It would be nice to get a viable alternative to ebay. I currently pay with FVF around $600 per month to ebay and it's growing - would be nice to cut that somewhat and get the same results. But it's gonna probably take a company with deep pockets, VERY deep pockets to do so. The fact that ebay has expanded worldwide without even any "significant" foreign competitors either that I'm aware of, tells me that creating and maintaining this type of software is much more difficult to do than it may look.
If you are paying ebay 600.00 then you must be making some serious sales.
Where else can you do that?
BM? overhead would kill you.
Ebay is still the best deal in town. >>
I read some years ago that about 30,000 people were making a living off ebay - I don't know what that figure is today but whatever it is, it's gotta be a big number. I'm not one of those making a living just from ebay, but I've been pleased with my sales from ebay and it's getting better almost every month.
The local brick & mortar card shop owners who I am friendly with, also buy and sell on ebay. I'm not privy to their financial data, but in my opinion they might not be able to keep their stores open without the ebay supplement to their income.
It's still nice having a B&M store though - they get walk-in sellers sometimes with nice collections who need quick cash. The sellers sometimes even know they're leaving money on the table even if they sold the items on ebay, but they need cash right away for whatever reason. So folks coming into the store to sell, is a good profit center for B&M.
I think most B&M store owners probably have the "dream" of the already rich, little old lady walking in to sell her late husband's T206 Wagner or some other great cards, and not wanting that much money for it - just basically wanting to get rid of it. That "dream" may keep the store open even when with rent, expenses, and wasted time spent sitting around the store doing nothing, that time could be spent earning money doing something else...and operating the store just off the profit of walk-in buyers can't be justified.
<< <i>I think most B&M store owners probably have the "dream" of the already rich, little old lady walking in to sell her late husband's T206 Wagner or some other great cards, and not wanting that much money for it - just basically wanting to get rid of it. >>
This is a pipe-dream that store owners "might" have...in four years of having my own store, I found that quite the opposite was true...that most people who bring stuff into stores think that their stuff is worth a lot more than it is..ie "high Beckett" or more. And these days people or more savvy than ever as to what stuff is worth. The ones that will take "anything" just to get rid of it have mostly junk, or, as I sadly found out in one case of someone who brought in a bunch of nice vintage...stolen.
The main benefit to a store, is you can go in to work every day and enjoy what you are doing. I mean you buy/sell/trade cards or whatever, you might have Satellite or Cable TV with games on all the time, and if you are a people person you get to talk sports all day and get paid for it.
<< <i>Moose hit it right on the head. When i had my store back in the 80's I had to be competitive when buying.
Yes I did buy many nice items but they were not cheap, The story that dealers would get things for pennies on the dollar are fallacy's
Steve >>
Well of course they don't always get things for pennies on the dollar, but they try, and I know that sometimes they do because the store owners I know, enjoy bragging about the "steals" they got from sellers walking in their store.
Store owners for the most part are sharks, you know it and I know it...they'll "size up" the seller and offer the lowest price they can. Nothing inherently wrong with that - it's all part of the game that good weasels like to play. Agreed that most sellers are likely a pain-in-the-neck, trying to get more money, much more money than their "worthless" modern stuff is worth, if worth anything.
I worked in a professional camera shop for 4 years, we sold new equipment, and bought and sold used equipment, and I experienced this first hand with sellers often wanting top dollar for their garbage camera that looked like they just dropped it.
I agree that it would be fun to own a card store - I've thought about it and if I ever become somewhat independently wealthy (LOL) and decided to "slow down" but not retire, I might consider it although I would do a full range of collectables if I did it...cards, coins, stamps, comics, and basically any collectable that was hot and profitable, and yes, I wouldn't mind at all if some little old lady walked in with a T206 Wagner to sell cheap. LOL
Mike I don't have the store any more. This was back in 1990-94. I closed down when sales started to tank with the baseball strike. I wish eBay had been around back then, it might have kept me in the business.
<< <i>What's you store name? Do you buy all the products by the case? How is new card sales doing? Do you have a lot of promotions to bring people in. I like the "live" rips that some stores do and then put it on YouTube - very cool. One of the most fun ones is with Rachel! mike >>
Bottom9th
Posts: 2,695 ✭✭
Comments
Jake
Steve
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If you are paying ebay 600.00 then you must be making some serious sales.
Where else can you do that?
BM? overhead would kill you.
Ebay is still the best deal in town.
<< <i>Steve
If you are paying ebay 600.00 then you must be making some serious sales.
Where else can you do that?
BM? overhead would kill you.
Ebay is still the best deal in town. >>
I read some years ago that about 30,000 people were making a living off ebay - I don't know what that figure is today but whatever it is, it's gotta be a big number. I'm not one of those making a living just from ebay, but I've been pleased with my sales from ebay and it's getting better almost every month.
The local brick & mortar card shop owners who I am friendly with, also buy and sell on ebay. I'm not privy to their financial data, but in my opinion they might not be able to keep their stores open without the ebay supplement to their income.
It's still nice having a B&M store though - they get walk-in sellers sometimes with nice collections who need quick cash. The sellers sometimes even know they're leaving money on the table even if they sold the items on ebay, but they need cash right away for whatever reason. So folks coming into the store to sell, is a good profit center for B&M.
I think most B&M store owners probably have the "dream" of the already rich, little old lady walking in to sell her late husband's T206 Wagner or some other great cards, and not wanting that much money for it - just basically wanting to get rid of it. That "dream" may keep the store open even when with rent, expenses, and wasted time spent sitting around the store doing nothing, that time could be spent earning money doing something else...and operating the store just off the profit of walk-in buyers can't be justified.
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<< <i>Yep, Craigs list is not a place to buy babseball cards.
Steve >>
I've actually gotten some great deals off craigslist, but they are few and far between. Most of the stuff is junk like this.
<< <i>I think most B&M store owners probably have the "dream" of the already rich, little old lady walking in to sell her late husband's T206 Wagner or some other great cards, and not wanting that much money for it - just basically wanting to get rid of it. >>
This is a pipe-dream that store owners "might" have...in four years of having my own store, I found that quite the opposite was true...that most people who bring stuff into stores think that their stuff is worth a lot more than it is..ie "high Beckett" or more. And these days people or more savvy than ever as to what stuff is worth. The ones that will take "anything" just to get rid of it have mostly junk, or, as I sadly found out in one case of someone who brought in a bunch of nice vintage...stolen.
The main benefit to a store, is you can go in to work every day and enjoy what you are doing. I mean you buy/sell/trade cards or whatever, you might have Satellite or Cable TV with games on all the time, and if you are a people person you get to talk sports all day and get paid for it.
What's you store name?
Do you buy all the products by the case? How is new card sales doing?
Do you have a lot of promotions to bring people in.
I like the "live" rips that some stores do and then put it on YouTube - very cool. One of the most fun ones is with Rachel!
mike
Yes I did buy many nice items but they were not cheap, The story that dealers would get things for pennies on the
dollar are fallacy's
Steve
<< <i>Moose hit it right on the head. When i had my store back in the 80's I had to be competitive when buying.
Yes I did buy many nice items but they were not cheap, The story that dealers would get things for pennies on the
dollar are fallacy's
Steve >>
Well of course they don't always get things for pennies on the dollar, but they try, and I know that sometimes they do because the store owners I know, enjoy bragging about the "steals" they got from sellers walking in their store.
Store owners for the most part are sharks, you know it and I know it...they'll "size up" the seller and offer the lowest price they can. Nothing inherently wrong with that - it's all part of the game that good weasels like to play. Agreed that most sellers are likely a pain-in-the-neck, trying to get more money, much more money than their "worthless" modern stuff is worth, if worth anything.
I worked in a professional camera shop for 4 years, we sold new equipment, and bought and sold used equipment, and I experienced this first hand with sellers often wanting top dollar for their garbage camera that looked like they just dropped it.
I agree that it would be fun to own a card store - I've thought about it and if I ever become somewhat independently wealthy (LOL) and decided to "slow down" but not retire, I might consider it although I would do a full range of collectables if I did it...cards, coins, stamps, comics, and basically any collectable that was hot and profitable, and yes, I wouldn't mind at all if some little old lady walked in with a T206 Wagner to sell cheap. LOL
-
<< <i>What's you store name?
Do you buy all the products by the case? How is new card sales doing?
Do you have a lot of promotions to bring people in.
I like the "live" rips that some stores do and then put it on YouTube - very cool. One of the most fun ones is with Rachel!
mike >>