How much would it take to open a shop?

[cgilmo]

2, much

its tough to compete with the big box stores

What percentage of a shops income do you think comes from wax?


At my store it's less than 15%

It's much like gasoline at a gas station, all it does is bring people in. Make your money on other things. The hard part is figuring out what those things are.

Curious to see whats the biggest money maker at your shop? I thought it would be the wax to be honest with you, my second guess would have to be supplies?

Singles, Supplies, Oddities

Anything sports related. Make it about sports collectibles.

Oh, and find you a guy who has a passion for collectible card games and hire him to run events in your store.

Sell the products, give them a place to play and they will pay your rent every month.

 

[cgilmo]

What about advertising.

What do you card shops do to advertise?

google places, and not just set it and forget it

have an active involvement there and more people see it than you think.

 

[cgilmo]

To stay afloat for at least one year (figure rent is $6k/month), plus inventory, wax, supplies, etc, you'd need a bank loan for $150k-$250k

if your overhead is 6k a month then you are in the wrong shopping center


find a cheaper place, high rent districts are wasted on sports cards because people will drive an extra mile or two.

 

[Adamlind2011]

to help offset the costs of your rent you could rent cases out to customers to sell their cards. Most of the shops here in phoenix operate on this basis.

For example
one shop is $40 to rent a show case and like $80 for a display case for the month. They rent out 12 show cases and 4 display cases. Thats $800 a month they save in rent.

Another larger shop rents out 20 display cases for $60/month


Seems like a great inexpensive way for a smaller shop to offset some of the high costs of start up.

Wow!! That is a great idea.

 

[blanning71]

Chris at Hobby Box pretty much only sells wax and breaks on you tube. He found a nice niche for his shop.

This is true. However he did start when the "box break" craze was in its infancy on youtube. He and Doctor Wax Battle were a handful of the first ones that did it mainstream. Then Chris opened up the part of his "online" store that sold to customers on the internet and opened the stuff on cam. I have talked to him a couple times and he does do a few instore sales of singles but the wax on cam is his big chip. Very very rare but it has worked for him. He was in the right place at the right time.

 

[tonsofcommons]

I would be paying $1/ sq ft, which will include internet, electricity, and outside signage.

 

[Sportsnutcards]

10K for wax, 10K for singles, 1500 for supplies, 3-4K for autographs and novelties, another 1k or so for fixtures...But good luck in this current market unless you have a very good business plan that accounts for dips and flows in the current market and you need to have good cash flow to buy any deals that might walk in the door. Also, remember, trying to compete on price will get you no where with a shop, it is 100% all about the services you can provide to your customer base that gives them a reason to buy from you in the store. ( This is not to say that you should be pricing a box for $100 that sells online for $50) There are many ways a good store can do well, but it is not easy!

 

[JoshHamilton]

To stay afloat for at least one year (figure rent is $6k/month), plus inventory, wax, supplies, etc, you'd need a bank loan for $150k-$250k

if your overhead is 6k a month then you are in the wrong shopping center


find a cheaper place, high rent districts are wasted on sports cards because people will drive an extra mile or two.

I live in Austin. Property values are ridiculously high. The one I used to work at was in a lower end shopping center (Chinese restaurant, Dollar Store, fast food joint, etc). It was $6025/month in '97.

I'm sure $2900-$3500 would be more realistic

 

[cgilmo]

To stay afloat for at least one year (figure rent is $6k/month), plus inventory, wax, supplies, etc, you'd need a bank loan for $150k-$250k

if your overhead is 6k a month then you are in the wrong shopping center


find a cheaper place, high rent districts are wasted on sports cards because people will drive an extra mile or two.

I live in Austin. Property values are ridiculously high. The one I used to work at was in a lower end shopping center (Chinese restaurant, Dollar Store, fast food joint, etc). It was $6025/month in '97.

I'm sure $2900-$3500 would be more realistic

I pay $1600 in Johns Creek / Alpharetta GA

 

[JoshHamilton]

To stay afloat for at least one year (figure rent is $6k/month), plus inventory, wax, supplies, etc, you'd need a bank loan for $150k-$250k

if your overhead is 6k a month then you are in the wrong shopping center


find a cheaper place, high rent districts are wasted on sports cards because people will drive an extra mile or two.

I live in Austin. Property values are ridiculously high. The one I used to work at was in a lower end shopping center (Chinese restaurant, Dollar Store, fast food joint, etc). It was $6025/month in '97.

I'm sure $2900-$3500 would be more realistic

I pay $1600 in Johns Creek / Alpharetta GA

Damn. Austin really sucks.

 

[tonsofcommons]

Gilmore, how big is your shop (square footage)?

 

[cgilmo]

Gilmore, how big is your shop (square footage)?

1200 sq

 

[tonsofcommons]

What do you think a minimum square footage would be for a good shop?

 

[Lancemountain]

cgilmo wrote:JoshHamilton wrote:cgilmo wrote:JoshHamilton wrote:To stay afloat for at least one year (figure rent is $6k/month), plus inventory, wax, supplies, etc, you'd need a bank loan for $150k-$250k


if your overhead is 6k a month then you are in the wrong shopping center


find a cheaper place, high rent districts are wasted on sports cards because people will drive an extra mile or two.

I live in Austin. Property values are ridiculously high. The one I used to work at was in a lower end shopping center (Chinese restaurant, Dollar Store, fast food joint, etc). It was $6025/month in '97.

I'm sure $2900-$3500 would be more realistic


I pay $1600 in Johns Creek / Alpharetta GA

Damn. Austin really sucks.

Actually its not austin lol

I have one of the highest rent cities in the country and one of my spots is 2,200 sf and is 2,000 a month

Just can't be stupid.

 

[cgilmo]

What do you think a minimum square footage would be for a good shop?

depends on what you want to do

I'm kinda cramped in my spot right now.

 

[vwnut13]

2, much

its tough to compete with the big box stores

What percentage of a shops income do you think comes from wax?


At my store it's less than 15%

It's much like gasoline at a gas station, all it does is bring people in. Make your money on other things. The hard part is figuring out what those things are.

$70 in gas.
$3 in cheetos and a soda.

I think gas is the selling point. $0.69 cent sodas maybe, but not gas.

 

[Weimer]

Chris means profit margins when he says gas brings people in and isn't the focus. Profit margins on junk food, sodas, supplies, and everything else people buy instead at a gas station are almost always higher than profit margins on gasoline sales for the gas station. Most gas stations make very little profit on their gas sales. It's simply a way to get people to stop there and come inside and spend money on the stuff that does make them a profit.

Your post is precisely why it works too. People who stop and spend $50+ to fill up their car figure, "Oh hell, why not go grab a cold soda and a candy bar or two? I just spent $50 on gas, another $3-4 isn't going to make much of a difference." Except that $3-4 they just spent, 80% of it went to the gas station in the form of pure profit.

 

[cgilmo]

2, much

its tough to compete with the big box stores

What percentage of a shops income do you think comes from wax?


At my store it's less than 15%

It's much like gasoline at a gas station, all it does is bring people in. Make your money on other things. The hard part is figuring out what those things are.

$70 in gas.
$3 in cheetos and a soda.

I think gas is the selling point. $0.69 cent sodas maybe, but not gas.

what do you think the retail markup for gasoline is?

how much of that do you think the gas station gets?


it isn't about the amount of purchase, it's about how much of it goes into your books

Shops that move a lot of wax are great for distributors and manufacturers, but struggle to pay rent without creativity and a wide product list that actually has decent markup.

 

[cgilmo]

Chris means profit margins when he says gas brings people in and isn't the focus. Profit margins on junk food, sodas, supplies, and everything else people buy instead at a gas station are almost always higher than profit margins on gasoline sales for the gas station. Most gas stations make very little profit on their gas sales. It's simply a way to get people to stop there and come inside and spend money on the stuff that does make them a profit.

Your post is precisely why it works too. People who stop and spend $50+ to fill up their car figure, "Oh hell, why not go grab a cold soda and a candy bar or two? I just spent $50 on gas, another $3-4 isn't going to make much of a difference." Except that $3-4 they just spent, 80% of it went to the gas station in the form of pure profit.

Candy Bar 89 cents in a gas station about 32 cents cost

This is in the FCB store, and it's a great money maker

 

[Weimer]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=10733468

Here's a great article, vwnut. Yes, it's 4 years old at this point, but that doesn't really matter because it still applies even today. The prices are slightly different, but the rest of it still applies.