Now more than ever, I am seeing young people create their own card shop. While I think it is noble to follow your passion, the sad reality is that most local game stores (LGS) do not survive the long haul.
I am not a financial advisor, but I think of these five questions when it comes to financial wellness and going “all in” to the collectible world:
Do you have an emergency fund?
Do you have a 401(k), pension, or another retirement account that you’re actively contributing to?
Do you own property?
Are you in debt (including student loans)?
Are you taking care of your health/well-being?
Owning and running an LGS (whether completely online, hybrid such as in-person markets + online presence, or a brick and mortar store) takes a considerable amount of time, capital, and space. It will not provide benefits typical of other jobs, such as health/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, 401(k), pension, or stock options for retirement savings, predictable stream of income with bonuses/career growth, etc. Like owning any business, the upside is working for yourself and having flexibility/freedom, but at the cost of short-term or long-term stability.
So with regard to the thread’s question, why are so many young people trying to open a card shop? And do they fully grasp/understand the difficulties in making this type of business work?
This is not financial advice. If you want to run an LGS, that’s awesome. But please consult a financial advisor and receive the proper education/training to operate a business.
I don’t have any strong feelings but Rudy uploaded a video recently on the same topic, and he goes into what you mention in more detail.
IIRC he made another one some time ago, too.
It’s fun and it’s incredibly lucrative IF you know what you’re doing and are willing to put in the time and effort as well as being patient and not overreacting to market trends. I went full-time into it in 2020 and it was the best decision I’ve ever made. Of course, mine is an online store, so I can’t speak on brick and mortar which is an entirely different animal and I actually don’t think an online store and a physical storefront should be lumped together.
It will work for some people. It won’t for others. Just like anything else, that’s life. It is what it is.
Was just going to link Rudy’s video, but that mostly covers brick-and-mortar (though similar concepts still apply).
There’s definitely a lot more interest from those that are younger in getting into the business side of things of the TCG. I think with the craze of 2020 and even the recent modern market (both here and in Japan), there’s a feeling that the demand will always be there and there’s always money to be made.
I think it’s important to also understand how young these people are and what their current job prospects are. If they’re under 26, they can still piggyback on their parent’s health insurance, which is okay temporarily, but they might not be exercising enough foresight to understand that they’ll have to cover themselves eventually. Also, if they’re currently part-time workers or working in non-salaried jobs with little to no benefits, I can see why replacing a retail job for selling cards online is attractive (brick-and-mortar is a completely different beast though, and I don’t know how many are interested in getting physical space). I would think that most are young enough that they are probably not fully considering and taking into account the questions you posed. To add on to your list, I wonder if these young people understand how the taxes work too. Regarding this, I would venture a good number are probably not reporting taxable income properly, making them think they are making more than they should be.
But we also should keep in mind that some might just be interested in doing it as a side hobby/business along with their full-time or more stable job. If so, the other job may cover things like insurance/emergency funds and whatnot, and there’s not as much risk if things go under.
Hi everyone, Relatively newer collector here and brand new to the forum. I have had the thought of opening a card shop, in some fashion, pop into my head a few times. The reason I think it persists is because it feels like there is a lack of card shops that cater to non-sports tcg’s in my area. This idea never gets very far in terms of the time investment/financial situation to start a business, because I think my area just doesn’t have a high enough population interested in the hobby to sustain a store. We have card shops that go under that specialize in sports I can’t imagine other shops doing much better. I just wish there was more availability to go to a location near me to talk about the hobby, trade, and buy. Unfortunately, buying new product is the only thing easily available near me.
To answer the original question I think a lot of people are looking at internet personalities. This doesn’t necessarily have to relate to tcg’s, but most people that I watch or follow have some kind of side business. This may be owning property, an online store front, or some other venture that they use to earn money. The problem is when presenting these side businesses they don’t represent the time investment needed to make this situation succeed. They don’t show the hours spent at their full time job and then the extra hours supporting there other ventures. This time investment may take time away from other hobbies/family which most people don’t show on the internet. It seems to viewers more like a passive income and who wouldn’t want more income with the same amount of effort?
These are just some thoughts sorry for the long post
The world sucks a lot. Well paying jobs are hard to find, the rent is too damn high, young people without generational wealth have a very low chance of becoming homeowners.
I don’t blame people for trying to find a fulfilling self-employment job and/or starting their own business by doing what they love. Whether or not they know what they’re doing is another thing entirely, but I think it’s a lot deeper than people copying internet hype or being uninformed zoomers.
I’ve heard/talked about this recently: Whether it’s hobbies, passions, work, relationships - Oh MAN do people do this in relationships and with things that make them feel good only Sometimes - People more often than not will see things not as they are, but as they want them to be. The rose colored glasses. The greener grass. Whatever metaphor you may choose, we have a hijacking habit of refusing to see things as they are, or even, unwittingly avoiding the reality that is. That’s just how humans tend to function.
edit: For the purposes of honesty and clarity due to neurodivergence, I don’t mean that NO ONE can succeed in operating an LGS. my LGS has been around my whole life, and I’m super thankful for it!
I have a store and I sell Pokemon,
Decided to close the doors in June.
But
A very Young man who is one of my customer, decided he wanted to take over the Pokemon section and he rented the venue.
Simply said, people have dreams and they follow them.
Can turn out good or bad, but I told him how difficult it can be.
He has the advantage I was selling Pokemon products for many years from that location, so he gets the “traffic”.
I hope he can make his dream into a steady income and enjoys the journey.
For the next months I will help him starting/supply him.
They were probably told their job was non-essential around two years ago and thought to themselves ‘If I’m going to work a non-essential job, I’d rather it be one that I enjoy’.
Joking aside, it is important to consider that if people already have a steady online presence and are growing beyond the physical limits of their studio apartment whatnot sales setup, it may make sense to open an LGS that serves as storage a studio, and an opportunity to expand into brick and mortar, especially if they were already going to spend money renting a storage unit or a professional studio.
As someone who has had a eBay shop for 12 years now, it seems crazy to me the idea of setting up a shop with the vast amount of overheads you’d take on from day one. Some days I feel a bit of an itch to open a brick & mortar store, it is purely based on my own nostalgia though and I guess would only be as a hobby shop, I know it would just eat a chunk out of my profits…
I would also say that the reality is that the vast majority of 9-5 jobs suck. They don’t pay particularly well, you have limited freedom and you’re just another number that the company can (and will) cut loose at the drop of a hat.
I think with most small businesses that you enjoy as a customer or have worked in, it seems easy to dream of all the ways to improve it and how you yourself can do that. Especially with a somewhat cheap cost of entry compared to many large businesses. Nobody is working at Walmart thinking they could do it better…
I worked at a local arabic coffee shop, hookahs and such, during college to pay the bills. It seemed so easy to run and maintain, high profit %, low cost of entry, fun place to work etc. Some of my work buddies had the great idea of opening up their own shop not far away and make it the “best” arabic coffee shop. Well… it never was as good, they made tons of mistakes. While they improved the few things the current shop they worked for lacked, they also had a ton of problems the current shop didn’t have. So in fixing a few problems with this new store they actually produced a bunch of core problems the other store didn’t have. So they were unsuccessful and eventually closed down.
Another point, I think people fail to realize that once you turn your hobby into a job/career that it changes you. You don’t look at it the same anymore, or I think for many this is the case. You don’t go home excited about your collection or playing a TCG when you’ve been doing it all day and your livelihood depends on it. When you pour hours of time and planning into an event but you get a poor turnout. It’s part of running a business that can be surprising.
I’m so glad you mentioned that last paragraph! I didn’t want to come off as a doomer, but pivoting your hobby into a business changes your perspective. Especially in something like Pokémon where doing social media is encouraged. I’ve seen so many friends get consumed by the allure of fame.
I think there is a happy balance of being a bit more obscure and doing your thing. Even in that balance you are still constantly grinding and taking risks. That cannot be overstated. I’ve experienced the longer you do this grind, the more you have to prioritize time to appreciate your cards. If you don’t, you lose the passion, which is necessary for it all to work.
I enjoy making decorative cards for my friends and family’s birthdays, holidays etc. Often when someone really likes it they say something along the lines of “Oh you should sell these on Etsty for card / wedding invitations!” Ah yes, let me turn an occasional enjoyable relaxing hobby into another thing to stress over and ruin my wrist.
The closest I ever got to monetizing this passion was writing fancy handwritten thank-you notes to high - dollar donors at the nonprofit I work at and it was a pain.
Some of my old cards to get an idea. These aren’t my top favorites but don’t contain too much private info.
The reason I stop my store is because I have no feeling for social media.
I am not present at Instagram, only visit facebook/groups sometimes.
I know very well I could go on for another few years if I only had the patience and knowledge to use social media better. However I simply don’t want to spend a lot of time to learn it.
After being around for 23 years, the collecting hobby indeed turned away for a large portion because I needed to make sales and keep the store up running.
When I took the decision to stop the Brick and Mortar store and also not going to be a reseller of new product anymore, I suddenly wanted to collect something again.
I’m now fine with this. It gives me a sort of peace (and a lot of time)
Perhaps I’m only getting old…
LGS are great places to play games but if you’re goal is to simply sell items, the overhead costs will kill most dreams. You have to compete with everyone else with an internet connection plus you need to pay for rent, shelves, insurance, tables, etc.
I think this all plays off of the romanticism of local game stores. I’ve seen so many e4 threads like “I’m visiting xxx city, what are the good card stores I should check out?”. Almost all these threads end in crickets because most LGS experiences aren’t actually great. You go in hoping to find some underpriced thing only to realize basically anything good has already been picked over. Any actual positive LGS experience is fleeting because as soon as someone walk out of the store with a deal that’s one less deal for the next person
I think the logic is that everyone has their own idea of the formula that all other stores are missing. It also feels like the “next level” of building a collection/inventory - to put it all on display. But it’s a trap. You will almost certainly fail. All you are doing is making your product more expensive and decreasing your possible customer base. It’s a bad idea, don’t do it
