Beware franchising a Play N Trade

[oxymoron]

Oxymoron, it might be a good idea to just start a thread about getting into the retail business if that's something you're considering.
I know a successful chain of game stores in Buffalo called Oogie Games got their start at flea markets, then opened up a dedicated store, then branched into multiple locations. I imagine that this is a good way to do it, since you can get an idea of how the nuts & bolts retail business works with video games and there's considerably less risk involved with renting space at a flea market.

Oddly enough, there's a Play 'n' Trade across the street from one of their locations and it's been in business for at least three years.

But remember indie game stores aren't exactly a thriving sector of the economy!

I'll do that.

[Teh Lurv]

The franchise fee is $30,000. That's a lot of money that could be better spent on inventory and advertising in my opinion.

As a customer I don't care if i'm shopping at Play 'N trade or Billy Bob Billiamsons Game Emporium and Welding Service - if they've got games and i'm aware of its existence i'm walking in every time i'm in the area.

I may be in the minority in this of course, but i've never felt that a franchise name has been that important. If anything, i'm more likely to visit the non-franchise store simply because I don't know what i'm getting.

So i'd say yes, an indie store would probably be a much more viable route.

But there's a reason that people open franchises instead of indie places. For one, they already have a customer base.

Does play n trade have a loyal base? When someone opens a Subway rather than an independent sub shop, they are paying for the name recognition, nationwide advertising, and market research. Does play n trade do any of that?

[CRTGAMER]

As a customer I don't care if i'm shopping at Play 'N trade or Billy Bob Billiamsons Game Emporium and Welding Service - if they've got games and i'm aware of its existence i'm walking in every time i'm in the area.

I may be in the minority in this of course, but i've never felt that a franchise name has been that important. If anything, i'm more likely to visit the non-franchise store simply because I don't know what i'm getting.

So i'd say yes, an indie store would probably be a much more viable route.

I don't think PlaynTrade has a huge fan base or any at all as far as name recognition compared to Gamestop. I do find very good deals in there at times as evidenced by the Finds Thread. However, with every visit usually the store is empty with the exception of maybe a kid playing a game on one of the demo consoles. I'm really surprised the only one in my city is still open. Even though a dedicated game store, they have very poor advertising. Many Gamestop customers do not know they exist, first time I saw PlaynTrade I thought it was an independent one branch store. I think Best Buy, Costco, Wallymart, Frys and any other big name stores are Gamestop's only real competition. Retro Stores on the whole have only a small percentage of the customers.

As for anyone trying to open a Retro Game Store, a nice thought but you will not survive. The only way to keep your head above the overhead expenses is setting up online sales to supplement your losses at the store that needs rent, taxes, permits, utilities and the floor stock paid for.

Retro Game collectors are an elite, but small percentage of the game buying public.

[Violent By Design]

Wait a second, Play N Trade is an actual franchise? I thought it was just slang for an indie store.

Why on earth would anyone pay money to franchise a company that has zero branding and likely zero support from corporate? From what I'm reading it seems like you're literally doing all the work considering you're playing the market and hoping to flip games for profit, how the hell does the actual Play N Trade company help in that? I doubt this company even has marketing power to generate traffic for you at the very least.

I've never heard or seen a Play N Trade and I live in New York. A company like that would be worthless here, you're talking deep 5 digits when you could use that same money to just open your store with better inventory (and a better name)

[Ziggy]

I haven't read the entire thread, but I'll post my own findings with the franchise.

I don't know if any one has posted this already, but you can go to PNT's website and click a few links to find out exactly what it takes and what it costs to open one.

http://www.playntradevideogamefranchise ... s/faq.html

The start up costs and franchise fees are actually ridiculous, all things considered. I've talked about it with some one I know, a small business owner, and his reasoning steered me completely away from the franchise. It makes much more sense to open an independent shop.

I just looked it up, you have to pay them $30k to start up plus 5% of sales. "The total investment to begin operation of a traditional Play N Trade store ranges from $207-$317K (excluding ongoing rent for your location). This figure covers all typical costs including the franchisee fee, initial product order, training, and fixtures merchandising for your store, and working capital." 200-300k is way, way more than it would cost you to start up an independent shop, if you know where to save money and go do certain things for cost. Even with initial stock. Let's say new games cost you $50 each, and you want 2000 new games in stock when you open (which is a shit ton for a small game shop) that's still only 100k. It doesn't take another 100-200k to open a small shop. I understand what working capital is, but it still sounds like too much.

Some one brought up Sub Way, and that's a great example. Sub Way has national advertising and will basically sell your product for you. Any one you meet on the street knows what Sub Way is. PNT, on the other hand, has virtually no advertising for you at all. They say they have national ads, but I've yet to come across one. You have to pay for your own advertising. They don't even have recognition like Sub Way or McDonald's. So paying them money, for those reasons alone, is basically just throwing money in the garbage.

The pure and simple fact is that PNT has a bunch of rules for you, you have to pay them money, and you get basically nothing in return from them. They'll hook you up with vendors, but it's not like you can't set yourself up with some on your own. Even if it really does cost 200-300k to open shop, wouldn't an extra 30k (start up franchise fee) be better in your pocket?

So just from a numbers stand point, independent trumps PNT in my book with no contest.

edit: Also, PNTs seem to go under as quickly as they open... but I'm sure you guys have talked about that already.

[Violent By Design]

PnT really just seems like a business that only makes money off of franchising. Perhaps that sounds redundant given it is a franchise, but what I mean by this is that these guys sound like they just prey on people to give them buttloads of money to open what is essentially an indie store that will go out of business almost instantly.

I dont think these guys have any decent ideas for growth at all.

Like Ziggy said, imagine all the games you could buy with that money these guys are asking you for. You'd actually be a store that has decent products (even local commercials) if you just use the money for yourself.

[o.pwuaioc]

They say they have national ads, but I've yet to come across one.

I first heard about them from this forum...

[TEKTORO]

I think I'm gonna open up uh Laid N Trade.

[brunoafh]

I've encountered one Play N Trade in my travels, it was actually a really cool place. It was in Albany NY. They had an import section and fighting tournaments going on every month with prizes. Prices on used stuff was fair. I actually have gotten quite a few of my more expensive games from there at really good prices. Every time I was in Albany I stopped by. Probably less than a year of my discovering it though, it had become a GameStop.

[GazongaJoe]

I just went to one of their stores for the first time last week and loved it. The guy working there was really cool and very knowlegable on every question I had. I pretty much had to be half way out the door by the time he realized I was trying to leave. But the prices for retro games were indeed pricey at this one compared to the prices I see for games online.