C
ChasDen
Guest
(part 2 of what is a card shop to do)
Who do you buy your cards from:
As a follow up to the previous post I offer the following question to all that read this post. As a hobbyist who do you buy your cards from and for what reason? Convenience, price, service, quality or maybe a mix of all 4? As a buyer you demand certain things from your supplier just as us dealers demand certain things from the wholesaler. When we buy any product we usually know what we want and we make our choices based on supply and demand, price and availability.
Wizard2000 – No offense, but if you think that you are going to make your “internet millions” selling magic cards through auctions and on the net, get out now while you still have the cloths on your back. The cost of doing business with ccg and trading cards is enormous even if you only do it part time. If you sell only mail order, you WILL lose money the first year (if you make it) and will spend 60 to 80 hours a week working for free. Last quarter of last year we listed over 2000 separate auctions. In order to make any money, our “magic” number ($) is $2.75 per rare card. Can you make $2.75 on each and every rare in the last box you opened? I have done the math, crunched the numbers and tried every “sales gimmick”. The only way you will make it in this business is to stick it out and hope to be the lucky one who comes to mind when the customer is in the position to buy. Our business (Magic Obsession not MTG) hit some serious bumps in Dec. and the beginning of Jan. We had a relative seriously injured in the hospital for a while, we have had trouble getting our web store configured, had a 2 week period where our isp (AT&T - I HATE THEM) was losing mail and at points not sending it at all. But through it all we still had customers looking for us. We work very hard to get that type of customer base and it does not happen over night. The down side is that we also probably lost 2 customers for every one during that time. My advise to you is prepare for the long run or consider a new line of income.
Everyone: I have seen many posts about local stores, lack of stores, and what happened to them all. If you are buying your cards from online auctions and then going to the local shop and bending their ear and expecting advice – shame on you, that advice and help cost them money – support them. If your local shop is full of idiots that treat you like your wasting their time then stop buy from them. Support the people who support you. Auctions are a great way for sellers to expose potential clients to their services. It is then up to the seller to keep you coming back. Internet sales can be a wonderful thing, but it may also be what puts ½ of our small to medium business out of business.
Food for thought
Enjoy Life is too short
Who do you buy your cards from:
As a follow up to the previous post I offer the following question to all that read this post. As a hobbyist who do you buy your cards from and for what reason? Convenience, price, service, quality or maybe a mix of all 4? As a buyer you demand certain things from your supplier just as us dealers demand certain things from the wholesaler. When we buy any product we usually know what we want and we make our choices based on supply and demand, price and availability.
Wizard2000 – No offense, but if you think that you are going to make your “internet millions” selling magic cards through auctions and on the net, get out now while you still have the cloths on your back. The cost of doing business with ccg and trading cards is enormous even if you only do it part time. If you sell only mail order, you WILL lose money the first year (if you make it) and will spend 60 to 80 hours a week working for free. Last quarter of last year we listed over 2000 separate auctions. In order to make any money, our “magic” number ($) is $2.75 per rare card. Can you make $2.75 on each and every rare in the last box you opened? I have done the math, crunched the numbers and tried every “sales gimmick”. The only way you will make it in this business is to stick it out and hope to be the lucky one who comes to mind when the customer is in the position to buy. Our business (Magic Obsession not MTG) hit some serious bumps in Dec. and the beginning of Jan. We had a relative seriously injured in the hospital for a while, we have had trouble getting our web store configured, had a 2 week period where our isp (AT&T - I HATE THEM) was losing mail and at points not sending it at all. But through it all we still had customers looking for us. We work very hard to get that type of customer base and it does not happen over night. The down side is that we also probably lost 2 customers for every one during that time. My advise to you is prepare for the long run or consider a new line of income.
Everyone: I have seen many posts about local stores, lack of stores, and what happened to them all. If you are buying your cards from online auctions and then going to the local shop and bending their ear and expecting advice – shame on you, that advice and help cost them money – support them. If your local shop is full of idiots that treat you like your wasting their time then stop buy from them. Support the people who support you. Auctions are a great way for sellers to expose potential clients to their services. It is then up to the seller to keep you coming back. Internet sales can be a wonderful thing, but it may also be what puts ½ of our small to medium business out of business.
Food for thought
Enjoy Life is too short