Thinking about opening a gaming store.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

So if you've been following my gaming room thread you might have know that i've had to order about 90 percent of the stuff i have. Gaming stores are so lacking in stuff outside of games. And most of the products they do sell are insulting to people that know what they are doing, and it's mostly junk. So i've been thinking about opening a store that sells the hard to find things, that you'd most likely have to order over the internet net from various sources.

The store would sell things like

Racing wheels and fight sticks
Mix amps and headphones and mod mics head phone stands
Toys that are hard to find or imported from japan.
clothing
Various parts for people to build their own projects. (hit boxes and custom fight sticks)
projectors and screens
Good monitors, (not the crud sold at BB)
Flight sim sticks and racing lollipop pits

And i'm sure a lot of other things that i find over time.

And of course i don't expect my market to fully support this store alone so I would also open a web store.

What do you guys think? Is there a real market for a store like this or am I the niche of the niche?

[Dr. Pezus]

probably not the easiest market to catch but sounds good nonetheless

[Legend]

So a gaming accessory store?

Any online competition?

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

So a gaming accessory store?

Any online competition?

Not sure, I'd also sell games. But obviously that won't be the main draw as you can buy game anywhere.

[the-pi-guy]

Cool, but I think you're in a niche. 

[darkknightkryta]

I can only give you what I've observed over the past 5 or so years.  These stores just don't work.  I've seen so many of them open up and they've only lasted a few years.  Mind you, I've seen them mostly in asian malls, but there's only two left that I know of.  One of them have stopped importing things and just started to sell cellphone cases.  The other, may or may not be around as it's been a while since I've been to that particular mall.  Though it looked like he was still going strong.  If you can get guaranteed customers, then it'll work, just like a comic shop.  But again, what doesn't work here might work somewhere else.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

I can only give you what I've observed over the past 5 or so years.  These stores just don't work.  I've seen so many of them open up and they've only lasted a few years.  Mind you, I've seen them mostly in asian malls, but there's only two left that I know of.  One of them have stopped importing things and just started to sell cellphone cases.  The other, may or may not be around as it's been a while since I've been to that particular mall.  Though it looked like he was still going strong.  If you can get guaranteed customers, then it'll work, just like a comic shop.  But again, what doesn't work here might work somewhere else.

Where are you located? 

[darkknightkryta]

Where are you located? 

Canada, a little outside Toronto.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

Canada, a little outside Toronto.

What kind of shop are they? Do they just deal with imports?

[darkknightkryta]

What kind of shop are they? Do they just deal with imports?

Depends, there were more shops too who did other niche products(Anime/Manga).  As far as the game ones go.  Some were there just on the modchip craze(They did sell legit products though).  The ones that sold legit games though, they don't exist anymore bar 2.  One deals purely with imports, the other one did both.  But the one who did both is just clearing out his game stock and is gonna start selling phone cases.  If you can get guaranteed clientele the you'll be good.  Because limited edition products are becoming more rare and online only.  If you can find a way to cheaply get those products in, then you'll be good.  Like for instance with Xenoblade.  EB games decided to make orders with Nintendo while no one else did.  The store I get my games from, contacted Nintendo and they were willing to ship them copies.  Order had to be 1000 minimum.  They brought the copies in and sold them at premium pricing.  So if you can do those kind of things and get the guaranteed 1000 sales then you'll have no issues.  Same with the sticks.  You have to be near a fighting game community.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

Depends, there were more shops too who did other niche products(Anime/Manga).  As far as the game ones go.  Some were there just on the modchip craze(They did sell legit products though).  The ones that sold legit games though, they don't exist anymore bar 2.  One deals purely with imports, the other one did both.  But the one who did both is just clearing out his game stock and is gonna start selling phone cases.  If you can get guaranteed clientele the you'll be good.  Because limited edition products are becoming more rare and online only.  If you can find a way to cheaply get those products in, then you'll be good.  Like for instance with Xenoblade.  EB games decided to make orders with Nintendo while no one else did.  The store I get my games from, contacted Nintendo and they were willing to ship them copies.  Order had to be 1000 minimum.  They brought the copies in and sold them at premium pricing.  So if you can do those kind of things and get the guaranteed 1000 sales then you'll have no issues.  Same with the sticks.  You have to be near a fighting game community.

Maybe it would be best to test it with a web store first. That way i don't really need to keep much of an inventory and my wife could run it while i'm at work.   

[BananaKing]

if you are thinking about opening a business, make a business plan first. dont just think a few good ideas are enough to cut it.

[kitler53]

Maybe it would be best to test it with a web store first. That way i don't really need to keep much of an inventory and my wife could run it while i'm at work.

try a web store maybe,..


a physical store is a horrible idea.  the products your talking about selling is very niche and the people looking for those items have already been "trained" to look for them on the web.  you'll run out of money long before anyone who would shop from your store learns your store exists and even then things will probably be cheaper on the web anyways.  at best people will browse your store for a look-see before going to the web to order it.

these kinds of stores used to be around and they all eventually bankrupted.  don't let your passion for this get in the way of good judgement.  you'll loose all your money.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

try a web store maybe,..


a physical store is a horrible idea.  the products your talking about selling is very niche and the people looking for those items have already been "trained" to look for them on the web.  you'll run out of money long before anyone who would shop from your store learns your store exists and even then things will probably be cheaper on the web anyways.  at best people will browse your store for a look-see before going to the web to order it.

these kinds of stores used to be around and they all eventually bankrupted.  don't let your passion for this get in the way of good judgement.  you'll loose all your money.

Yeah, I think I'll just go the Web store route.
I've already got my eBay account going and my first item to flip up. We'll see if I can make a profit flipping amiibos, For now and build from there.

[7H3]

hmm well if you gained enough traction amazon would probably just buy you out