posted on January 9, 2001 07:38:41 AM
Hello Everyone. We are looking for some ideas on a situation we are heading into. First of all, we are a full time sports collectibles store. Had a storefront for 12 years now. Business in the store is drying up. We get approx two people a day walk through our doors. But we also run tons of our inventory on Ebay and very small amount on Yahoo. Our internet sales are really taking off. Current average is 95% auciton site sales and 5% store sales. Should we continue to run the store? Our overhead is way small. We need around $40 a day to operate the store in rents, electric, etc. So it does make a good warehouse. Any advise? Thank you for your time.
posted on January 9, 2001 07:46:31 AM
I would keep it! Especially if it is good storage space for your stock! I do my ebay business out of my home and use my 3 season porch as my "eBay room."
The other day we had (in Minnesota) a warm snap and all the snow melted on the roof and caused an ice dam on that side of my house. The ice caused a crack in my roof and then when the snow melted again the next day it came flowing into the room!
My older son found the leak and we had to quickly move all of my product out of the room and into my living room. You cannot walk in my living room! It is terrible!
I would kill to have a storage space and a place to go to - so that I could do my business and keep it out of my home.
posted on January 9, 2001 08:17:43 AM
I've recently leased a storefront, one of the purposes of which is to get this stuff out of my house!
Working at home may sound convenient, and in some ways it is, but it's a pain in alot of other ways. My basement is bursting at the seams between all the desks, computer equipment, inventory, shelving, boxes, bubble wrap, etc. My living room often holds the overflow of both my ebay and mall inventory, making it a real pain to try to clean around.
I'm also hoping that by moving my business offsite that I'll be able to "leave it at the office," and when I'm home be there mentally as well as physically. Right now, with no line of separation, it's way too easy to let work dominate everything.
Anyway, that's my rationale. I'll let you know in about a year if I was right!
posted on January 9, 2001 09:08:20 AM
I have both - eBay AND a storefront. I would suggest you keep the store and keep going to work - only put the internet and eBay stuff there. That way you can go home and not have to live in eBay 24 hours a day. AND it will keep you in a good supply of things coming in to sell on eBay if you let people know you will buy their collectibles.
I have changed my video rental store into a video, music, game, and adult video for sale store and am very happy with the way things have changed. I sold the store name and a portion of the items for a very nice price, changed my name and kept on truckin'.
Look around and see how you can change to keep up with the electronic age. For me it was by making a radical turn. What used to be the horror section is now a very nice living room for the kids - and the customers who come in are not trying to rip me off.
NO more huge payroll, no more awful movie bills ... everything that comes in the door is now profit.
By keeping your storefront you also keep your foot in the door of retail - just in case something happens to eBay. You never know. AND if the customers who come in spend a couple of bucks, that it just extra money in your pocket!
One final word of advice - get a cable connection. Although it is about $70 a month here, the cost of the additional phone line and the minutes I racked up were VERY expensive.
posted on January 10, 2001 01:10:51 PM
You might consider if having the store front is bringing you inventory. If any of the people coming in the door are wanting to sell you sports collectibles and the acquisition of such items is bringing you profits on eBay, then you should keep the store front.
I like working out of my home. I am rural so it would not make sense for me to have a store. When I feel that my inventory is overwhelming the house I put a day into cleaning and reorganizing.
I only sell French Haviland and Limoges, pre-1930, so a lot of my inventory can be displayed and I don't have the same kind of storage problem as do the sellers who sell a variety of items. However, let me entertain with you a story about this fellow who sells on eBay.
I like going to estate auctions. Everyone has an activity which gives them enjoyment, like the sellers on the Goodwill thread who love to go to thrift shops. I never go to thrift shops or rummage sales but I love estate auctions, the kind of auctions that are conducted on-site and the contents of the house and all out-buildings have to be sold in one day. I rarely find Haviland but it is a fun day and I sometimes bring home a lovely piece of antique furniture or something else that strikes my eye.
There is this one fellow who is a regular. He is disabled and in a wheelchair due to a stroke. He buys at the estate auctions, sells on eBay, has a year-round garage sale at his home and sells at antique shows a few times a year.
Well this fellow works out of his home. He has an old two story home with a full basement and a couple of out-buildings. He employs a full-time caregiver to drive him around and help him with his eBay business. He owns a big delivery van and the caregiver drives him to the estate auctions in the big van. At the estate auctions there is more stuff than what buyers want. After the first couple of hours the antique shop owners, eBay dealers and people in the neighborhood dribble away leaving only the die hard auction attendees. At that point, the auctioneer is selling boxes and boxes of stuff for just a few dollars, for example 5 boxes of linens, books, dishes, figurines, ... The attendees who arrived in cars have already filled up and left. At this point in the auction this fellow starts buying everything. Doesn't matter if the boxes are filled with toilet paper and cans of soup, he is buying boxes and boxes of stuff for just a few dollars.
Sounds like a delight for some people. Problem is this fellow now has his basement crammed, outbuildings crammed, two floors of his house crammed with stuff. Years ago he lost track of what he has.
Back on topic, if you are in danger of being like the fellow I described, keep your storefront.
posted on January 11, 2001 09:18:41 PM
Darcy - I could very easily become that person. I am such a packrat!
How about adding new items and services in your store? What is your neighborhood lacking? What type of area is your sports store in?
If you are on the east coast email me and I will give you a couple of ideas.
Have you thought about adding used music in your store? Put up a sign that you buy and sell used CD's and watch items come in - and the customers will quickly follow.
Why not do your listing and everything that has to do with eBay at your store? Certainly that would keep you busy!
OR if all else fails and you are still bored I'll send my daughters over. They will drive you nuts!
posted on January 12, 2001 03:32:53 AM
Well, even not knowing all the details, I would say from what you've told us, keep the store. Only if I had a huge house,dry basement, attic,insulated garage or any other kind of large unused space close to home would I give it up.
I am going back to a small storefront that is almost next to my home. It was rented as a house and when the tenants left,I said hey, this is the solution to my problem.Even losing the rental income I figure it will only cost about $15 a day to keep up. Some little income will be generated from walk-ins and yard sales of the merchandise I can't sell on ebay.
More than that it will give me room to sort out my house and sheds,no small thing since I can't get into anything now what with ebay and having inherited a complete estate. I expect I will be able to get organized and sell more on the internet as well as have the peace of mind of a house I can walk thru again! Just those 2 things should make it profitable to me!
How about dividing your store up so that your internet sales are in one area and your walk-in merchandise in the other half? And as previously mentioned you may find added business by buying thru your store.
posted on January 12, 2001 06:12:34 AM
Yeah, I'm sure there *are* cheaper alternatives -- IF storage was the only consideration.
Besides, don't forget keeping one's ebay inventory in storage has a whole set of its own problems, if you'll recall from the recent threads on the topic. It's not as easy as throwing the stuff in, going home and listing it. There are photos to take, questions from bidders to answer, weight and dimension measurements for shipping, etc., etc., all of which are made twice as difficult by lack of access to the merchandise.
But having a storefront isn't just about storage. It's about greater visibility, which in turn generates more buying and selling opportunities, which in turn means greater sales.
Plus lots of other perks already discussed. Don't underestimate the value of a clutterless house on one's mental health!
posted on January 12, 2001 07:46:50 AM
Two people a day walking into a store is NOT a business. I think the rent cost would be better spent in a very low-rent area, on a small warehouse with area set aside for taking pictures, packing, etc. For more visibility, create a hard copy catalog. Advertise in magazines.
posted on January 12, 2001 09:57:36 AM
Gee "blurocks"....sounds like a boring day for you!! Is it because of the winter, or is it like that all year?
I have to agree with "stockticker"....if your sales aren't covering your storefront expenses, then your store isn't holding it's own.
I'd have to say this is a no-brainer.
Working from home has alot of advantages. Yes, your house becomes your "store", so there's many adjustments to make, plus your friends & family never think of eBay as a "real" job, so they'll call & come over all the time, no matter what you tell them, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Sure I get bored sometimes, but that's me - not because there's not enough to do. If you're willing to devote 8 hours a day to your store now, think of what you could do at home!!
posted on January 12, 2001 02:13:49 PM
I don't know what area you're from, stockticker, but $40/day in total overhead IS the low-rent district! LMAO
A "small warehouse with area set aside for taking pictures, packing, etc." here would run a couple of times more than the approx. $500/mo. + utils. that bluroks pays.
Unless we're talking about the dirt-cheap rent district, in which case I'd have to invest first in some body armour ... and pay for valet body guards for all those customers who come in response to my "hard copy catalogs" and "magazine ads."
posted on January 12, 2001 03:02:55 PM
I am in a "low rent" neighborhood. Actually I own the building so it is even more affordanle. Perhaps you can check into buying a small house in a good location OR even renting one. People who have stuff to sell WILL find you!
AND I like having a life outside of the internet stuff. Going home and relaxing away from it all is great!
OK - I'll come clean. If I put all this stuff in my house my husband would KILL ME!
posted on January 12, 2001 03:17:55 PM
Your husband would kill you? Heck, I can't even find mine, maybe he isn't even living here anymore. I'll know when I start moving stuff next week! Does ebay insurance cover asphyxiation from excess merchandise?
posted on January 12, 2001 03:42:33 PM
LOL! Your husband is actually doing you a huge favor, mrssantaclaus! Imagine BOTH of you adding to that pile of inventory ... and having it all in your house! eeeekkk
deco100, no matter how full my house gets, my husband's *always* able to locate me, darn!
stockticker, I understand what you're saying, and agree with it mostly. If a seller can lower his/her overhead that's more for their pocket, which is the point after all! Just wanted to emphasize that one's working environment and its asthetics, whether it be at home or offsite, can affect us in more ways than we know...
posted on January 12, 2001 04:23:48 PM
Interesting thread....I am an eBay seller who works outta the house....Before I found eBay, I was in the process of researching the feasibility of opening a second hand store...Of course, along came eBay & I abandoned the store idea....Now, with my overload of inventory, storage fees, eBay slump in sales & increased shipping fees I find myself looking toward a store once again.
My reasoning is this:
1) I HAVE enough inventory & will be able to stock a store in no time...
2) I will have a place of business that is NOT in my house (there are VERY valid points that fountainhouse makes about the psychological impact of having inventory & business in your home)
3) ALL of my inventory will be available for sale at one time
4) I've got some great ideas on using the store in unique ways to generate increased income.
At this point, I'm not sure if this plan will be economically possible, but it sure is the direction that I am willing to investigate.
deco100...ROFLMAO I hope you do reunite with your long "lost" husband!
posted on January 13, 2001 11:10:19 AM
I found him! He was hiding in the bathtub. That and the refridgerator are about the only places safe from ebay storage use.
All kidding aside(who's kidding?) I brought this to the top again in hopes we would hear from any others who have combined a storefront with their ebay business.
posted on January 13, 2001 11:24:02 AM
Replying to our original topic. Here it is Saturday. Still Ebay is very good for our business. But once again, our store is dead. Our area where the store is located is dead. We even have a lingerie store next door to us and we do more on ebay then he does running his retail store. We are doing enough on Ebay to pay the bills, man but you dont even see anyone walk by the store! We also do many advertising in the papers but still no action. Business for the retail store is slow because all of our customers are now online running ads too! Someone suggested we keep the store to buy stiff. Not a bad idea but how to attract people to bring items in? We would like to expand into music cds. Any people sell cds?
posted on January 13, 2001 12:34:54 PM
rancher, lots of good reasons to move the business to a business site. Some more from my list:
* Additional sales from the storefront will offset the new overhead. My initial goal is to break even on those costs, allowing me to continue ebay selling and get this stuff out of my house with little or nothing out my pocket each month.
* With more room, I'm expanding the internet side of my biz. I'll be opening a dedicated web site with shopping cart and taking advantage of established sites like emerchant, TIAS, etc. These additional web sites will mirror the store inventory.
* I never felt comfortable allowing buyers to pick up their purchases at my home, so I avoided listing oversize or heavy objects. Now I can.
* Other shop owners have told me I can expect to purchase as much as 75% of my inventory from walk-ins, reducing the amount of time I have to spend beating the pavement.
* The little perks that can really affect a person's outlook. For instance, no more trekking up and down the front steps, maneuvering through the front door trying not to nick the walls or paint, carting everything downstairs, then carting it back up piece by piece when it's shipped. Reclaiming my personal living space. Being able to have guests without disrupting the whole business. Etc., etc.
I think there are enough merits that I'm going to give it a try for a year and see what happens. I'm moving in Feb. 1 -- wish me luck!
posted on January 13, 2001 01:58:29 PM
bluroks Someone suggested we keep the store to buy stiff. Not a bad idea but how to attract people to bring items in? We would like to expand into music cds. Any people sell cds? .....How about running a new ad highlighting the ***NEW*** features in your store?....WE BUY CARDS & CD's....A big huge sign in the window, maybe even a folding sign that you could stick out at the curb of the store with the same "WE BUY" message....That should help to generate traffic & good/fair buy prices & wide selection should help "word of mouth" spread the news about the store....
fountainhouse....I am soooooo jealous!....I think I've always wanted my own store...and YOU are soooo close to bein' there!....Your reasons are just about the same as mine...I am especially interested in being able to handle larger items, as I find myself passing by GREAT money makers, simply because shipping would be a nightmare...In addition to having a REAL business (maybe it's just my people, but none of them seem to think that eBay is a legit business) & getting ALL my inventory to be available at once!....If I do manage to get it together, I would like to have a mirrored computer system between the store & the house, so that I could work from either....Bestest of Luck to ya!....I'll be rooting for ya!...Let us know how it goes!....
posted on January 13, 2001 05:47:23 PM
Fountainhouse-keep in touch somehow, maybe start a thread a couple of months down the road? We're moving in Feb 1st too but our "official" opening will be March 1st.
CD's will be one of our main attractions just as it was when we had the pawn shop. They really draw in customers and all you need is signs in your window to advertise that you buy/sell them. Just a few words of common sense, buy them only in their original cases or at least with the original folders so you can put them in a jewel case,check their condition thoroughly,know what you will pay for them and what you will sell them for, and know what sells good for your area. Country is the biggest for us with rock coming in second in our area.
posted on January 13, 2001 08:44:05 PM
Thanks for the good wishes, rancher. This has been a long time coming, and I'm really happy it's finally going to happen.
I'll be glad to post a full report of my experiences -- hope you will, too, deco100! And best of luck to you too!
posted on January 13, 2001 11:55:02 PM
keep the store!!
we started in an extra bedroom about 360 square feet, it soon spread to the guest bedroom and guest bath, the hallway, the garage and the living room. at that point it's impossible to get away from. then one day my wife says my sister and her kids are coming to visit for a week we need to do something with all the stuff.
We rented a commercial space with utilities less than 400 for over 2200 square feet, if you count the mezzanine, and it's the best thing we ever did. We tried to have a store front there but it was a pain to turn that key every morning and again at night so it's just a place to meet salesmen, which by the way makes it easier to deal with wholesalers as some require a storefront and will turn tail if they find out otherwise. we had one company that found out that we only sold on the net despite the office and small sales area(most is just warehouse) and they threatened to stop selling to us, we placed a 3000 dollar order and now I really think we could work out of an outhouse and they would not care anymore.
posted on January 13, 2001 11:55:08 PM
March 1, 1989 was the opening date of my video store -- sniff, sniff ....
Word of mouth travels really fast -- try buy, sell, and trade.
BEWARE - you will have people stopping in. One day I looked up and there was a guy from far away who just stopped in to say "Hello"
It freaked me out! BUT I guess it is better than him coming to my house!
posted on January 15, 2001 08:56:51 AM
OK KIDS DO NOT READ THIS
Start selling used videos in your store. You don't need alot, just 50-100 or so. Then section off a back portion of the store with a door and a sign that says "You Must Be 18 or Older To Enter". Call it your Adult Education Center. Buy em cheap - sell them for $10. DO NOT ADVERTISE THIS. Just tell a couple of the guys - and let the word get out.
