I think the store part really depends on your area and location.
Overall success depends on a lot of things.
The stamp +coin guy I go to also does other collectibles, and always had interesting advice.
One of the first was that you don't have a store to sell, you have a store to buy. That's changing, but at the time many people were uncomfortable selling in their home, and online or by phone just didn't work well for anyone. Online sales have changes a lot, but the store is still a benefit on the buying end.
The other advice he had was that you can do well with anything if you can buy it right.
Along with having the ability and mindset to move it along quickly.
The shops I see that are still around have figured out how to use all of the three main venues. The shop, the internet , and shows.
My local card shop looks like a typical one. Mostly new stuff, and a lot of that is boxes and packs. They also carry a good selection of supplies and memorabilia like pennants. (Plus autographs and toys and some soda and candy)
But they have vintage. They usually have a handful of graded T205s or T206s under the counter. Apparently they have a regular customer who buys them. The pricing is always a bit more than I like, but not silly.
They're very good at using the internet, Ebay now, and some dealer to dealer wholesale thing at one point. When Curtis Martin signed with the Jets they moved their entire inventory in one sale to a dealer in northern NJ. Great for both sides, they cleared out what had just become dead inventory and the NJ guy got an instant inventory of saleable stuff.
The stamp guy does more business before a show opens than he does during the show. Watching him work was amazing. One box was full of envelopes full of stuff that got taken to particular dealers and simply handed off. Second lap of the room was collecting the money. All of it stuff that was turned fairly quickly for a small profit. Probably did $3K during the hour while I was setting up his stuff. Not sure about net, some items he does insanely well with - Like 10-20X cost others maybe only 1-2% it all works out in the end.
So if you're in an area with a good amount of stuff to buy the store would make more sense.
The rest depends on how you do things.
Steve B
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