Do you ever dream of opening a video game shop?

[Eduardo]

I currently can't get employed in what I studied. I'm over qualified so to speak. I saved around 10 grand. And I kept wondering about this hobby as a business. I read some articles but it's way easier said than done.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...es.html?cat=19

http://www.ehow.com/how_5018911_star...-business.html

Some rental space opened up next to my house. I keep dreaming and thinking about this.

[Mobius]

Indeed, I do. And I, too, have 10 grand saved up and am thinking of doing something game-related with it. But I'm also gainfully employed, so trying to start a business would, in all likelihood, mean quitting my job and that's scary.

[Greg2600]

Considering how much I hated dealing with crackpots while working in my father's sports card store for many years....No.

[Eduardo]

I live very lean because i liive off my parents for now. The thing is that if this doesnt work out then I wont have my little nest egg anymore.

[dreamcaster]

I'd love to run a game store. I have worked retail and as much as I loathe customers, I like the environment nonetheless. Plus I'd like to be my own boss.

[mobiusclimber]

Yeah I've been dreaming about it for awhile now. No money to do it tho. All the game stores in Seattle are seriously overpriced so I figure I'd actually have a chance of making it... except that there are a LOT of game stores in Seattle.

[DDCecil]

I finally did open my own store after dreaming about it for many years, but it unfortunately failed after the first year.

Oh well. At least I tried!

Edit: I'll post some responses later. I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts into words!

[Mobius]

I finally did open my own store after dreaming about it for many years, but it unfortunately failed after the first year.

Oh well. At least I tried!

How did you go about it? What were the biggest problems? What worked well? What would you do differently?

[Baloo]

How did you go about it? What were the biggest problems? What worked well? What would you do differently?

I'd like to know about that as well.

That's what I'm planning to do anyway, after I graduate college. I want to open up my own video game store. I've got my ideas swimming around, and working in an independent video game store helps me learn more and more about the business. And more and more I want to open up my own store, heh.

[duffmanth]

I dream about doing this every day! I'm well educated, and have been out of school for about a year now (I've become a professional student of sorts over the last 10 years or so), but can't find work in my field of choice. I use to work at an indy game store about 7 years ago for a few years, and really enjoyed it. The place was like a big playground when there were no customers and nothing to do. Myself and my buddy that I worked with at the time would just play games on our demo systems all day or just screw around on the Internet. We both met a lot of customers who became good friends, and the store just had a really cool and laid back atmosphere to it. Unfortunately we also saw some of the down sides; the occasional asshole customer, the slim profit margins on the new games and consoles, and the many responsibilities that come along with owning and running a business. Some day though, under the right circumstances, I would love to open my own game store, be my own boss, run it the way I want to, and not have to answer to anyone but myself : )

[Jorpho]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show....php?p=1686670
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137578

[Arkhan]

Hell no. I can't deal with idiots coming in being idiots on a daily basis, lol.

plus the mom/pop video game store thing is a dying trend. They aren't lasting

at least around here

[kupomogli]

I used to. After seeing the profit you'd make unless having some connections then no. You're better off finding a good source for merchandise and then use Ebay to make profits.

[The_Chosen_One]

I don't know how much stock I'd put into an article that contains the following sentence:

Most directories you will need to register with, most are either free or paid.

Most are either free or paid? What are the rest?

[Eduardo]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show....php?p=1686670
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137578

Thank you for the links but I don't feel they are the same question. Those two are stating that they are thinking about opening a shop, mine is asking others if they have ever considered it. I think the replies reveal it.

[garagesaleking!!]

the proper outlet for video games these days is online. trying to stock a full store inventory is not worth it. its a thing of the past, probably such a high failure rate, im guessing 80-90%

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

I want to become an employee at our Slackers CDs and Games store. They sell plenty of vintage games, but nothing beyond the NES era from what I've seen. The sad fact is, I think I actually know more about these games then some of the employees do. 20 dollars for Super Mario Bros.3...loose? My ass.

I'm only 14, so of course I'd be considered too young/unintelligent to work behind the counter. Well, at least I know Colecovision wasn't manufactured by Nintendo (like my friend thinks). Even with a 4.0 GPA and an advanced knowledge of the vintage video gaming realm wouldn't net me a job there. I'd think I'd be a fairly good candidate, since I could easily give price values for NES-N64 era stuff- and also help older players reconnect with the past consoles if they aren't too great at remembering what exactly they had or the games they might have enjoyed.

[Swamperon]

I'd love to and think about it often but I would only ever do it if money wasn't a concern i.e. I had hundreds of thousands in the bank. So short of winning the lottery, it probably isn't going to happen!

[Push Upstairs]

That dream was never there, but my dream of working in a game store has already been fulfilled.

As awesome as it was to play games at work, get first dibs on incoming merchandise and hang out with a co-worker who was awesome, it wasn't worth the downsides that came with the job.

Mostly, there was no way the place could complete with big box stores when it came to new games, and people tended to trade in the same games/system that there were already 20 copies of in the backroom. Then there were the scuzzy "regulars" who would frequently try and sell obviously stolen merchandise.

[MachineGex]

The best way to stop loving a hobby is to make it your business. This may not be true for everyone, but don't think you will be "paid to play video games" all day by opening a store. You will have fair less time to play/enjoy games because opening a store is long/hard work.(that's what she said) Seriously, you will be buffing discs and helping customers all day, no time for playing games. When you go home, you will not want to play games so much.