NBA BASKETBALL CARD SHOP in PERTH A1 Cards and Gaming * 0400784795 *

Welcome to the official Ozcardtrader thread for A1 Cards and Gaming.

We are a locally owned and operated Shop now operating from the Canning Vale Markets, Perth Australia.

Keep an eye out for us at your local hobby fairs around Australia in the near future !

It has been a long road with many twists and turns but A1 Cards and Gaming is still going strong. We owe it all to our local customers and fans for all of their support in getting us to where we are today

A1 is still relatively young by comparison but we are motivated and determined to get better every year. We will achieve this by making collecting as much fun as it possibly can be for everyone involved

If we do not have something you are chasing, please let us know so we can get it in for you
We will give you cheapest possible quote before you leave

UPDATE

15th January 2014 - Official Panini dealership now set up and the latest boxes available at A1

Although we can get a large variety of products in, A1 is now concentrating on NBA boxes, NBA singles, YUGIOH and HOBBY SUPPLIES

PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLES IN OUR SIGNATURE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN FOR MORE STUFF AVAILABLE

You Contact me at A1.Cards.and.Gaming@gmail.com
or you can send your requests the old fashion way to
Attn the Manager
A1 Cards and Gaming
PO box 848
Gosnells
Western Australia 6990

We would like to Thank everyone for their input and support in getting this dream off the ground

Thanks to OutlawNinja for the awesome shop sign design work looks brilliant to me

< Our Goal at A1 Cards and Gaming >

Our main aim is to build a culture based on some Honesty and integrity !

We promote and support a positive collecting culture at A1 where everyone is treated equally and with respect.

THEFT - if you are thinking of stealing from one of my customers, I would suggest strongly that you don't ! Other people will hear about it eventually.

Here is an example of what happened to someone who did steal from an honest collector - He was caught out and has since been banned from A1 Cards and Gaming and Ozcardtrader http://www.ozcardtrader.com.au/comm...jordan-story-warning-check-out-page-5.116412/

Thanks for stopping by and we hope everyone can appreciate and love of the hobby like we do

Re: Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Go for it Terry..

If you will it, it will

Re: Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Definitely follow your dream! Sounds good and I think you would get a lot of business.

With what you would stock, I think AFL is important to get the young kids to come, maybe even pokemon or whatever else young kids collect these days. When I was young I used to go to a shop to buy a pack of cards, while I was there I would spend about $5 on buying single common cards of my favourite players. I think selling single cards (not just boxes/cases) is important.

So maybe specialise in NBA and then have a decent mixture of other sports and non sports. Maybe even have lucky dips for the kids, $3 for 10 random common cards or something like that.
So many things you could do to make it a success, so go for it

I

Re: Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Yeah those are really good suggestions, Brandon

Yeah, you may have to bust a few cases first so u have some singles for sale

I think selling single packs will be great for kids

Re: Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

go for it. except open it in melbroune haha.

Re: Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Cheers Asher and Brandon

Cobretti said:

go for it. except open it in melbroune haha.

Click to expand...

if it goes well enough I will look into it

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Go for it Terry! a few other suggestions would be to stock merchandise, jerseys caps even sporting goods, no.1 draw card would be local sports teams, get involved with promotions for local sporting clubs, would imagine AFL being a big draw card, NBA collecting has grown alot over the last year but its not good business to put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to business its all about avenues of revenue, could even go down the road of gaming, another good idea would be to have a trading area for customers to come trade with each other

alot to think about, recently visted a Card Shop in Tokyo and it was very small though they have two stores in Japan, though Baseball is huge over here

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Whilst it would be great to have another bricks & mortar store over here & I'm all for following your dream I really don't know if it would be worth it Terry.... do you think you could make it profitable whilst being reasonably competitive on prices? You've gotta give people a reason to come in..... WHY would they come to you when they could buy online? Getting it faster is one thing yes.... people won't mind paying a little extra for that convenience; but how much more?

I think stacking up on supplies would be a good +1 for you..... lots of people have trouble finding these & are often concerned with shipping prices when they do. Only thing I have found with supplies in B&M stores is their prices are rather exorbitant & it puts me off... but I guess that goes with the territory!?

Maybe you could even stock up some of the old 90's boxes? That may be something interesting that people would come to you for.... they are gaining a lot of popularity lately!

All the best with whatever you decide to do mate!

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

I personally think that a physical location/shop is the way to go. I know personally, there is nothing better than getting together somewhere local with fellow collectors is not only enjoyable, but it encourages ppl to buy packs and boxes, the same effect a cardshow has on collectors. There are heaps of card/box suppliers online, and my guess is their margins are very slim. Too much competition. I know I am more likely to buy a box or pack if it's infront of me rather than on a screen. No shipping or waiting time! If you do go ahead, I think a good range of singles are important, all price ranges.

Good luck with whatever u decide Tez!

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

good idea in theory however the required margins in bricks and mortar kills it. you would be running a cardshop as a not for profit as margins selling as an online store are low as it is.

you would have to be prepared to work long hours for at least 6 days a week. and also have a passion for it in the face of very little profit (if any) because once the passion wanes, then you end up not opening the shop on some days and then it all goes downhill. see the melbourne example that occurred approximately two years ago as the model not to follow.

all the non profitable items like singles and supplies would also take up too much space in your store. you just have to have a variety store with cards as a small part of it, meaning earning you less than 5% of your total revenue. australia does not have the market depth for trading cards to justify having shops.

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

G'Day Terry,

Gary raises important points which are the over heads for a brick n mortar store and the market for cards.

I have been looking into setting a shop in my local area for the last 12 months, other commitments have kept the project in early stages but personally I consider diversity the most important thing here.
My shop for example would not simply be a trading card shop, it's just not financially viable...I still want a hobby shop so I need to look at how I can diversify my stock to maximise my customer base.
This includes the diversity of cards on offer (TCG's, sport etc), merchandise, collectables, video games, models and I am planning to implement a few tricks to keep young people coming into my shop. I won't be saying what they are at this point as I am protecting my business plan but my suggestion to you is; make your shop a social hub, somewhere kids and adults want to hang out.
If you can get your price point right and your shop is a fun place to be after school or on the weekend thumbs up, you want people to say "shopping online is lame, I want to hang out with my mates and still be able to buy my cards or whatever".
A great way to achieve this is trading card games and so forth, holding local competitions and such.

Have a look around your local area (the area the store will be located) and work out what is NOT in the area and already available to people.
Do your research and work out what the market/demand locally is for all those items and find innovative ways to bring people into your store. Pete makes a good point about working out partnerships with other local shops/clubs etc. You need to make your store some where people want to go to rather than shop online, this is a huge question..how will you achieve that?

The other great point Gary makes is that you are going to be working hard long hours with minimal income and you need to be aware of where your income will come from, where you will be covering your losses from and can you sustain this until you've made a name for yourself?
It can take years to get a business into profit and don't be under any illusions, it is a hard slog!

Mate if it's your dream and you have the stamina to see it through I would go for it and not be deterred by others, success comes from hard work and dedication. As my Father in law says "Nothing worth doing is easy".

I wish you all the best Terry and would love to hear some updates on how things go and what you decide to do.

Best wishes, Carl.

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

In the end it's your dream, u doing it for the $ or the passion? Can u afford the chance of taking a loss? In the end you can always have the satisfaction of knowing u gave it a shot and lived ur dream. Can't put a price on that!

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Super super risky man, but rather than buying from the cheaper online places couldn't you get them as a distributor/official supplier or whatnot so that they come direct from the manufacturer and therefore be cheaper?

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Make sure you do your research terry....apparantly 70% of businesses fail in the first year.
Looks like your pretty much doing it .
location
competition
overheads (inc wages)

Ill be stoked if you go for it mate...may help draw me back in.
PS....if you need any help on the shop setup or even a hand when open you can always call me mate,
best of luck

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

I think the advice you are receiving is very good, the key I believe (apart from the obvious basics you are considering; location / rent / competition etc) would be to diversify as much as possible so as to expand your customer base, including things to attract the girls for example;

• Movie memorabilia - Twighlight
• Music memorabilia - Bieber

Best of luck.

Ross

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Some great suggestions and Ideas . Thanks heaps
please check the first post for some updates regarding times and days open

One thing that I will be making sure of is a good selection of card protection options ! snap tights, top loaders, penny sleeves etc
It is annoying how limited local stores and even online sellers keep their stock levels

Looking at spending between 10/12k on boxes and supplies which should be enough to get things started

Older boxes will be in stock for sure

Working long hours wont be a problem. Been a stay at home dad gives me the flexibility there plus the location will be children friendly with a play section for the little ones

My wife is a little apprehensive (cautious) which is good but behind me 100% and financially we can cover the bills if I don't sell a single thing (that just wont happen)
The first 6/12 months will be more about gathering a big stock base (boxes & some supplies). As far as the Single card market and stock, The Prized MJ PC + , Dwight howard, jsy numbered and other PC etc will be the driving force in that section ! it will be sad to give up some (imo) awesome cards but I know there are plenty of nice draw cards available

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Are you going to stock nba only tez...?
I would assume youde be doing at least afl as well.

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

hsv006 said:

Are you going to stock nba only tez...?
I would assume youde be doing at least afl as well.

Click to expand...

I wont be that 1 dimentional ! Will be stocking a bit of everything. Singles/ boxes/ posters/ figurine if possible but may need to add more of the bigger stuff a bit later on. still undecided

will be getting all of the following

UFC * AFL * NFL * NHL * MLB * MTG * yugiho * and still researching other stuff, Movie stuff, music (ac/dc) etc

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Another thing you'll have to factor in is fluctuations in the currency rate.

Right now we are seeing our dollar at never before seen heights against the US.....but it wasn't that long ago it was at 60c....and it can get back there quickly.

Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?

Keep all the great suggestions coming

Allstar cards inc said:

Another thing you'll have to factor in is fluctuations in the currency rate.

Right now we are seeing our dollar at never before seen heights against the US.....but it wasn't that long ago it was at 60c....and it can get back there quickly.

Click to expand...

I did think about fluctuation but my idea is to get my goods cheap enough that I can still compete with online sellers as a last resort but retail is a different game all together