starting a business

[ivo610]

Has anyone ever been tempted to start a business involving their passion for collecting? Im some of you on here actually have. Would love to hear peoples thoughts or dreams of opening a store. If you didn't, but wanted to, what stopped you?

[spartakid]

It seems nowadays, at least from what I observe, that actual stores (ones dealing with sports memorabilia) are slowly being closed because they are unable to compete with online. We had one in my town and it went out of business because it couldn't compete with the prices online with having to pay overhead and stuff. But you can look at all the people John Taube, Tim with Hofbats, etc. who have gone and started selling memorabilia.

[ivo610]

I live in wisconsin and Brett Favre's pilot set up a store that just went belly up. Shocking huh? It wasnt that bad of a store but it was way too heavy on one player.

[TriplexXxSports]

Shoot me an e-mail. I think I might be able to give some advise.

TriplexXxSports@yahoo.com

[legaleagle92481]

Keep it online it is very hard for a store to make it. You have rent utilities, employee salaries, etc. Plus your traffic is limited to the general area of the store. Online people from all over the world can shop 24/7 and you can manage it in your free time and not have to pay rent, etc. although you have website costs.

[David]

I would say the only condition where one start an offline business is if they already successful online business. If you're already doing well online, you've shown you know what you are doing, are savvy about the market, have a ready inventory and there's a buffer zone.

[mariner_gamers]

Why I didn't open a brick and mortar store.....

1. Initial cost/competing with online stores
2. Cash needed to be able to grab the next fad or star player's merch.
3. Being tied to a store 7/365.
4. Having next big thing go bust while I am hip deep in inventory.
5. Loss of the love of collecting once my hobby became my job.
6. Dealing with other dealers in the hobby.
7. Dealing with players.

I have not done anything online except a little eBay because I really don't enjoy the experience. I like the thrill of the hunt and talking sports with friends not the thrill of the flip.......

If you decide to go for it good luck!!

[kylehess10]

Has anyone ever been tempted to start a business involving their passion for collecting? Im some of you on here actually have. Would love to hear peoples thoughts or dreams of opening a store. If you didn't, but wanted to, what stopped you?

Not necessarily a business, but I used to buy stuff off eBay, photomatch it, then sell it for profit. I would get atleast double back with everything I had, then ended up buying more stuff for my collection

Only problem was, there were a few things I bought that had such nice photomatches then I ended up keeping them instead.

[bigtruck260]

About 5 years ago, I had a decent business buying and selling cards over eBay, and it was a good supplement to a full time job. Better than working at Home Depot. Was making about 3-400 per week after the bills. Then I started with autographs...and that number went down. Authentic autographs from places like Steiner, etc. have a high starting price that almost includes future value. Unless you are a bigger dealer and can afford the discounted bulk price, it's hard to make a good profit on UDA, Steiner items, etc.

THEN, came the non-paying bidders. In plentitude. At one point, I had as many claims open for NPBs as I did for legit completed auctions. I also was scammed out of a few hundred dollars on a few cards from a dealer who had 100% feedback after 50 transactions (all sales) and closed shop without shipping my cards. Paypal could do nothing for me...

There are only 1-2 money making Brick and Mortar type stores in my area, and they sell TONS of stuff on eBay...as well as setting up shop at every show within 100 miles. Even then, I suspect that they are only slightly above breaking even based on some of the things I've heard with them.

Maybe Jeff Scott can concur - but the card shows in STL have not been very active this year either. Unless it's older, vintage cards or autographs...many of the dealers here don't even have a good game used selection. Most of that stuff comes from private collections.

[TriplexXxSports]

Not necessarily a business, but I used to buy stuff off eBay, photomatch it, then sell it for profit. I would get atleast double back with everything I had, then ended up buying more stuff for my collection

Only problem was, there were a few things I bought that had such nice photomatches then I ended up keeping them instead.

+1 - Enjoyable