[medicstudent]

I am looking for someone how owns a card shop that would be willing to give me some info.

[yankeeempire]

(01-16-2011 04:07 PM)medicstudent Wrote:  I am looking for someone how owns a card shop that would be willing to give me some info.

It seems like a great idea.....It's not. Opening up a cards shop takes a lot of money this i know. first off your going to need a place to open up and that can cost up to about 2,500 a month and you need to apply for tax papers, business license and everything else that goes with it. then your going to have to buy shelves,glass cases etc etc. Then you will have to buy card supplies and that can run you about 5,000 and that's for the minimum. Then you need product. you would need a loan for about $200,000 just to get started. Crazy you say?...it's the truth! to buy cases of product costs thousands then you have to think multiple sports plus you have to buy double just to have loose cards on hand. Then you will have to search auctions to buy up collections so you have stock. Oh did i mention insurance? you need 3 types 1 for the building 2 for the contents and for your expensive collectibles additional insurance is needed. Now that's just to get you started because remember you will need storage boxes,bins,cases,sleeves,all types of top loaders. And that's just the surface. Then you have to think how the economy is and it sucks!!! Then you have to hire help because you can't be there all the time. How do i know this? I attempted it and failed really quick with a bigger loan than i stated. i needed more like $500,000 lol My suggestion is too do a online business you won't have too rent a store and with PayPal etc etc you get payed quicker and safer. i started a online store and sold out of everything i had. So if you have that notion still in your head....I wish you all the luck!

[jonathani]

In my town of 70,000, we actually had two card shops for about two years. Now we have one, and it was there first. Card shops are a blast to visit, but I would not want to own one if I expected to live off my earnings. If I was retiring with $750,000 I had no use for? It might be fun to try. Me? I am a teacher in Wisconsin, and if you have been following the news lately you know that I will not see that kind of money unless I did not spend a cent for the next 15 years! That said, it would be fun to own a shop, but I do not think I will ever attempt it.

[shezdoni]

(02-14-2011 09:21 PM)yankeeempire Wrote:  It seems like a great idea.....It's not. Opening up a cards shop takes a lot of money this i know. first off your going to need a place to open up and that can cost up to about 2,500 a month and you need to apply for tax papers, business license and everything else that goes with it. then your going to have to buy shelves,glass cases etc etc. Then you will have to buy card supplies and that can run you about 5,000 and that's for the minimum. Then you need product. you would need a loan for about $200,000 just to get started. Crazy you say?...it's the truth! to buy cases of product costs thousands then you have to think multiple sports plus you have to buy double just to have loose cards on hand. Then you will have to search auctions to buy up collections so you have stock. Oh did i mention insurance? you need 3 types 1 for the building 2 for the contents and for your expensive collectibles additional insurance is needed. Now that's just to get you started because remember you will need storage boxes,bins,cases,sleeves,all types of top loaders. And that's just the surface. Then you have to think how the economy is and it sucks!!! Then you have to hire help because you can't be there all the time. How do i know this? I attempted it and failed really quick with a bigger loan than i stated. i needed more like $500,000 lol My suggestion is too do a online business you won't have too rent a store and with PayPal etc etc you get payed quicker and safer. i started a online store and sold out of everything i had. So if you have that notion still in your head....I wish you all the luck!

And the cost of Insurance alone is a killer for most new business's, Liability in case a customer gets hurt, workers comp in case an employee gets hurt, insurance on the contents of the building, insurance on the building, etc....

Liability Insurance alone, is one of the biggest costs that puts most new business out of business

[rynaldo11]

Don't bother.. It's a waste of time/money these days... you been on the street with a pile of debt within a year or two.. online business is where it's at... LOW OR NO overhead, and you can actually make a bit of money, while doing something you like... good luck...

[cweiland]

(02-19-2011 01:19 PM)shezdoni Wrote:  And the cost of Insurance alone is a killer for most new business's, Liability in case a customer gets hurt, workers comp in case an employee gets hurt, insurance on the contents of the building, insurance on the building, etc....

Liability Insurance alone, is one of the biggest costs that puts most new business out of business

+1

[akalepos]

I owned one once.

After six months of all the trashy dealings and flea market attitude customers I simply took it home and started selling it off the best I could.

One major detractor was the other shop. he was busy borderline bad mouthing me and always telling everyone "Anything he can get, I can get cheaper."

That lie was blasted when someone saw him at Frank and Sons, if anyone knows where I am talking about buying boxes of 95 SP Football for 75.00 and then selling it for less than I was. I was was well supplied and my total sales including my profit for the same box was 75.00.

So there was all this crappy business practice going on. The result was that he was willing to play off customers against each other and wanted this antagonism going on between he and myself. It was just really ugly.

I had a couple of good customers that were good people and were not blind. But that wasn't enough to support the shop. PLUS consider that you need to break alot open to have the singles that people want, and it ends up being somewhat of a money pit even without some crap head down the street.

The final result was that he destroyed his own business and savings douing all of that and he had to close and sell out about 3 or 4 months later.

So even just looking at the dregs I have left over here from those days (95-96) invokes certain memories. Couple to that all the "card weasels" there are as buyers, and its just yukky. But that's MY experience.

Things might be different for you.