How do you guys think a new online pokemon shop would do?

[Reshi]

I was thinking of making an online pokemon store to sell cards. I know there is Troll and Toad and Poke
Order, but I will sell singles cheaper. Opening and getting the boxes won't be an issue, but getting profit
is what I'm worried about. I don't want to invest money into this if it wont work, so do you guys think
it will be a good investment?

[luxraygarchomp]

at first no but after a whil ounce ur well known it will be a gold mine but if you sell japanese sleeves or packs i may be interasted a s well as metagame cards

[Reshi]

Originally Posted by luxraygarchomp

at first no but after a whil ounce ur well known it will be a gold mine but if you sell japanese sleeves or packs i may be interasted a s well as metagame cards

Ok, thanks.

[Tolan]

Originally Posted by luxraygarchomp

at first no but after a whil ounce ur well known it will be a gold mine but if you sell japanese sleeves or packs i may be interasted a s well as metagame cards

Learn to spell. It's painful to read that.

I think you'd be better off having a store that sells promos, exs, primes, etc. and not every single common card. One of every common card would be very time consuming and unless you have a huge costumer base you would not be selling enough of them to make a profit.
I'd suggest buying lots on eBay, sorting out the cards worth money, then selling the rest in bulk.

[Reshi]

Originally Posted by Tolanator

Learn to spell. It's painful to read that.

I think you'd be better off having a store that sells promos, exs, primes, etc. and not every single common card. One of every common card would be very time consuming and unless you have a huge costumer base you would not be selling enough of them to make a profit.
I'd suggest buying lots on eBay, sorting out the cards worth money, then selling the rest in bulk.

Ok. I think I might start like that and if I get enough customers than I will start selling more like commons and stuff.

[Tolan]

Originally Posted by Reshi

Ok. I think I might start like that and if I get enough customers than I will start selling more like commons and stuff.

Yeah. You could post a thread in the Want to Buy section of the Trading Post for like, "WTB: Cheap EXs, Stars, Primes, FAs". and try to get a lot for cheap.

[Reshi]

Originally Posted by Tolanator

Yeah. You could post a thread in the Want to Buy section of the Trading Post for like, "WTB: Cheap EXs, Stars, Primes, FAs". and try to get a lot for cheap.

Thanks man. I don't know when and if I should start it. My dad knows a website designer and I might just keep the cards if they don't sell .

[Tolan]

Haha. I recently wanted to do something like you. I made a basic HTML format, and used a free site from google. If you wanna check it out link's in sig.

[Reshi]

Originally Posted by Tolanator

Haha. I recently wanted to do something like you. I made a basic HTML format, and used a free site from google. If you wanna check it out link's in sig.

Did you make or lose money so far?

[Tolan]

Originally Posted by Reshi

Did you make or lose money so far?

Neither. I just started yesterday, so not enough time to make any. I have't lost any though, because I've had those cards for a while (Like, several years), so I didn't buy them. I've got some new incoming cards though, since I'm planning on trying to boost my stock.

[PokemonTrader]

My opinion:

Get out while you can...

I've recently been documenting all my rares, commons, reverses and such, ordering by number...
Into sub categories, to sell here, and it is a PAIN.
Adding images will be even worse...

There are MANY MANY MANY online shops, ebay, amazon, stop2shop, trollandtoad, pokeorder, collectorscache, and those are just the "brand name" ones. There are MANY MANY MANY smaller shops lurking about...
Such as pokemonforever's Anime Forever.

I suggest if you do go this route, to...

a) get refs here first
b) get sellers permission here
c) sell on ebay as well
d) make sure your site has all the cards listed and updated
e) get REFERENCES
f) cards people want...


I realize ordering all my cards, including commons from base and what not, people probably won't even look at, they'd probably care more about my stack of primes and whatever that are worth $1.50-X dollars, but not even bat an eyelash over my "bulk" so to speak...

Commons, although they are hard to sell, if you sell enough, gradually you will earn lots of money...

EX:

Trading my Pokemon Catcher for 180 commons/uncommons

180 commons at 5 cents trade in value = the $9 catcher
I in turn, probably will sell the commons/uncommons for more like 15-25 cents, tripling my revenue, though the time it takes to sell will be lengthy...


DON'T MAKE THIS YOUR DAY JOB.

If you plan on earning money from selling cards, I suggest then you get TONS of boxes, and either...

A) Opening them, sell the rare cards, and codes, and make an inventory of the not so popular cards
B) Trade UP with what you buy




If you do plan on buying, buying here on pokegym is your best bet...
People here are impatient to sell, since there are HUNDREDS of threads, and in a matter of minutes, people won't look at your thread, so you can always nab good deals :)


that sells promos, exs, primes, etc. and not every single common card.

I agree and disagree with this...
Sure most people need EXs, Primes etc, but stuff like Slowking are molasses right now trying to sell...
Just keep up with the newest trends and you should be fine.



ALTERNATIVELY, you could make a shop like Hard Rock Pokemon, selling Japanese goods...
Of course, you'd need to befriend someone in Japan, or know someone in Japan, but you definitely can profit from that.

EVERYONE and their PIKACHU wants Japanese Sleeves, and that would generate a good profit...

I know I rambled.

[Tolan]

Originally Posted by PokemonTrader

that sells promos, exs, primes, etc. and not every single common card.

I agree and disagree with this...
Sure most people need EXs, Primes etc, but stuff like Slowking are molasses right now trying to sell...
Just keep up with the newest trends and you should be fine..

What I meant is if one doesn't have the customer base of say, T&T, having all the commons from the sets, it would just be a waste of space/time/money since if you don't have that many customers, you wont be moving them very fast.

[PokemonTrader]

Originally Posted by Tolanator

What I meant is if one doesn't have the customer base of say, T&T, having all the commons from the sets, it would just be a waste of space/time/money since if you don't have that many customers, you wont be moving them very fast.

I don't think even Troll and Toad sells commons often...

[Tolan]

Exactly, so that's why I was saying for him to not do it. If he has a lot of extra common/uncommons, then he should just sell like, bulk lots of 100/100/500/whatever.

[PokemonTrader]

Bulk, still wouldn't make as much money, as say, selling each card for 25 cents...

I can drop 1000 bulk for like $50 Quickly

OR

if I piece it out, that 1000 bulk could go for $250...

You know?

[TheDancingPeanut]

Do you know anything about business?
Do you have enough capital?
Do you have the time to dedicate to it?
Are you willing to work as hard as you have to to make a profit?
Are you willing to take risks with your money?
Do you have a lot of patience?
Do you genuinely enjoy serving your customers?

It's not easy. Even once you have a websotre open (we've been prepping ours for two months), it takes a lt of effort to consistently give your customers the service they demand and expect.

[Swordfish1989]

Peanut makes some great points. I tried doing something like this many years ago - when I was still in high school and failed.

Making money in this business isn't easy. Your inventory is very much like stocks - their prices fluctuate rapidly to reflect popular opinion of them. If you were around when Gengar Prime, Magnezone Prime, RDL, and Yanmega Prime (just to give a couple of examples) shot up in price due to hype, you know how hard it is to keep up with everything. Now imagine trying to keep up with an inventory where you may have hundreds of thousands of cards at any time. You have to be a part of this community and keep abreast of all news, hypes, etc for everything because if you don't, you'll miss out on profit. If you want to do well, you're going to have to dedicate a LOT of time and effort.

Let's not even talk about shipping costs..

[Tolan]

I think the best plan of action would be get seller status here on PokeGym, then just have a selling thread. You can buy stuff on the cheap, then sell it here, where there is a huge market since everyone wants more cards.

[PokemonTrader]

Then again, pokegym, EVERYONE and their PIKACHU are looking for deals...
Why shop here from some no name with 50 references, when I can go to trollandtoad and get a highly reputable store sell me it for the same price?

[smpratte]

Running a business is a never ending process that takes years to get going. There is no overnight shortcut in running a business, especially with pokemon.