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

1. Better Trade in value (then EB/GS)
2. Better return policy (then EB/GS)
3. Allow customers to test games before they buy
4. Have a decent/large selection of older titles (SNES/N64 etc)
5. Hold local monthly tournies on games with prizes (like goldeneye, SF4 etc) if you get lots of people then hold them every 2 weeks
6. Sell imports (first sell a few import things see how well it does, if it does well get more)


thats all i can think of right now, a local store called game haven does that and they do incredibly well buisness wise

just remember the key is having a great friendly staff, good trade ins and great selection of games

you can even set up a few stations like a N64, PS3, 360, wii, saturn etc
 
[quote name='styl3s']1. Better Trade in value (then EB/GS)
2. Better return policy (then EB/GS)
3. Allow customers to test games before they buy
4. Have a decent/large selection of older titles (SNES/N64 etc)
5. Hold local monthly tournies on games with prizes (like goldeneye, SF4 etc) if you get lots of people then hold them every 2 weeks
6. Sell imports (first sell a few import things see how well it does, if it does well get more)


thats all i can think of right now, a local store called game haven does that and they do incredibly well buisness wise

just remember the key is having a great friendly staff, good trade ins and great selection of games

you can even set up a few stations like a N64, PS3, 360, wii, saturn etc[/QUOTE]

We are getting alot of people looking for the older retro stuff but really we are just waiting for people to trade them in. Been looking for large lots on ebay with little success. Import stuff we can do but it is very niche and especially just starting out might be harder.
 
A local mom and pop store in my area gives out cards for free that have several copies of their logo on them. When you spend more than $20, they stamp a logo. When you fill up a card, you get buy one used game get one free or 10% off a new game.
 
[quote name='styl3s']1. Better Trade in value (then EB/GS)
2. Better return policy (then EB/GS)
3. Allow customers to test games before they buy
4. Have a decent/large selection of older titles (SNES/N64 etc)
5. Hold local monthly tournies on games with prizes (like goldeneye, SF4 etc) if you get lots of people then hold them every 2 weeks
6. Sell imports (first sell a few import things see how well it does, if it does well get more)


thats all i can think of right now, a local store called game haven does that and they do incredibly well buisness wise

just remember the key is having a great friendly staff, good trade ins and great selection of games

you can even set up a few stations like a N64, PS3, 360, wii, saturn etc[/quote]

1) Same trade in value, lower prices would be ideal in my opinion for your store. You can't compete on inventory with local Gamestops. Cut your profit margin. You also in all likelihood don't have the same type of overhead. If you do, then I think you are already screwed before you open.
2) What's wrong with the Gamestop return policy? 7 days if you don't like it? Not sure how you can ask for much more.
3)Sounds good in theory but that's not something in my opinion that will make any difference towards your profits. Hence the whole 7 day thing.
4) Agree with the old stuff, though it all depends on trade-ins. Gamestop, in my opinion, lost quite a bit of money by ending PS1 sales.
5)Tournaments don't sell games nor make the store any money. In my opinion all they do is drive actual paying customers away. Those tourney gamers are going to buy games anyways. The people who you want to attract to your store in all likelihood are going to be driven away by tourney gamers hanging around your store. Just my opinion.
5)Not likely to make any dent in your sales.

All just my opinions.

It's a very simple concept when dealing with used games. Get your inventory FREE AND CLEAR.

UP your trade values. All you are giving out is credit! Get your used game inventory stacked. You want inventory that people paid for with cash COMING BACK to you. That is how Gamestop makes their money. Games they sold, are traded back in for credit at a steep discount and then sold for more cash, then those people trade them back in for credit, then sold for more cash, etc....

Im sure you realize the concept but the profit is staggering when it is taken to a later level as the games you are selling and getting back in are all free to you.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']
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Hey just wanted to tell you that we are ready to take customers today. We are still cleaning up a bit but should be able to help anyone that stops by. Unfortunately we won't have our building sign till next week and our lighted "open" sign has no power, but we should still be ok. I will take some pictures later today and post them of what the final store looks like but I do have some more progress pictures.

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Stop in, tell us what you think and what you want. We will be having our first tournament March 21st for Street Fighter IV. I am in talks with another store to have a Store vs. Store tournament. I will do another post on that later once I figure out what the prize will be. Thanks again for all the comments. If you have questions just PM me, email me: [email protected]

Don't forget to print out the coupon and bring it in! We really need the games from trade ins![/quote]

Just speaking as a consumer here, but when I look at this and compare it to other video game stores (Gamestop specifically), how are you going to make up for your lack of inventory? Unless you have other inventory or something not pictured, Im counting 30 boxes on your 360 wall. Honestly that's not going to cut it. Hate to be blunt but why exactly would a person shop at this store if there are Gamestops around?
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Yes, we have to gut the games because that's really the best way to do it. There are two options, gut or live on the shelf with some sort of security device. I know Toys R Us has dummy boxes for some games but thats because they are a much larger store. The other security devices that you see on games at Best Buy cost a ton including the system to make it beep. Even smaller security stickers that beep cost a ton.

Hope to see you soon[/quote]
What about buying dvd cases in bulk and printing off the cover of the game off the internet?

Sorry if you answered this but this thread is too huge.
 
[quote name='gareman']What about buying dvd cases in bulk and printing off the cover of the game off the internet?

Sorry if you answered this but this thread is too huge.[/QUOTE]

Alot of the time, the artwork is not out when a game is released. There is also cost and time issues with those. I wish we had a great database where it could just print right away or if publishers just supplied the artwork, would be great but unfortunatly that isn't the case. One thing I have noticed though is that most people don't mind the gutting so far. Once you explain to them the reasons, they are ok with it. Might also be because we are a new store and the try before you buy policy.
 
[quote name='Hybrid5006']Sell drinks...

Soda, Gatorade, Red bull...[/QUOTE]

We have Monster Energy Drink coming in next week. Monster itself does alot of promotions with Play N Trade so I am hoping to get them to come out for some events.
 
I plan on posting some new pictures soon, just been so busy with the store and keep forgetting to take pictures. Will have more deals and sales coming up too. Thanks to all the CAGs that have come in!
 
Anxiously awaiting your future deals and sales.

I like how the store is set up. A great change of pace from Gamestop. I'd love to see your classic gaming area stocked up a little bit though (maybe run a promotion to encourage people to trade in games for older systems).
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Alot of the time, the artwork is not out when a game is released. There is also cost and time issues with those. I wish we had a great database where it could just print right away or if publishers just supplied the artwork, would be great but unfortunatly that isn't the case. One thing I have noticed though is that most people don't mind the gutting so far. Once you explain to them the reasons, they are ok with it. Might also be because we are a new store and the try before you buy policy.[/QUOTE]

Most people at GS usually dont care about the gutted copy. It is seems like a big deal because people bitch about it at online forums
 
after reading all these auction threads

i say u have one day where u auction a game.

have your customers make a recommendation for the auction game,
then have an auction every third or last week of the month.
for.. one game or more.

have like mystery bags... or like folks from woot say BOC. lol

maybe have a pts system for say..
each month u get 1 pt for every game u trade in... or 10 pts if u trade in 5 games at once.
customer with the most pts at the end of the month gets like a $20 GC
 
Stopped by Saturday night to do some trade-ins, picked up a game, and had a nice chat with your brother. :)

One thing though - one of my games did not have the original insert so I was docked on the trade-in value for it (which is reasonable), but looking through the used games, it didn't look like games without the original manual/insert actually cost any less than those with. If I'm right about that, then that's not cool. Your policies should be consistent - If you dock the TIV for missing items, you should be charging less for them when you turn around and sell them. If you sell it at the same price regardless, then you should offer the same TIV regardless.

Overall though, sore looks sweet so far, I think you guys are off to a great start. Once you get the main sign up, and build up the used game selection, I'm sure things will really pick up. :)
 
[quote name='worshipsf']Stopped by Saturday night to do some trade-ins, picked up a game, and had a nice chat with your brother. :)

One thing though - one of my games did not have the original insert so I was docked on the trade-in value for it (which is reasonable), but looking through the used games, it didn't look like games without the original manual/insert actually cost any less than those with. If I'm right about that, then that's not cool. Your policies should be consistent - If you dock the TIV for missing items, you should be charging less for them when you turn around and sell them. If you sell it at the same price regardless, then you should offer the same TIV regardless.

Overall though, sore looks sweet so far, I think you guys are off to a great start. Once you get the main sign up, and build up the used game selection, I'm sure things will really pick up. :)[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the comments, with the way pricing is, it is hard right now to key that in. Typically though if you bring it to our attention we will take a percentage off the pricing. The POS system doesn't understand to adjust a label pricing on the base of if it has the original book or artwork. If we change the price of one game it changes them all so we are kind of stuck at the moment.

We are building up our used inventory from word of mouth really but it has been working so far. I have seen stores open for months with less used games than we do. I plan on running some sort of promotion this weekend to help with used games and pre-orders. Possibly something that will last for 10 days just so it spreads.
 
[quote name='62t']Most people at GS usually dont care about the gutted copy. It is seems like a big deal because people bitch about it at online forums[/QUOTE]

We havn't had anyone really complain about gutting, possibly because we are new. We also put all used games in new clear cases, which really help PS2 games as those are the most damaged cases.
 
[quote name='Josef']Anxiously awaiting your future deals and sales.

I like how the store is set up. A great change of pace from Gamestop. I'd love to see your classic gaming area stocked up a little bit though (maybe run a promotion to encourage people to trade in games for older systems).[/QUOTE]

Right now we are running a promotion for the month, 20% off all Retro Games & 20% extra on retro trade ins, along with $5 off Retro Entertainment System (NES clone) and Retro Duo (NES/SNES combo). I will do a post later today or tomorrow about it. It is going on at all PNT stores.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Thanks for the comments, with the way pricing is, it is hard right now to key that in. Typically though if you bring it to our attention we will take a percentage off the pricing. The POS system doesn't understand to adjust a label pricing on the base of if it has the original book or artwork. If we change the price of one game it changes them all so we are kind of stuck at the moment.

We are building up our used inventory from word of mouth really but it has been working so far. I have seen stores open for months with less used games than we do. I plan on running some sort of promotion this weekend to help with used games and pre-orders. Possibly something that will last for 10 days just so it spreads.[/QUOTE]

OK, that makes sense. But in that case, I think you should publicize the manual discounts for missing manuals/artwork (temporarily suspend docking TIVs for them until the system can price in the difference). I know I was pretty annoyed seeing the same prices after being docked on my own TIV, and I would never have mentioned it except for having this thread here. So, I imagine others might feel the same, and just decide not to come back rather than bringing it up.
 
[quote name='worshipsf']OK, that makes sense. But in that case, I think you should publicize the manual discounts for missing manuals/artwork (temporarily suspend docking TIVs for them until the system can price in the difference). I know I was pretty annoyed seeing the same prices after being docked on my own TIV, and I would never have mentioned it except for having this thread here. So, I imagine others might feel the same, and just decide not to come back rather than bringing it up.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, we are trying to come up with a way for newer games to account for that. Older games it is kind of expected like SNES to not have the box and manual. I might include a coupon on those games that do not have the cover art or book, this would go right on the actual game so would show a special savings.
 
PNTPhotosynth.jpg


Hey, I took a bunch of pictures and uploaded them into Microsoft's 3D image viewer called Photosynth. Here are the results. Didn't come out too bad but surprised that I needed even more pictures, mainly for such a large space I guess. We just got our tv set up last night behind the registers to run videogame trailers and they look pretty good. There seems to be slight skipping for some reason (DVI to HDMI) so not sure if that is the reason. Also they are from Gametrailers and are in HD, but I think blowing up a trailer from a 20" monitor to a 42" tv makes everything stand out to be a little pixelated due to the video source. There is no sound because it is just a video cable and we are thinking about possibly adding sound but not sure how to do that. Either running speakers or something to the Tv's speakers or something wireless. Any suggestions?

Thanks again to all the CAGs that have come to the store, we really appreciate it.

Link: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid...96:-0.000611878&d=4.61675:0.0440908:0.0400824
 
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We are having a Street Fighter IV Tournament this Saturday at Play N Trade Chadds Ford, PA. $5 to enter and $100 store credit prize. We have all types of gamers signed up so don't be afraid, you never know if you can win if you don't try. Tournament will start at 5:00 pm and should last an hour or two. It will be a double elimination tournament and the plan is to have one person from our store fight online with the Middletown, DE store for the grand prize. (pending Xbox Live working).

Along with that we will be running our special Buy 2 Get 1 Free on all used games/accessories. Compare our used price and save! Gears of War 2 - Gamestop $54.99 - PNT $49.99! Many more savings!

Retro Games are also 20% off, plus 20% extra for all trade ins on Retro games. We carry the Retro Duo systems on sale for $5 off normal retail price, along with the standard NES Gaming System that plays classic Nintendo games.

We want your games, trade them into us and get POWERED UP! 20% Extra credit when you put your credit toward an upcoming game. This can be combined with your Insider Club card for up to 30% in extra credit toward upcoming games. Insider Club is $10 a year and gets you 10% off used games/accessories and 10% extra credit for your games/accessories trade ins.

WHERE: Play N Trade Videogames
220 Wilmington W. Chester Pike
Chadds Ford, PA 19317

WHEN: Saturday, March 21, 2008 @ 5:00PM

CONTACT: (610) 459-0210
[email protected]
http://www.playntradepa.com
 
Thanks, sorry been too busy to do updates on the thread. Will hopefully have time to do something more indepth with the post opening and what we maybe doing with the grand opening.
 
Hi, folks.

I've been reading this thread, not quite start to finish, but close enough :) My wife and I are contemplating opening an independent game store in a smallish town down in East Texas. There are no other game stores in the area and Wally World is really the only place to go buy games in probably a 50 mile radius (Lufkin and Beaumont are 75+ miles away). I know I'll need at least to do the following:

1) Find a storefront. There's a strip mall across the parking lot from the aforementioned Walmart that I'm considering. I don't what it'll cost yet, though. Location, location, location.

2) Inventory. I have no idea how to go about finding a decent wholesale distributor for games. I did some quick google searches and found a couple that posted their prices online ($59.99 MSRP COD4 for $47.99...wheee). I know that the ones that post prices online aren't really Tier 1 distributors, just middlemen. I also know that new games aren't the bread and butter of a store.

3) Accessories and add-ons and services. I had thought doing console repairs, since I have 20+ years of doing electronics and computer repair and service.

4) Sales & POS system. I'll probably write something myself. I R web wizard :)

Sooo...

What else am I missing, other than the sanity to not do this?

I like the ideas of tournaments and "membership" cards as well. I think I'd do that too.
 
[quote name='osgjps']Hi, folks.

I've been reading this thread, not quite start to finish, but close enough :) My wife and I are contemplating opening an independent game store in a smallish town down in East Texas. There are no other game stores in the area and Wally World is really the only place to go buy games in probably a 50 mile radius (Lufkin and Beaumont are 75+ miles away). I know I'll need at least to do the following:

1) Find a storefront. There's a strip mall across the parking lot from the aforementioned Walmart that I'm considering. I don't what it'll cost yet, though. Location, location, location.

2) Inventory. I have no idea how to go about finding a decent wholesale distributor for games. I did some quick google searches and found a couple that posted their prices online ($59.99 MSRP COD4 for $47.99...wheee). I know that the ones that post prices online aren't really Tier 1 distributors, just middlemen. I also know that new games aren't the bread and butter of a store.

3) Accessories and add-ons and services. I had thought doing console repairs, since I have 20+ years of doing electronics and computer repair and service.

4) Sales & POS system. I'll probably write something myself. I R web wizard :)

Sooo...

What else am I missing, other than the sanity to not do this?

I like the ideas of tournaments and "membership" cards as well. I think I'd do that too.[/QUOTE]

Location will be the hardest part even though it shouldn't. If you are independent there are less hurdles to go through than with a franchise. Find a broker and that will help and get you price and information. Across the street from Wal-Mart will mean you should have higher used game sales because people want a deal.

Distribution is like you said. You don't really make much from them at all. The thing I would do is wait till you are closer to opening and try to secure a line of credit just for inventory.

Stock up on accessories because you do make money on these.

POS system is something that is important with trade ins. I think there are some out there that have pricing for games which will help.

Design is very important so it is something to look at. Look at various places to get fixtures and how you want to lay everything out. I recommend slatwall but not just white. It really depends on the vibe you are going for though.

Also if you have any idea of what you are going to name the store, lock up the name and the domain for a website.

Do repairs, you make good money with them.
 
bingbangboom,

I haven't chimed in for quite a while now, but how have sales and overall business been?

I would imagine you are negative monthly right now, but is it close enough that you think it'll become profitable soon?
 
Just a couple of thoughts/questions from a former Game Crazy manager of several years.

Are preorders as important to you as they were to us? We would get allocations of product based on the preorder quantity. If we didn't get any preorders on a game there was a possibility of getting one or two copies on launch, if any at all. If so I would reccoment being upfront with your customers about it. I was highly successful in preorders just because I would explain how things worked, and made sure they got whatever bonus item the publisher was offering, instead of just giving the bonus stuff out to employees and friends like most other Game Crazy managers did. Most stores just lie through their teeth and say "The ONLY way your going to get this game is to preorder." Which is hooey. Really they mean "The ONLY way I am going to get this game to sell you so you dont have to deal with a big box nightmare like Walmart, or Best Buy, or pay shipping from a internet purchase is for you to preorder this game." Treating people like valued customers rather than walking money trees will build loyalty, and if the gamer is loyal, and most tend to be much more so, many will preorder often just to help you out.

I'd recommend being careful on how you incentivize sales with your staff. The main reason most Game Crazy/Gamestop/etc sales drones piss off the hardcore base so much is the money they make is tied to the almighty service contract and membership card sales. If I were to be starting my own store (Im well and truly out of the industry now) I wouldn't offer any commission whatsoever, and instead pay a higher hourly rate to ensure I could be a lot pickier about staff than the other guy.

Make a portion of your store appealing to moms. If I was building a store I would include a comfy well lit corner with a couple of chairs, some mom magazines, maybe a DS demo unit, and merchandise music, wii, DS and family titles within eyeshot. When I left my store they were at +35% year to year comps largely due to a huge push I made to make the store cleaner, well lit, and more inviting to "normal" people. Which was hard because the jackass who designed Game Crazy stores thought this whole cage fighting motif was "hip and cool" and did everything in chain link fence. It was like walking into a concentration camp for gamers every day.

Sometimes the stupidest marketing is the most effective. Just putting out a sidewalk sign saying "MOM we carry FAMILY FRIENDLY games" would double my walk in traffic. Good will events cannot be overestimated. I would bring out x360s to national guard training events just to let the guys play. Every military guy in town would shop at my store. I ran a game room for a community carnival our town hosts annually. Hand out a lot of swag my Microsoft and Sony reps (Nintendo was cheap and my rep was a jerk) would give me.

If I owned my own store I would take the time and expense to attend E4 or PAX. Just being able to give a customer inside info they might not hear elsewhere establishes you as a gaming expert, not just another schmuck trying to cash in on the geeks.
 
I walked into a PnT a few months ago after one opened up in a former Game Crazy location in one of the worst locations ever in my city. I honestly don't see them being around too long.

My impressions of the place, it was very cookie cutter. The guy in the shop was the owner but he wasn't someone I found to be very informed in gaming. That kind of surprises me because if you're going to own a business you should at least make customers feel like you know what you are doing. The guy didn't even know PS1 controllers would work on a PS2. He kept saying, "well, my boys tell me they don't" until he actually tried it out.

He had a lot of the lowest common denominator business in the time I was there. People wanting to exchange shitty games they bought for more shitty games for last gen or previous consoles.
 
only if you prioritize that the customers come first before anything else. but i know that it won't be the case.

i went into gamestop to return samba de amigo for another game. i returned it for another game because i knew that it would have been on sale due to info from cag. he smirked and gave a snod laught. as a customer and owner of a wii console, i don't appreciate the judgement that someone puts on a product i own, purchase or sell. again, i don't believe you as a store owner and/or employee are able to uphold that.

if someone wants help or you see someone desiring some help, don't just stand there and look or continue doing nothing, go and help. at times i see the people at gamestop just standing around and talk behind the register and putting labels on the games. as a customer, it wouldn't matter if you as the employee has to do them later, because the customer is the important part of the business. if you wanted to work making labels and posting them, you should have worked somewhere else. but this is a customer service job which requires that the attention is on the customer first.

i know the idea sound or appear to be high standards, but the customers end up leaving happy and often return and your business will flourish.
 
[quote name='pochaccoheaven']only if you prioritize that the customers come first before anything else. but i know that it won't be the case.

i went into gamestop to return samba de amigo for another game. i returned it for another game because i knew that it would have been on sale due to info from cag. he smirked and gave a snod laught. as a customer and owner of a wii console, i don't appreciate the judgement that someone puts on a product i own, purchase or sell. again, i don't believe you as a store owner and/or employee are able to uphold that.

if someone wants help or you see someone desiring some help, don't just stand there and look or continue doing nothing, go and help. at times i see the people at gamestop just standing around and talk behind the register and putting labels on the games. as a customer, it wouldn't matter if you as the employee has to do them later, because the customer is the important part of the business. if you wanted to work making labels and posting them, you should have worked somewhere else. but this is a customer service job which requires that the attention is on the customer first.

i know the idea sound or appear to be high standards, but the customers end up leaving happy and often return and your business will flourish.[/QUOTE]


This would be true if every time you ask someone if they need help 5 out of 10 people get offended and give a stupid comment. It sucks, people are stupid.
 
Hey guys, we are at three months in and planning our grand opening next month. As far as profitability, it is really hard to say right now until we pay down some debt. With most new businesses, while you can gage if you make a profit on an item, it is a whole other beast on if and when you will break even. We are hoping to do that this holiday season or get a better understanding what our traffic will be until then.

Pre-orders are important and we had our biggest non weekend day this past day with UFC Undisputed. 5 pre-orders but we actually purchased 11 copies of the game and sold out. It is something that is very important to me because if I have a pre-order I know I need to get that game for that customer. You also base your ordering around it and hope that Fight Night Round 4 has a similar trend.

Customer service is also important and we really try to help each and every customer in the first 10 seconds. We are still trying to get the word of mouth out there without doing any major advertising, no budget for that. We will see if our grand opening really helps with that because it can really decide our fate going into the upcoming holiday season and if we make it till then. Some days are better than others and it is just about doing the best we can do.

We started to do parties, game rentals and additional repairs. I am working with PNT corporate to help grow Play N Trade and make my store and others successful.
 
Wow it.s been a while. My first post in this discussion in on page 1 and now it's a very huge thread. Congratulations bigbang, really its a bigbamboom in your business :applause: Good luck for the grand opening.

I'm thinking Rock Band or Guitar Hero night sounds cool. :bouncy: Also, watching people do stuff on the WII is always fun, especially stuff using the WII Fit board. It's like an America's Funniest Home Videos clip waiting to happen. Just and idea.
 
Yeah, everything is moving so fast. Got custom t-shirts to give loyal customers to promote the grand opening and bring people down. Doing sales and special items that are pretty cheap just to blow through them. The grand opening will be a good test to see how we do in the future because typically sales don't pop till you do the grand opening. I've had a couple people come into my store that are from out of the area that were interested in opening a PNT. Ironically, they say I am the most honest about the entire experience and talk about it in detail. One guy didn't know we just opened in Feb. He said our store looked like it has been around for a while, which I hope is a good thing.

I was seeing if I could possibly take in trades online from CAG gamers. We need the next gen stuff, you know Wii, DS, 360, PSP & PS3 so don't know how I will do that. Some sort of mail order thing when you can email me your games and I will give you a price back.
 
I was seeing if I could possibly take in trades online from CAG gamers. We need the next gen stuff, you know Wii, DS, 360, PSP & PS3 so don't know how I will do that. Some sort of mail order thing when you can email me your games and I will give you a price back.[/QUOTE]


That would be awesome!
 
Yeah, I mean it is the same as just buying games anywhere else. Trade In Credit avoids any tax issues as well. Right now we have a promotion, Trade in 4 and get an additional $10. Also Used games are Buy 1 get 1 half price and we have the Insider Club card where you 10% off used games. Would prefer local customers because there is more of an interaction but we need used games anyway.
 
Right now we aint doing so well with back rent due which sucks. I am thinking of trying to sell as many new games we have just to liquidate it to get some additional cash because I can't pay bills with videogames. Also our used games have increased so that has helped also with inventory. Was thinking of posting a list of the new games, most are open due to gutting though. Would people be interested in ordering them off paypal?
 
Yes, I would love too. Actually I have many friends playing in uncles shop, you can post it here or just in pm section and I will probably recommend it to my friends. ;)
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Right now we aint doing so well with back rent due which sucks. I am thinking of trying to sell as many new games we have just to liquidate it to get some additional cash because I can't pay bills with videogames. Also our used games have increased so that has helped also with inventory. Was thinking of posting a list of the new games, most are open due to gutting though. Would people be interested in ordering them off paypal?[/QUOTE]

Wow dude........... economy sucks.......... hopefully you can survive after investing 2 years into planning this
 
[quote name='bostonfrontier']Wow dude........... economy sucks.......... hopefully you can survive after investing 2 years into planning this[/QUOTE]

Yeah me too. When they say it is hard out there, they mean it!

We are doing whatever we can to try to get to the holidays because that is where 70% of our business will come from, maybe even more with this years NPD considering there have only been a few major releases throughout the year. People are holding off on purchasing games till they really need to for either holidays or just big games they want.

But everything has a trickle down effect, people have less money so, they can't spend it. We try to offer specials and sales to help people. We are liquidating most of our initial inventory for 360/Ps3/PS2/PSP to make some more room for the holidays and get additional cash flow.

I am almost to the point where I am strongly considering waging a pricing war for Madden NFL 10 and sell it for $50 for all pre-orders. Maybe even the same thing for Call of Duty MW2 just to bring in some buzz, possibly if they pay for the entire game they get it for $50 when it releases.
 
Hey bingbangboom! Hang in there man things are going to be tuff in the begining. Trust me I know I own a business too, and I;m researching to open up my own store. I would like to know how to go about getting games etc. for the store. And how much should I start out with viedo games are my PASSION since I was a kid. Can you help me out? Also KEEP GOD FIRST AND YOU'LL GO A LONG WaY. THNX GOOD BLESS TO YOU AND YOUR STORE........
 
Games you get from various distributors which you can find or they will contact you. Main thing that I realized after the fact is getting terms is much harder than I thought. Basically it is revolving credit you use to buy the games. If you do get a loan, set aside a good chunk of money for this reason because it will be very hard for them to give it to you out of the gate unless you do your entire order through them.

Order wisely also and try to get price protection on the games you have if possible. This is so when a game drops in price, you still get the credit. The more you start out with the better but be wise with it. I would scope out your local stores to see what they are carrying. There is no way starting off you are going to carry every game that Gamestop has, but look at Target and Wal-Mart as a guide. It also depends how big or small your store is.
 
Well my store is going to be around 1500 sq. ft. and, I'm also researching dist. now as well. Hey man can I open a store on a $60,000 budget? Also the signage where I can get them from. like Ps3, XBOX 360 ETC. Like that in your store do the dist. have those as well?So how business man how's it going.You are a big inspiration to my fire to open this new chapter. THnx
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Games you get from various distributors which you can find or they will contact you. Main thing that I realized after the fact is getting terms is much harder than I thought. Basically it is revolving credit you use to buy the games. If you do get a loan, set aside a good chunk of money for this reason because it will be very hard for them to give it to you out of the gate unless you do your entire order through them.

Order wisely also and try to get price protection on the games you have if possible. This is so when a game drops in price, you still get the credit. The more you start out with the better but be wise with it. I would scope out your local stores to see what they are carrying. There is no way starting off you are going to carry every game that Gamestop has, but look at Target and Wal-Mart as a guide. It also depends how big or small your store is.[/QUOTE]

How are things going? Are you making it to X-Mas?
 
Well, I think retro games are a plus. I still play SNES, N64, and PSONE as well as XBOX and Gamecube.

edit: Wow, I am sooooooo behind.
 
We hope to make it till Christmas, right now we are working on a deal with the landlord. We hope to earn back a chunk of that money with the holidays and are throwing a 40% off used games sale. Right now we are sitting on over $40k in used products and while we do ok, that is dollars we really need to bring in new games and hardware. We have done a few things to hopefully get the word out but we really feel that the holidays will be our strongest chance to let people know about us.
 
So profit is possible? I always wonder about these kinds of business endeavors but usually I end up depressed when things are slow :/
 
Best of luck to you guys. My brother and I almost bought a store with the idea of turning it into a game and movie rental place. We were going to call it CP's Digi-Zone. It was in a shitty neighborhood though so we didn't go through with it but a part me still wishes that we had.
 
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