Advice needed

[shaxper]

Hey guys,


I'd never imagined it until now, but it makes perfect sense. A good friend of mine and I are talking about getting a store together in which he would handle fantasy and anime-related items and I would sell robot and action figure toys, old and new. We'd also suppliment our business with a professional website (he's a professional web designer). I have an excellent head for business but I know very little about the toy retail trade. I've inquired with a few sources about import wholesale orders, but can anyone recommend a particularly good source for bulk ordering items from Japan (particularly Bandai and Takara)? Does anyone know of any good wholesale sources for old or collectible items (if such a source exists)? In fact, does anyone have any general information or tips to offer? I'm very excited about the possibility of this store, but while I'm very good at hunting down bargains on ebay, I can't expect to fill half a store with individual ebay wins. I'd like to line my shelves with new MIB Soul of Chogokin, Machine Robo, Macross, and Takara Transformers Reissues items, as well as some amazin golden oldies. Any and all help would be GREATLY appreciated!


Thanks in advance!

[Edward28]

That's a tough question. My experience is that places like Day Old Antiques of MA and Children of Paradise, NY tried to do the same thing. The owners decided to leave the vintage business. So I would just warn that it is VERY tough to find N.O.S. (new old stock) robots that sell and are not costing a mint. Everyone knows the market on these toys and won't cut you a whole sale price. They want close to retail.

In the past I heard of vintage warehouse finds in Japan, CA, and NY but those products were bought up by dealers ages ago. Most of these toys have been pieced out to collectors. So your problem will be that there just aren't too many vintage sources at a good price.

I've also dabbled with the idea of bulk purchases of new toys from Japan, but those supplies are difficult to predict. My understanding is that orders are sometimes filled, sometimes stopped at the customs docks, sometimes canceled, and often short on the quality goods and long on the "dogs". Bottom line-- your supplier will make you or break you. Japanese companies will take care of/ focus on Japan first.

Don't forget that imports really are regulated and need to be licensed. That's where customs and loss suits come in ( you may recall the Macross problems with Harmony Gold).

Then keep in mind that internet sales are ruthless. You have to compete with Hong Kong, seasoned businesses, and Japan directly. I happen to think that HLJ has a great idea and ships directly from Japan (at least that is my understanding).


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The above were the BAD parts
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Good thoughts now --- ;D Making a business of your hobby would be awesome! If you can make it you will just be having TOO much fun Also, you may have great luck with the local retail market. Consumers love brick and mortar stores like Outer Limits of NJ and the various Manhattan, Chicago, and CA outlets.

Chew, ruminate, and digest.

-e-
P.S. As if you can't tell, I would LOVE to do the same thing...........

[shaxper]

Thanks for all the info, Ed!

Yes, I realize the chances of wholesale vintage dealers with fair prices is highly unlikely. I realize that you're not gonna find a warehouse full of ten year old toys that are still lying around, but I'm hoping maybe a vintage store going out of business looking to unload merchandise or a wholesaler who buys out these going out of business stores. Again, unlikely, but worth a shot.

As for importing directly, I don't expect to to be able to arrange that, especially since I don't speak Japanese, so I'm currently exploring 2nd level wholesalers; basically, people that buy in major bulk directly from the companies and resell wholesale for only a small markup. I tried HLJ, but they can only offer a 5% discount on most of what i want to carry. I've considered that I can markup to 150% of the original retail cost since I'd be the only store in Cleveland carrying this stuff. I don't think that would be too unreasonable. If it worked, I could still make 55% profit (minus overall shipping, which should be low for bulk orders) and my customers would pay a bit more, but there'd be no shipping cost, and many people here aren't on the internet yet either.

I don't know for sure. I'm still toying with all this. Ideally, most of my stuff would be vintage from ebay steals, but I can't depend upon that to stock my store.

Thanks again, Ed.

[Edward28]

No problem at all, it should be fun

One other item that I've learned-- High priced toys (often vintage) just don't sell fast enough with a low risk to make a business. The big money makers are sturdy, cheap, bulk toys. That's why vinyls sell so well and make dealers profits. That's why card games like Pokeman and ~Yugio make a big profit. And for that reason that is why you don't see many stores carry many toys over $85. So be SURE to stock "cheap" impulse buy items.

[shaxper]

Good point. Yeah, I have no intention of expecting a small amount of high priced items to make a profit for me. The idea is basically that I see a TON of cheap steals on ebay every day that I pass up on. I'd increase my ebay buying, sell them in the store for a reasonable profit, and use current Japanese items to suppliment the profit. Whatever doesn't move can ultimately be sold on ebay. There's no way I'm expecting this to make enough money to replace my current job. My plan is to have it open Saturday and Sunday, and a few hours after work during the week, and hope to make enough from that (no employees) to pay rent and provide a small profit. It's more a hobby than anything else, but it would be fun, and maybe I ultimately COULD make it into a profitable full time job; but not right off. I need to feel out the community first. We have a LOT of young people in the area, but nothing like this. I have no idea how well it will do.