Business question about vintage baseball cards

[Runscott]

Ten years ago all you needed was knowledge and money. You bought inventory and you sold it. Because there are now loads of wealthy people buying the large lots at retail or more, just to get a few cards, then selling the rest at a loss, you now have to be connected to get inventory (e.g-established presence as a dealer). That may be a hurdle for you, as it has been for me, along with the issues others have cited regarding the feasibility of brick-and-mortar.

A physical shop will actually help my business, and that's what I'm looking to do - the plan is to make most of my money through the internet and a coffee shop, but the antique/memorabilia area won't take up much room and will bring me walk-in inventory opportunities. I also plan to put it in an old house that is zoned so that I can live in it as well, and I'll be located in a downtown area in a small town so that I can purchase the property, as opposed to leasing. Sounds weird, but to make money in this business you have to get creative.

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Ten years ago all you needed was knowledge and money. You bought inventory and you sold it. Because there are now loads of wealthy people buying the large lots at retail or more, just to get a few cards, then selling the rest at a loss, you now have to be connected to get inventory (e.g-established presence as a dealer). That may be a hurdle for you, as it has been for me, along with the issues others have cited regarding the feasibility of brick-and-mortar.

A physical shop will actually help my business, and that's what I'm looking to do - the plan is to make most of my money through the internet and a coffee shop, but the antique/memorabilia area won't take up much room and will bring me walk-in inventory opportunities. I also plan to put it in an old house that is zoned so that I can live in it as well, and I'll be located in a downtown area in a small town so that I can purchase the property, as opposed to leasing. Sounds weird, but to make money in this business you have to get creative.

Too bad you're not in this part of the country. It sounds like a nice place to go hang out and talk sports and stuff.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

Too bad you're not in this part of the country. It sounds like a nice place to go hang out and talk sports and stuff.

The goal is to get a place where, even if I make no profit on either memorabilia or coffee, the mortgage is still reasonable as a living space. It probably would be a good place to hang out and talk sports, but the area I'm looking at won't have many collectors - it will be locals drinking coffee and tourists who hopefully have too much money in their pockets.

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by Runscott

The goal is to get a place where, even if I make no profit on either memorabilia or coffee, the mortgage is still reasonable as a living space. It probably would be a good place to hang out and talk sports, but the area I'm looking at won't have many collectors - it will be locals drinking coffee and tourists who hopefully have too much money in their pockets.

Gotcha.
Still, It would be nice to have a place like that here. No good card shops in my area. It's too bad, something has definitely been lost.

[Bestdj777]

I go to a brick-and-mortar card shop in NYC at least once a month. I've never purchased a card--they have only had one card I wanted but were only selling it as part of a set. I know that, personally, I would never pay more for a card in a store than I could purchase it for online. Now, if they had something I did want and couldn't find elsewhere, I'd certainly pay the price for it.

Where card shops do get my business is in selling supplies. Whenever I get a card, I go to the store and get a toploader for it. I don't like buying them in bulk and it is convenient and cheaper to get online instead.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.


Chris

[drcy]

Where I live there was a shop attached to a house. Except I never realized there was the house half, until I looked around the fence.

If you live there and are already dealing online in the stuff you are selling, a shop might be reasonable.

I think vintage baseball cards is too narrow to run a store on its own. In fact, I'm sure it is. But if a shop of some sort is used in addition to your already successful online business, I could see that. If you're already going to be there sorting and cataloging cards for your online business, I can see how it would make sense to allow someone to walk in through the door and buy something in person.

Starting a business for purely sentimental reasons rarely works. It has to be business smart too. I only see a physical shop as viable if you're already doing very well selling online and the physical shop is just an addition to your already successful busness, or really anticipate having it as a coffee shop.

For most people, owning a baseball card shop really is just a quaint sentimental idea from childhood that has nothing to do with business sense. I'm sure many women have also always wanted to own a pony too. Amazon started selling books, because Jeff Bezos coldly calculated books was the best product to sell online. It was irrelevant whether or not he was a bookworm.

But, as I said, I can see instances where opening up a physical shop could make business sense. If you own a unopened box wholesale distribution business, I can see how opening up a small retail shop at the site could make sense. You could not only sell smaller portions to the locals, but it could serve as local advertising to your wholesale side. Similarly, a small shop could help get the word out to locals about your online eBay and website selling. Even for locals who prefer to shop online, it would still be cool to see the items in person and to pick them up in person.

[steve B]

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

[drcy]

I've joked about the antique furniture dealer who furnishes his home with the furniture he sells. Part of his profits is he saves all the money on furnishing his home.

There's a business model for you.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Runscott

The goal is to get a place where, even if I make no profit on either memorabilia or coffee, the mortgage is still reasonable as a living space. It probably would be a good place to hang out and talk sports, but the area I'm looking at won't have many collectors - it will be locals drinking coffee and tourists who hopefully have too much money in their pockets.

I think you have a great idea. The only way to make it in retail is minimize your overhead (as you are amortizing it well) and also have other streams of revenue. I am a huge advocate of this approach as it limits your exposure somewhat, to any one thing. I just got out of 2 retail restaurants after 9 yrs and don't think I would want to deal with a brick and mortar anything unless it was on my conditions, and it would have to cost virtually nothing (somehow)...but as you are doing. You have very little downside.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Leon

I think you have a great idea. The only way to make it in retail is minimize your overhead (as you are amortizing it well) and also have other streams of revenue. I am a huge advocate of this approach as it limits your exposure somewhat, to any one thing. I just got out of 2 retail restaurants after 9 yrs and don't think I would want to deal with a brick and mortar anything unless it was on my conditions, and it would have to cost virtually nothing (somehow)...but as you are doing. You have very little downside.

Thanks for the encouragement Leon - still trying to get my girlfriend to see it that way.