gaming store help

[nesuser2]

I'm going to be semi-vague......or try to be to save my time right now and reading time for everybody. but i'm looking to open a gaming store in my area. I just can't stand going to gaming stores and watching people push a box full of gaming stuff to them and they get one new game in return. so.......i want to be the receiver of the big box of old gaming stuff. anyways, i've contacted Nintendo to see how much information they can give me. does anybody know(anybody on here own a gaming store already?) how i go about setting up a retail gaming store? as in, getting the goods i mean, i'm obviously not going to go to Kmart and wipeout their inventory so i can start up. do i go through distributors or do i have to get licensed? i'm sure there are different policies from one company to the next. i was just going to start out simple, carry GC and GBA, Xbox, and PS2. and just about everything else would have to be used for the time being. i don't see any sense in rushing out and buying new stuff for older systems when i see it sit on alot of gaming store shelves anyways. no action figures sections or PC gaming stuff. just console based popular stuff. i want to get a start for myself and get something going........then i can try to throw in more used stuff. anyways........any help is greatly appreciated. if there are any questions, to help you help me......ask away! Thanks for reading my unformatted stack of words

[GrandAmChandler]

I have a friend who opened one up, he went through a distrubutor in NYC, who faxed him game lists, and he could pick what product he wanted and email or fax him back. You need a business license too, but that is as much as I know.

[Darth Sensei]

If I were you, I'd try to get a part time job with a local used gaming store to learn the business.

There's likely a reason why those people seem so greedy with their trades, and I'd hate for you to get into this and go broke.

Just my 2 cents.

[nesuser2]

very valid point, may have to find a gaming business job over my winter months. thanks guys!

[Half Japanese]

We have a pretty great local game shop in my area and they seem to offer trade-in that's better than EB/Gamestop while at the same time underselling them on new and used games by about $5 on average. So I think that it CAN be done. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors and hopefully you'll find a good base of customers to keep you afloat .

[udisi]

I looked into this myself, and from my research..most of your money comes in on used games...I looked at distrubuters and unless you buy in grossly huge amounts, the best you can get new games in at cost is aroun $40-42, new systems aren't much better at around $10-$20 below what you would sell them for...It's hard to carry a good stock without investing a lot of capital. When games drop in prce most distributors will be reinbursed and thus will reimburse you with a credit or cash so the $50 game going to a $20 dollar game isn't really a factor....I believe these small profit marhins are alot of the reason you see retail places paid $5 to a customer for a used snes game and then price it at $10 or $15... this is the only place they can mark up and mark a decent profit...oh, extension cables and little nick nack things like that are usually pretty cheap wholesale too and you make money there, but I was surprised to find how little gain was really made on new software and systems.

[dave2236]

Location man....biggest thing when opening a used game store. Find the best location. I was a manager of a video game store for a couple of years, so I can help you out with most of this stuff.

Also a big thing to think about is if you are going to have a POP (pount of purchase computer system or if you are going to just memorize the price lists.

It can be done, you also have to look at buying fixtures and displays...safe... and I reccomend an alarm system for a video game store.

[kai123]

You could always look into franchises they can help with pricing and almost anything you can think of. The store I worked at was GameXchange. You can find some info about them on the web I think. As someone else said location is key. We were located next to a popular pizza place. Which helped business more than you might think.

I wouldn't worry about management as long as you have a good head on you shoulders. The store I worked at had the worst owners in the world. They hardly came into the stores at all. It was bad.

Hope that helps and good luck.

[The Unknown Gamer]

As the old saying goes...Location...Location...Location. I think opening a Gaming store would be terriffic, but LOCATION would be the key. Let me give you a PRIME EXAMPLE. Here in Chicago, there used to be THE BEST GAMING STORE IN THE STATE. You could just about find ANYTHING there I even picked up a copy of Discworld 2 for PSX there. They had everything from Adult 2600 games in factory sealed boxes to just about every system you could name. But the big problem they were just about in the middle of no where. Next thing I knew they were out of bussiness. So I can not STRESS that location would be the key.

[nesuser2]

well see, not that i think it's the best thing to do. but as somebody already stated.......used trade in is where you make all the money. and i know people trade in good stuff at junk prices. the internet could help bring in some more cash.....not all the games but a good majority, or maybe not many. really depends on what comes in. i could always update my webpage with what i have in stock. and people on the board could stop me before i put it out to the public and buy it. and things i knew were of good marketable value could go to ebay. i hate ebay but sometimes you just can't beat it. thanks for all the information so far, the franchise idea is liked but......maybe i should take a couple college courses on retail and business. not really worried about a degree.......but something to get me some information. degrees mean nothing to me, that's not where you learn. but thanks guys!! keep it coming

[Funk Buddy]

Yep, you'll make most of your money on used items. There was/is a mom & pop place in the town I lived in and I got to know them over a couple of years and that's what they told me. They pay around the same for new systems as we would and games too, just like udisi said. From what I checked out you will/might need the following.

State & City business license
Occupation license
Retail sales license

A business license and a retail sales license are two different items. If you will have employees you'll need a Federal id number too.

A POP/POS system would be nice with a barcode reader, but it's not needed if you have a regular computer to list your inventory. There's a guy North of Seattle who has a small shop and he uses a computer for inventory and a regular cash register for his sales. It can be done. Number one is have a good business plan to start with and a good accountant. Places like here, here or here would be a good place to start. They all offer wholesale sales, some with no minimum order and other with a $500 minimum. You'll probably need your resale license number before they will seriously talk figures. Give them a shot, they may be very helpful to your endeavor!

If you get it going, don't forget who helped you along the way. The great folks here at DP! One last thing, keep in mind your rental costs too. A shop with 1000 square feet should/could be big enough for you.

[nesuser2]

it's looking like it could be a possibility, don't know what kind of time frame i would be looking at but maybe, a year or two out. i'm in no hurry really. i guess i never know. but anyways, maybe i could call it DP Gamers so everybody would know what the score was .......haven't thought of a name.......but i don't think it's that hard. still may look into franchising to save some money. depends what kind of stipulations i would run into.

[NESCollector75]

I would also recommend taking a basic financial accounting course, this could save you alot of the money in the long run!

Also if you want to open a store, but not sure of location,lisences stuff like that then I would recommend getting a booth at a fleamarket for a couple weeks and see how well you do there!

[nesuser2]

flea markets really bite around here. costs too much to get a booth, and get enough to pay for it........traffic in them sucks.......i've been to good flea markets but not in my area........but it's a good idea