Any current or ex video game store owners?

[winds]

Someone just sent me a message saying that my good spelling and grammar most likely means that I am "older than the regular crowd". The internet is a strange place.

Hahaha!
You do sound like a really nice guy and will make a welcome addition to these forums!

About your response to buying low and selling high, what about in the 'used' market? Did you sell used games or only new stock?
I would imagine most mom and pop gaming stores make the bulk of their money from the used and retro market instead of the new games. I know that's what attracts most people to such stores instead of the evil empires like Gamestop

[MrEco]

Well don't worry about being the "creepy new guy." I don't think you'll have a hard time getting along in this forum. At the very least you've gained my respect simply by seeming like a very nice person and using good spelling and grammar.

Thank you for the kind words.

Someone just sent me a message saying that my good spelling and grammar most likely means that I am "older than the regular crowd". The internet is a strange place.

Yeah, that's because most people who spend a large amount of time on the internet are either around the age of twelve or act like they are around the age of twelve.

[weaponepsilon]

I used to run a few video game stores in my time, but I never actually owned any. I've looked into in the past and it seems viable however the financial backing just isnt there. I really need that initial capital.

It sounds like you at least knew what you were doing. The one guy I worked for had a terrible business sense and seriously ran his company into the ground. I mean seriously, nothing says lets advertise like...wait for it...GARAGE SALE SIGNS ON STREET CORNERS!! I told him it was a terrible idea and more legit practices like advertising in the local paper was better and he practically fired me for it. Sigh.

Ah yes, the good old days. When I was a "managing" at Software ETC, we actually had a very open dialogue between us and our competitors at Electronics Boutique. It was quite helpful when we had to look our for a scammer or thief.

[mkspam]

I used to run a few video game stores in my time, but I never actually owned any. I've looked into in the past and it seems viable however the financial backing just isnt there. I really need that initial capital.

It sounds like you at least knew what you were doing. The one guy I worked for had a terrible business sense and seriously ran his company into the ground. I mean seriously, nothing says lets advertise like...wait for it...GARAGE SALE SIGNS ON STREET CORNERS!! I told him it was a terrible idea and more legit practices like advertising in the local paper was better and he practically fired me for it. Sigh.

Ah yes, the good old days. When I was a "managing" at Software ETC, we actually had a very open dialogue between us and our competitors at Electronics Boutique. It was quite helpful when we had to look our for a scammer or thief.

The initial capital is a huge problem when you consider all the stock you would need to make the store look somewhat decent. Think of how much stock is displayed at any video game store you visited; hundreds of games on the wall. Considering I paid anywhere from $30-$45 on a PS1 game that sold for $50; it was a big investment.

Stealing was a huge problem in my store. We always had a large number of kids playing the arcade machines and so keeping track of everything in the store would get crazy. The funny thing was that the things people would steal the most were cardboard displays and empty game cases. One guy did try to steal a N64 kiosk until he realized that it weighed about 100 pounds. He put it back down and said "just kidding" and just left. Never saw him again.

[Ziggy]

Just hit the "QUOTE" button on the bottom right corner of someone's post to include the the text of the person you're responding to.

That's the easiest way to do it. The only draw back with doing it this way is you can only grab one quote into a reply box. If you scroll down, below your reply box, you can read the last 10 (I think) posts (in reverse order) and click the quote buttons from there. It will put the quote into your reply box where ever the cursor is.

Also, as I've recently learned, if you're reading the posts below your reply box you can highlight text in those posts then click the quote button. Doing it this way will only quote the text you've highlighted. It's extremely useful when trying to avoid quote tunnels, as well as target a specific sentence.



I've thought about owning/operating my own video game store. It's more of a "what if" scenario / day dream because it's not like I have the start up money for it. Not at this point in my life at least. That and I don't know if I would want to own my own business. I think I'd be worrying too much. Dealing in mostly retro games would be fun, though I don't think the market is THAT big. But I would love to also offer repairs on retro consoles and game carts. I do this as a hobby as it is, so having your hobby actually be your job is always ideal. That and actually putting a little effort into CLEANING the carts before reselling them. Every time I walk into a Play N Trade most of the carts are really dirty. It's so easy to clean them, I don't know why they don't. Eye appeal is buy appeal.

On that note, I've been thinking about asking my local Play N Trade if they would be interested in my services, or hiring me part time (maybe 1 or 2 days a week) to fix consoles and carts they can't get working. Perfect example is when I bought an NHL SNES game from them. I opened it up to find a busted solder joint on one of the battery tabs. Took me a few seconds to fix, but I doubt any of their staff knows how to solder. That, and it would have been a returned game. I also wouldn't mind cleaning them up to an acceptable selling level. Not only dirt and grim, which is pretty nasty by itself, but the annoying magic marker initials!

Kinda went off on a little mini rant. But welcome to the forums, mkspam!

[mkspam]

Thank you for the clarification ziggy587. You noticed that I started quoting larger and larger paragraphs . Now I know to just target what I am replying to.

Your idea about offering your services would be the ideal way to work in the retro video game market without having to deal with the headaches of the day-to-day of running a business. I see that you are from LI, NY and I know a few shops that specialize in what you do. They have been open for a while so they must be at least breaking even.

Although it pains me to say it, I feel that the video game market for mom & pops is just about done. Of course there are those few who are very successful in the retro games market, however they are in the minority. We can even see the heavy hitters taking a huge hit in B&M game sales because almost everything is sold online or through a streaming service now. We cannot compete with such low profit margins and high overhead. For example, my rent during the last year of my lease was $7000. In contrast, I remember having to pay $48.50 for Final Fantasy 8 from the wholesaler and selling it for $50. That is not a successful business model.

[retrosportsgamer]

Given your library - i'm sure you can negotiate on the racketboy forums and avoid ebay fees (and listing fees).

I, particularly, would be interested in your Saturn lineup, amongst other things.

[Curlypaul]

Also, as I've recently learned, if you're reading the posts below your reply box you can highlight text in those posts then click the quote button. Doing it this way will only quote the text you've highlighted. It's extremely useful when trying to avoid quote tunnels, as well as target a specific sentence.

Wow! I nver knew that! that makes it much easier than c&p and deleting text. Thanks for the tip!

@mkspam - How come you dont play games anymore? Could we not convince you to fire up that Saturn?

[mkspam]

How come you dont play games anymore? Could we not convince you to fire up that Saturn?

Technically I do play games. However by 'games' I'm referring to Solitaire or Plants vs. Zombies on my phone while waiting in line for something. I did play up to the PS1 era and some Dreamcast games, namely Shenmue and JSR. However, after a while games got too complicated. I hate to sound like an old geezer, but I miss the days of the Nes and the arcade scene of the late 80's and early 90's. Only two buttons required; if you press A and nothing happens, then you press B.

As for the Saturn, it's funny to say this about a video game system, but I hate it on a personal level. As a game store owner, the whole Saturn debacle really made life difficult for us. Release dates were never announced, prices were not consistent and supply was non-existent. I remember being told by the wholesaler to sell the Saturn for $399, so I did. All of a sudden, I have a line out the door of people looking for the Saturn. It seemed as if everyone else was selling for $450-$499. So, I raise the price, and then the major retailers advertise for $399 again and I have customers coming back and complaining. All this for I system that I got from wholesale at $385. After that, I stopped stocking the system and so did everyone other retailer in the US. This killed the Saturn in the US. Well that, and the lack of quality games. End of rant.

For those interested, I am going to list the games that I have for sale once I open all the boxes. Off the top of my head, for the Saturn, I have around 25-30 games, all brand new. Well not brand new, since the plastic on the Saturn games were so flimsy, all lot of them are ripped. However, the games are perfectly intact. Stand-outs include Shining Force III, Shining the Holy Ark, Panzer Dragoon I & II (sorry no Saga), Daytona, Nights and a bunch of other common games.

I may or may not have mentioned before but all games are going to be sold in sets by system. Hopefully, someone will buy the whole lot.

[Curlypaul]

oh yes I forgot about the fiasco that you lot had in the US with the saturn's release and as a retailer I can understand that it upset you.
I also remember the step up in complexity that came with that generation. I remember playing the orginal Tomb Raider and struggling like mad, yet when I played it last year I just breezed through it. I think its because I've got used to judging distance and angles in a 3D world and have so many buttons to press, but at the time it was a massive step up from the games I'd been playing on the MD.