also, even in the current economy video games are still expanding, AFAIK. Haven't seen any numbers about used games in particular, but I'd think that average families might be more inclined to buy used nowadays, and perhaps do more trade-ins, which would work in your favor.
 
Yeah, I mean the thing is about surviving the storm right now. Everything revolves around credit which hopefully, not to get too political, but the new administration will mean a quicker resolve. Still most doubt that it will be solved just like that but hopefully we can see it turn around by next holiday season and I will still be around.
 
[quote name='Backlash']Also, even in the current economy video games are still expanding, AFAIK. Haven't seen any numbers about used games in particular, but I'd think that average families might be more inclined to buy used nowadays, and perhaps do more trade-ins, which would work in your favor.[/QUOTE]

Yes, that is a positive and more importantly why publishers are attacking Gamestop because they feel that they are loosing sales on new products because used is available. I would say most of the time, used game purchases are of games that are more than a few months old.
 
So far, I'm on page 33 of this massive thread, but I wanted to type a reply to maybe help you out bingbangboom cause this thread has sort of inspired me into maybe starting a PnT of my own. Also, I got the recent issue of Entrepreneur and they said that opening a franchise during a recession is actually a pretty good idea and when you also factor in that video games are essentially recession-proof, it seems like a good idea. Also, there was an ad in there from PnT and Entrepreneur rated them as one of the top franchises of 2008.

I'd also like to start this off with saying that I'm a Management/Marketing double major from NYU-Stern so I got a pretty good business background.

But anyways, your view on emphasizing customer service and making it an experience to go to your store versus competing on price is 100% right. There are two main ways to compete: cost leadership and differentiation. There is no way that PnT or you can compete with major companies like Walmart, Best Buy, or even Gamestop on the price of new games. Therefore, the only option left is differentiation, and people WILL pay more if they value the services that you offer versus the services (or lack thereof) that your competitors offer. That's also why you can't compete online, because when you compete online, the only basis for competition is price.

Also, you should definitely take some of the advice from CAG users with a grain of salt as they are predominantly focused on the price of the games, but I'm sure you're already aware of that.

So since I've been thinking about opening a store, I've also been thinking about the most important aspect to running a store: advertising and getting the word out.

Like you said, I think one major advantage PnT has right now is that it is pretty small and you can emphasize the fact that you are a local business. For your grand opening, you should definitely send press releases to the local newspapers. Also, get involved with the community. Host events for kids (not just tournaments), do something with any surrounding children hospitals, maybe donate old systems that aren't being sold to charities, etc. And when you do events like these, make sure to send out press releases to the local newspapers and news stations to try and get a story printed about your store. This serves two purposes: free advertising and promoting good will. When I open my store, my goal is to get the community in love with you. This might not matter to CAGers, but to families who are buying gifts for their children? That's gold.

I am somewhat worried about used games making up the majority of the revenues for the store as you're basically depending on your customers to provide your inventory and you've noted how stores have had problems with their stock when they first open. I think what I'll do to get people to trade in right when I open is offer a 40-50% bonus on trade ins for the first week. It's going to cut into my profits but at least I'll have a good stock and give the impression that my store isn't empty. Second, what I'm going to do to gain members to that 10-10-10 club you were talking about is for the first week, give away free memberships with any purchase over $20. It's only $10 and the customer information and brand loyalty that you'll get back in return is worth far, far more than that $10. The real benefit to you of those memberships isn't that members will likely come back to trade in and purchase but that you'll be able to track their purchases, see what games they're interested in, and provide targeted advertising messages. You will also be able to find out who are your "big spender" customers and give them special discounts and coupons.

That's all I can think of for now but I'll probably be back with more suggestions. Since you aren't going to be competition if I do open a store, I don't mind sharing my ideas for success with you, haha.
 
Oh yeah, another thing that concerned me was the amount of stores that have shut down, but it seems that the people who opened these franchises really had no idea what they were doing.

Although there is a parent company in the sense that Play N Trade is the one handing out the franchises and I'm sure they have certain rules that every store must follow, this store is basically your store to run. I think people expected to act more as employees and managers of Play N Trade stores rather than as entrepreneurs who are running their own store. Therefore, I think they expected to get a lot more help from PnT as they looked to them more as a boss than a partner. As long as you're going into this with the realization that for all intents and purposes, this store is your store and you are your own boss.

Starting a franchise doesn't mean that once you open your doors, money will start flowing in. Maybe if you're opening a McDonald's, but with PnT, you're going to have to put in your blood, sweat, and tears and it's likely you might not even become profitable in the first year. If I remember correctly, in my Entrepreneurship class, we learned that not becoming profitable in the first two years isn't uncommon, and whenever you come up with a budget of how much you think you should need, double it and you should be okay.

Also, it's likely that these owners who had to shut down were not actually gamers and did not really understand their market or product. Honestly, if I see a PnT owner complaining about their store not being profitable and they are middle aged, chances are they haven't played too many video games. I know this is being stereotypical and I'm sure there are exceptions, but I bet this is true in more cases than not. Video games being a major market nowadays isn't exactly secret news and these people probably thought opening a video game store would be a sure thing.

The main problem I'm having with this decision is that I'm in my first year of law school right now and if I start a store, I'm going to have to treat it like my baby and I can't do that and have a legal career so I'm not really sure what to do right now. Honestly, I'm not liking the law stuff so much so far but I don't know.
 
Oh yeah, I just finished page 35, and it reminded me of some ideas I had for employees/hiring.

To be honest, I think a cute chick who does know games and is great at customer service would be a great addition but I'm not going to limit my search for people who fit that criteria. I think the main thing to look for is people who are good with customer service because I think it is much easier to teach someone about video games than it is to teach them about customer service. I'm going to urge my employees to read the Fanboy blogs and kotaku and Joystiq so that they can keep up on the major news of the industry. Also, when people are applying, I'm going to ask them what systems they prefer. I would much rather have a PS3 owner and an X360 owner than two owners of one console; I think that will limit the chances of that fanboyism leaking to the customer.

And although, customer service is key, I'm gonna tell my employees not to take any shit either. If some customer is bitching for some trivial shit or cussing one of my employees out or just being unnecessarily rude, then that's not a customer I want and he/she can get the fuck outta my store. As someone who has worked as a waiter and at Haagen-Dazs (which is kinda like retail) that customer is always right slogan is bullshit.

For wages and benefits, I'm going to just be paying minimum wage as labor is probably going to be the second biggest cost behind inventory but it's also one of the most manageable. I probably wouldn't hire more than 3 people, but definitely at least 2. 2 people to work Mon-Thurs and 3 to work Fri-Sun (this includes me as well). Anyways, although minimum wage isn't a big grabber, I will let my employees take the used games home to play whenever they want (as long as it isn't the only copy available and this is different than what Gamestop does cause who cares if someone is using a used game?) Also, I'd let them buy new games at cost, although from what I've heard ,that isn't exactly a big discount. I could also give them a discount on used games if they really wanted to buy them instead of just taking it home for a limited time.

I'd also try to get either high school or college age kids as they can market your store when they're at school and spread information about it through word of mouth.

I think that's all I have about what I would do for employment.

One thing that I'm going to do, which I'm sure will freak the CAGers out is I'm not going to price match anything unless it's like a $5 or less difference. Since I'm not competing on price, I'm not going to slash my games my $20 just because Amazon or Wal Mart did so. If you want to get the game at that price, go get it from them.

I do got a question for you though, bingbangboom. Does your store have room for an office? I'd love to be able to go back to my office during slow times and play some PS3 if I didn't have any work to do, haha. I'd also experiment with letting my employees play a DS or PSP during slow times, as long as it didn't interfere with their work and they were able to handle that privilege with moderation.
 
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[quote name='gettinmoney662']Oh yeah, I just finished page 35, and it reminded me of some ideas I had for employees/hiring.

To be honest, I think a cute chick who does know games and is great at customer service would be a great addition but I'm not going to limit my search for people who fit that criteria. I think the main thing to look for is people who are good with customer service because I think it is much easier to teach someone about video games than it is to teach them about customer service. I'm going to urge my employees to read the Fanboy blogs and kotaku and Joystiq so that they can keep up on the major news of the industry. Also, when people are applying, I'm going to ask them what systems they prefer. I would much rather have a PS3 owner and an X360 owner than two owners of one console; I think that will limit the chances of that fanboyism leaking to the customer.

And although, customer service is key, I'm gonna tell my employees not to take any shit either. If some customer is bitching for some trivial shit or cussing one of my employees out or just being unnecessarily rude, then that's not a customer I want and he/she can get the fuck outta my store. As someone who has worked as a waiter and at Haagen-Dazs (which is kinda like retail) that customer is always right slogan is bullshit.

For wages and benefits, I'm going to just be paying minimum wage as labor is probably going to be the second biggest cost behind inventory but it's also one of the most manageable. I probably wouldn't hire more than 3 people, but definitely at least 2. 2 people to work Mon-Thurs and 3 to work Fri-Sun (this includes me as well). Anyways, although minimum wage isn't a big grabber, I will let my employees take the used games home to play whenever they want (as long as it isn't the only copy available and this is different than what Gamestop does cause who cares if someone is using a used game?) Also, I'd let them buy new games at cost, although from what I've heard ,that isn't exactly a big discount. I could also give them a discount on used games if they really wanted to buy them instead of just taking it home for a limited time.

I'd also try to get either high school or college age kids as they can market your store when they're at school and spread information about it through word of mouth.

I think that's all I have about what I would do for employment.

One thing that I'm going to do, which I'm sure will freak the CAGers out is I'm not going to price match anything unless it's like a $5 or less difference. Since I'm not competing on price, I'm not going to slash my games my $20 just because Amazon or Wal Mart did so. If you want to get the game at that price, go get it from them.

I do got a question for you though, bingbangboom. Does your store have room for an office? I'd love to be able to go back to my office during slow times and play some PS3 if I didn't have any work to do, haha. I'd also experiment with letting my employees play a DS or PSP during slow times, as long as it didn't interfere with their work and they were able to handle that privilege with moderation.[/QUOTE]

Thats alot of stuff to go through but I will try my best to answer it.

Your profit comes from used games, services and accessories. You don't really make much money at all on new games and you may loose money on hardware. So you need to get that repeat client in with their games and stock up on accessories.

There are a few things that I have heard really hurt you and one of them is ordering. It is hit or miss, either you under order or over order. Typically it is best to under order especially initially because you don't know how good the game is going to sell.

Again there are so many factors and its really unpredictable what will happen. I think thats what happened to alot of stores plus being under capitalized for their inventory. It sucks but it has happened. I have seen stores that are just run badly so thats a factor.

With the store right now, especially now, it is about keeping cost not only low but getting that return on investment back in.
 
[quote name='Aceboogz']Why dont you just purchase a franchise for a gamestop store?

Gamestops are nation wide recognized and deal certified.[/QUOTE]

Gamestop does not franchise.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Thats alot of stuff to go through but I will try my best to answer it.

Your profit comes from used games, services and accessories. You don't really make much money at all on new games and you may loose money on hardware. So you need to get that repeat client in with their games and stock up on accessories.

There are a few things that I have heard really hurt you and one of them is ordering. It is hit or miss, either you under order or over order. Typically it is best to under order especially initially because you don't know how good the game is going to sell.

Again there are so many factors and its really unpredictable what will happen. I think thats what happened to alot of stores plus being under capitalized for their inventory. It sucks but it has happened. I have seen stores that are just run badly so thats a factor.

With the store right now, especially now, it is about keeping cost not only low but getting that return on investment back in.[/quote]

Uhhh, what? I know all that, my only question was if you had room for an office.
 
What I have learned from the owner of the local videogame store.(AKA: What I have learned form his mistakes.)

He give great trade in values on current gen stuff, as in he will give almost his sell value for them and then he makes no profit.

His TIV on classic stuff closes out at $5-$10 depending on what system, This makes people not want to trade in thier rarer games.

He has no set TIV, he basicly pulls the value from his mind, I would recomed www.Videogamepricecharts.com they have a uptodate database of game values, I woudl recomend giving 50% of sell value on PS2-current games and 30%-40% on classic stuff, and possibly 75% on games that have been out less than a month(just to get them in)

I would recomend not ordering new games unless they are preordered, or if they are a high demand title, such as Fable, Halo, Resistance, Mario, ect... games that you know will sell. the local guy orders in games that sit on his self for ages and then he ends up taking $20-$40 hits on them because he orders titles such as 5 copies of Speed Racer for Wii.

Start off with no employees, only hire whe you need to, you dont want 2 employees working before you have a customer base.

Just some ofg my ideas.

The game trade store afew towns over started selling Trading Card games and it almost doubled their customer traffic, the only problem with TCG's is the low profit margin, but If you ahve tabels set up for players they will sit and play and buy good console games as they come in. Having customers that hang out at the store also cuts down on theft becasue they usualy gain a loyalty for your store and they will watch the other customers.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']I have a question of a proposal that has been floated to me by another PNT store owner and his store is very successful. Basically it is called "Renewed" and what it is is offering a premium version to the standard used games market. It seems interesting but let me basically detail what it is...

* All games that are traded in are cleaned, no matter how they look.
* Games are then gutted and artwork is placed into a brand new plastic case.
* If the artwork is messed up, a new one is printed and placed in the case.
* All used games are put into these clear cases vs. black, white or green.
* Sticker price is actually placed over the barcode on the back of the game inside the sleeve. This means no sticker gunk on the actual case and no sticker blocking the cover.

It seems interesting, the sticker thing is a little weird, but it may work out in the long run. I think it is hard to see what the game price is on the back, but we would need to retrain customers to look on the back of the box for the price.

It is possible that we could merchandise by price to keep all the $30 priced games together. The way they recommend right now with the Renewed Program is actually by rating so M/T/E... don't know if I would want to do all that as I think finding a game by name is easier than rating then name.

The whole idea is to bring a new standard to what preowned games mean by offering a completely new package. What are your thoughts?[/quote]

I would recomend not replacing the cases, for one it creates quite a cost to you, and from me being friends with the owners of several local stores clear replacement cases are always the last to sell(for that title.) I would however recomend putting any disk only games in a case and printing up case art, but make sure the case art looks halfway acceptable, sloppy case art makes your walls look sloppy.

I would also not recomend cleaning every disk, if by cleaning you mean resurfacing, everytime you resurface a disk it grinds away a bit of the disk after time the disk is unreadable.

When it comes to sorting your games I would of course go by systems, then sort by type of game, that way when your customer comes in looking for Final Fantasy VII, they see Suikoden, and Final Fantasy tactics right next to it.

When it comes to stickers, all the local stores use a certain kind that leaves behind no residue. I would also recomend leaving the prices on the front because you dont want first time customers to be confused.
 
[quote name='Sinnbox']What I have learned from the owner of the local videogame store.(AKA: What I have learned form his mistakes.)

He give great trade in values on current gen stuff, as in he will give almost his sell value for them and then he makes no profit.

His TIV on classic stuff closes out at $5-$10 depending on what system, This makes people not want to trade in thier rarer games.

He has no set TIV, he basicly pulls the value from his mind, I would recomed www.Videogamepricecharts.com they have a uptodate database of game values, I woudl recomend giving 50% of sell value on PS2-current games and 30%-40% on classic stuff, and possibly 75% on games that have been out less than a month(just to get them in)

I would recomend not ordering new games unless they are preordered, or if they are a high demand title, such as Fable, Halo, Resistance, Mario, ect... games that you know will sell. the local guy orders in games that sit on his self for ages and then he ends up taking $20-$40 hits on them because he orders titles such as 5 copies of Speed Racer for Wii.

Start off with no employees, only hire whe you need to, you dont want 2 employees working before you have a customer base.

Just some ofg my ideas.

The game trade store afew towns over started selling Trading Card games and it almost doubled their customer traffic, the only problem with TCG's is the low profit margin, but If you ahve tabels set up for players they will sit and play and buy good console games as they come in. Having customers that hang out at the store also cuts down on theft becasue they usualy gain a loyalty for your store and they will watch the other customers.[/quote]

-Yeah, giving too much on used stuff is a surefire way to doom your store unless you have a huge turnover rate on games.

-Classic games are hard to give a lot on, there's only a very small portion of gamers that will pay $25+ for an old cartridge game.

-Set trade in values are a must.

-As much as it sucks, you've gotta order a lot of new stuff, otherwise you become known as that place that never has anything but the mainstream titles. It is a huge money pit though.

-TCG's are nice and the profit margin is better than you'd think. The store i work for has been carrying them for about a year now and they are doing very well.
 
[quote name='gettinmoney662']Uhhh, what? I know all that, my only question was if you had room for an office.[/QUOTE]

Sorry I completely missed answering the question. Yes we do have an office but it is fairly small. It will be used for managing reports, inventory and repair services. You can play games on the floor aswell, especially having eyes on the floor helps.
 
[quote name='JDN169']-Yeah, giving too much on used stuff is a surefire way to doom your store unless you have a huge turnover rate on games.

-Classic games are hard to give a lot on, there's only a very small portion of gamers that will pay $25+ for an old cartridge game.

-Set trade in values are a must.

-As much as it sucks, you've gotta order a lot of new stuff, otherwise you become known as that place that never has anything but the mainstream titles. It is a huge money pit though.

-TCG's are nice and the profit margin is better than you'd think. The store i work for has been carrying them for about a year now and they are doing very well.[/QUOTE]

Retro stuff does very good and typically cost are pretty low. We can go out to yard sales where you can pick up a good bundle of stuff for a few bucks.

I havn't seen TCG's used yet but I know a local comic book store around here constantly get kids coming in for the cards so that is something we might look into. I think the cost and amount of space they take up is pretty low.

But yea, you want to be pretty stocked, at least to make the appearance you are full. Don't need to be as stocked as a Gamestop when you open, but the idea is that the new product will become used down the road and then traded in.
 
I have actually decided to drop out of law school because I realized that this is what I want to do with my life. I went to business school because I wanted to start my own business and I think taking that year off from doing anything when I was done made me lose my focus and I sorta decided to go to law school on the spur of the moment. This thread and the Entrepreneur magazine I bought made me re-realize what I always wanted to do with my life and I've actually felt an excitement and passion that I haven't felt in awhile.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Sorry I completely missed answering the question. Yes we do have an office but it is fairly small. It will be used for managing reports, inventory and repair services. You can play games on the floor aswell, especially having eyes on the floor helps.[/quote]

Nice, I was really only going to go back to play my own personal games when it was completely dead and I could have one of my employees come get me if s/he needed help answering some questions or it got busy again; it wouldn't be something I was doing constantly.

Another question, does Play N Trade train you in how to repair the consoles? If not, who is the one that repairs the consoles?
 
[quote name='gettinmoney662']Nice, I was really only going to go back to play my own personal games when it was completely dead and I could have one of my employees come get me if s/he needed help answering some questions or it got busy again; it wouldn't be something I was doing constantly.

Another question, does Play N Trade train you in how to repair the consoles? If not, who is the one that repairs the consoles?[/QUOTE]

They do but it is very limited. I remember they had a sort of class on it but again, it was very brief. The thing I have heard from most people is to hire someone that can do it as well as work on the floor. Some stores that are very busy just have them work on repairs and disc repairs. Honestly, I think I could learn it but there are so many other things I feel I should focus on that finding someone that can do this will just be better. The main things you are going to have issues with are PS2 and Xbox 360.

That will be one of the first positions we will hire for, someone that can do repairs. I think we can get some computer guy to do it, especially one that may have worked for Geek Squad or Firedog so they know the retail environment.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']They do but it is very limited. I remember they had a sort of class on it but again, it was very brief. The thing I have heard from most people is to hire someone that can do it as well as work on the floor. Some stores that are very busy just have them work on repairs and disc repairs. Honestly, I think I could learn it but there are so many other things I feel I should focus on that finding someone that can do this will just be better. The main things you are going to have issues with are PS2 and Xbox 360.

That will be one of the first positions we will hire for, someone that can do repairs. I think we can get some computer guy to do it, especially one that may have worked for Geek Squad or Firedog so they know the retail environment.[/quote]

Do you think that's going to be hard to find? And I'm assuming you can't pay him minimum wage, how much do you think you'll pay him?
 
[quote name='gettinmoney662']Do you think that's going to be hard to find? And I'm assuming you can't pay him minimum wage, how much do you think you'll pay him?[/QUOTE]

Honestly, I don't know. I think that he would get a premium but not by much. Possibly just a bonus on repairs that he does successfully. Again with the job market the way it is, you pretty much have everyone looking for work, even if it is under their expectations. I am sure it might be a position that might have alot of turn over or move to a more part-time position.
 
[quote name='JDN169']--Classic games are hard to give a lot on, there's only a very small portion of gamers that will pay $25+ for an old cartridge game.
[/quote]

I'm not sure where you are located, but around here most resell shops mark
- Most Marios(SNES-N64) $20-$30
- Most Donkey Kongs $15-$25
- Most Final Fantasys(well most old RPG's) $15-$80
- and afew others (conkers BFD, Harvest Moon, ect...) $25+
and have trouble keeping them on the shelf.

It all depends on the gamer alot of kids are jsut getting out of college and want to get back into the games they enjoyed in High school now that they have time and excess money.
 
bingbangboom, I'm rather curious now, if I was to show some interest in a Play'n'Trade franchise would you have a good contact I should check out first before going the general route? I wasn't sure if you get any kickbacks for that sort of thing.

I'm still neck deep in ideas, locations, etc for opening up a store in my area. I don't want to write-off the idea of a franchise completely.


And on a side-note, someone mentioned above about Gamestop franchises, they do not currently franchise. I contacted Gamestop corporate about 2 weeks ago asking about this as an option. They also did not comment on if they planned on offering franchises in the future, my guess would be no.


Gettinmoney662, where are you located?
 
[quote name='Landsharkk']bingbangboom, I'm rather curious now, if I was to show some interest in a Play'n'Trade franchise would you have a good contact I should check out first before going the general route? I wasn't sure if you get any kickbacks for that sort of thing.

I'm still neck deep in ideas, locations, etc for opening up a store in my area. I don't want to write-off the idea of a franchise completely.


And on a side-note, someone mentioned above about Gamestop franchises, they do not currently franchise. I contacted Gamestop corporate about 2 weeks ago asking about this as an option. They also did not comment on if they planned on offering franchises in the future, my guess would be no.


Gettinmoney662, where are you located?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I would get a sort of kick back if you were to purchase a franchise. If you want to PM me your information, I will get you in contact with the right people. Again, it is a big decision and I would recommend looking into the SBA if you have any questions about opening a business or buying a franchise.
 
[quote name='Landsharkk']bingbangboom, I'm rather curious now, if I was to show some interest in a Play'n'Trade franchise would you have a good contact I should check out first before going the general route? I wasn't sure if you get any kickbacks for that sort of thing.

I'm still neck deep in ideas, locations, etc for opening up a store in my area. I don't want to write-off the idea of a franchise completely.


And on a side-note, someone mentioned above about Gamestop franchises, they do not currently franchise. I contacted Gamestop corporate about 2 weeks ago asking about this as an option. They also did not comment on if they planned on offering franchises in the future, my guess would be no.


Gettinmoney662, where are you located?[/quote]

CA. I'm actually right next to PnT HQ which is pretty cool. I was thinking of opening a spot somewhere in Anaheim or Fullerton as I didn't see any PnTs around there.

Hey bingbangboom, you mind if I hit you up on AIM to throw around some ideas?

I told my parents tonight about my decision to drop out and that was pretty tough, haha.
 
[quote name='gettinmoney662']CA. I'm actually right next to PnT HQ which is pretty cool. I was thinking of opening a spot somewhere in Anaheim or Fullerton as I didn't see any PnTs around there.

Hey bingbangboom, you mind if I hit you up on AIM to throw around some ideas?

I told my parents tonight about my decision to drop out and that was pretty tough, haha.[/QUOTE]

Sure, its bingbangboomde for AIM
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Yeah, I would get a sort of kick back if you were to purchase a franchise. If you want to PM me your information, I will get you in contact with the right people. Again, it is a big decision and I would recommend looking into the SBA if you have any questions about opening a business or buying a franchise.[/quote]


Thanks again, PM sent.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Sure, its bingbangboomde for AIM[/quote]

Have you checked out one of their webinars? They got one tomorrow.

But man, I hit them up for info and they've sent me like four e-mails and have called me once already, haha.
 
Hoping to hear something positive from the state tomorrow. They are just awaiting blueprints at a proper scale and some thing filled in on a form. So silly, its frustrating that something like this cost us opening in time for Christmas. Just want to get open and have a room filled with games that are just dropping in price. I am thinking about doing a buy 3 get one free sale when we first open just to turn over some of the new product so I can restock on games that we may need.
 
As far as used games, check the quality, maybe a mint/almost mint section with a near gamestop sell-point. Then a lower one for games that still play, but are less than desirable ie: missing original case/manual or do some pricing system like that. I'm personally definitely willing to buy used, but It's always conditional on product quality such that I like the case and the manual, and the disk can have a couple scratches and i'd be perfectly fine with it.
 
[quote name='Obscur']As far as used games, check the quality, maybe a mint/almost mint section with a near gamestop sell-point. Then a lower one for games that still play, but are less than desirable ie: missing original case/manual or do some pricing system like that. I'm personally definitely willing to buy used, but It's always conditional on product quality such that I like the case and the manual, and the disk can have a couple scratches and i'd be perfectly fine with it.[/QUOTE]

Yes, price and trade in value will be determined by the quality of the product.
 
Seeing the OP was posted on 4/20... Weed?

Ok, but realistically some GameStation stores in the UK have a lounge area where people can meet up and play either on consoles with new games provided by the store or on their own portables ad-hoc.

The whole full game on a home system TV is quite appealing as it lets gamers see what it would feel like playing the game at home while advertising things like fighting game through multiplayer.

EDIT: Also, I know a shop which makes a bundle off overcharging for retro consoles and other such rarities :p
I think people would be interested in coming just to see what interesting and obscure things you have, such as modded consoles and Famicoms etc and if they aren't interested in owning then at least picking up a regular game while they're there.
 
[quote name='Spolodaface']Seeing the OP was posted on 4/20... Weed?

Ok, but realistically some GameStation stores in the UK have a lounge area where people can meet up and play either on consoles with new games provided by the store or on their own portables ad-hoc.

The whole full game on a home system TV is quite appealing as it lets gamers see what it would feel like playing the game at home while advertising things like fighting game through multiplayer.

EDIT: Also, I know a shop which makes a bundle off overcharging for retro consoles and other such rarities :p
I think people would be interested in coming just to see what interesting and obscure things you have, such as modded consoles and Famicoms etc and if they aren't interested in owning then at least picking up a regular game while they're there.[/QUOTE]

We will be offering retro game systems and games. Basically the only place I know of that still does that sort of thing because we would sell it. Modding is a different story. The only possible thing would be cosmetics, so cases and such. Nothing to do with the guts and allowing bootleg games. There are places where you can purchase shells and that should be simple enough.
 
We got approved! Finally, so we can move forward with the next step with the township. Give or take hopefully, about a month to opening, possibly sooner. I already know we may see some delays because of the holidays and vacations. But this is a step in the right direction :D
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']We got approved! Finally, so we can move forward with the next step with the township. Give or take hopefully, about a month to opening, possibly sooner. I already know we may see some delays because of the holidays and vacations. But this is a step in the right direction :D[/QUOTE]

Congrats! I hope to stop in your store when you get it up and running in a few months.
 
Right now is a good time to open a store like this. With the video game industry increasing even in the current economic slump...if you can survive starting at the bottom then it's only up from here.


I listened to the entire previous webinar now, there's another this Thursday that I will miss due to work. I've also finished reading through the PnT Franchise Disclosure Document as well. There's a lot of info to absorb.

Bingbangboom, let us know how things are going.
 
We are working with the township to get permits, there is a slight snag with that because the plumber we had lined up just decided he didn't want to do the paperwork required, so we are scrambling to find another one. Again... something else pops up out of my control which sucks. Still working on it though
 
Talked to the township and we should get our permits sometime next week. Been a long time coming but hopefully next week we can finally put a wall up or something. In other news, I am broke as this long time to get the store open has cost us more than we though and we are way over budget. So when we open, we really need to knock it out of the park to recoup some cash. People are waiting for us to get in there so hopefully the long wait will be worth it.

I might be updating the site slightly and get a bit more active with it now that we are closer to opening. If anyone is interested in blogging for free, send me a PM. I am looking for people that might be able to do a few post, possible previews that might help inform people about games to pre-order.
 
Hey I was looking to open up a franchise and play and trade seemed like a fun one. I was looking for avg yearly revenue and profits and found this thread. I was concerned over the inventory and the fact that you don't make any money on new games. What are the avg monthly or yearly profits attained? I'm assuming the holiday season is where most of the money is made?

Thank for any info
 
Thanks for the update (yes I check here every day!). I'm really hoping your store opening is greater and more successful than you imagine. :)
 
[quote name='chevydude26']Hey I was looking to open up a franchise and play and trade seemed like a fun one. I was looking for avg yearly revenue and profits and found this thread. I was concerned over the inventory and the fact that you don't make any money on new games. What are the avg monthly or yearly profits attained? I'm assuming the holiday season is where most of the money is made?

Thank for any info[/QUOTE]

Honestly, I don't really have a number for you. All the stores are different and right now, they are not giving the actual dollar amount stores are giving out. A store near me is doing good but even he said the difference between going from good to ok to bad is so small, really comes down to how you move product. For him, he said that he really needs to do $50,000 in total sales except the holidays. Holiday is when you make the most sales, around 70% of the entire year.

Inventory is a big factor, including ordering and turning the product. You loose money on hardware and make little to no money on new games. The goal is to sell used games quickly. The longer it sits out the more it hurts you. Also the lack of used inventory will also hurt you. Accessories are in the middle, you make money on them, sometimes good, but depends on what it is. Some accessories really cost alot so you have to be careful with ordering them. Some cost a few bucks and you make 10x the money on them. I was surprised at how many DS stylus he sold.

Again, it is a big risk, especially getting into the franchise because while they do help there are so many things that can be done better. The main reason is to get into the name and with people not knowing the name, thats when we get into problems.
 
[quote name='Landsharkk']Thanks for the update (yes I check here every day!). I'm really hoping your store opening is greater and more successful than you imagine. :)[/QUOTE]

Thanks, me too lol
 
We have the permits and work has started with the build out. We are hoping for a mid Feb soft opening. So far things are going smoothly but hectic if that makes any sense.
 
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