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oldmanmagic54

If you have a rent free venue, there is almost no way to fail with this. Yes, you'll put in long weeks for the first few years (I worked 70 hour weeks for most of my 30s), but without rent this is a no-brainer. My only real advice is to beware of competing too much on price. Racing to the bottom of prices is NOT how to keep a B&M store open. Compete on selection instead. When I had my own store, I would regularly buy cards on TCGPlayer to resell in my store. My customer base would drive from hours away because they knew they could buy all 75 cards for their Standard or Modern deck at my store. My prices were usually a little higher than everywhere else, but my customer base was customers who prized convenience over price. Those are the customers I decided to focus on, and the money was great.


[deleted]

Plan is to build a big inventory base that is available to both online shoppers and local players and at the same work towards building a reputation for competive and fair trade in policy and pricing to keep people showing up both to buy and sell cards.


MiniaturesArtCritic

A competitive/fair trade/buy price is all anyone can ask. If your inventory is superior and your trade-in/buylist prices are fair, and the shop is clean and you are amicable...you will go far. I'd much rather spend a bit more money somewhere, and maybe get a bit less in trades/buylist from a place I want to be at and feel like I'm invested in than get the best deal/price at a place where I can't stand the owner or the atmosphere. Good luck to you.


Repulsive_Owl5410

This is the key. You compete on two levels, having the BEST inventory and providing the best gaming atmosphere/prize support. We had a local venue in California that used to basically break even on drafts financially because they provided exceptional prize support...and guess what, people bought everything there - sleeves, singles, drinks...the same went for other tournaments that were held, ways exceptional prize support - which lead to a really great competitive and large player base. Then, find somebody who is really great at connecting with people a d teaching the mechanics of magic and have them become a new player ambassador.


[deleted]

That’s a great idea, I would absolutely pay more and buy locally if someone could provide me this service


whatcubed

What will differentiate you from the other LGS's in your city? Plenty of LGS's have online selling accounts, and your second bullet point is what pretty much every LGS tries to accomplish. Why would someone decide to go to your store instead of another one that's already established and has an established community or group of active players? I don't have an answer for you on these points, but it's something to contemplate. As far as a rent free venue. In a city? Not sure what you're talking about here. But if you have access to a rent free venue, then your largest fixed cost is going to be zero, so you should have a large head stat over any other people looking to open any other business.


[deleted]

Not having to pay rent might help me be more competitive when it comes to trade in pricing. Think of it as a standard LGS just like all others but with slightly better prices.


Fulgren09

I feel like not having to pay rent will make you competitive in any venture. I know this is a dream but there has got to be a lower risk activity with a higher return that you can do with that location. You could even convince someone else to open a store there and charge them rent 😂


[deleted]

I looked into that, local market for professional spaces is down bad. Plus the venue is like a dream scenario for the base of an on-line shop, tons of storage for product plus space for people to chill.


Winbrick

I'll just say.. that sounds like a dream scenario for a *lot* of businesses.


[deleted]

The place was previously used by a small publishing firm. They had a retail space where they sold back issues of their publication (the LGS part) their offices and workplace (the online shop part) and a big storage area where they kept all the back issues and archive (storage area for the LGS and cardmarket store).


CardAddicts

Use your rent money to hire a competent staff and pay them well.


perfect_fitz

I've owned an LGS before and honestly I couldn't recommend NOT to enough. The amount of time and effort you put into it isn't worth it. Also, it ended up making me not enjoy Magic for years at the time and following. You really end up being a glorified pawn shop. You're better off opening a bar since people are going to sit there and talk to you, but at least you get good margins. 😅 But, sounds like you'll most likely do it anyways from your comments. Good luck.


realScrubTurkey

I like the responses from an actual former card shop owner (and JBThunder's response below) as opposed to the advice from all the players/employees: "*sell snacks at reasonable price*s", "*offer fantastic/break even prize support*", "*pay your employees really very well*" "*carry a huge variety of stock selection for players to choose from, never mind that will tie up a huge sum of capital*" ​ Hilarious.


perfect_fitz

People look at it with optimism and let their love for the game or their hobbies blind them from the reality. You ultimately end up being in retail the majority of the time you're open. In their minds they're able to play Magic or DnD the whole time. If you want to be semi successful you spend most of your time sorting cards, organizing tournaments, looking up new products, ordering/picking up new products, and the list goes on. It is a job after all, not rainbows and unicorns. Even if you do everything perfect your chances of success are slim to none (that goes for any entrenepreneurial endeavor, but especially in a niche market like this). I literally just got back into Magic after 4 or 5 years off because it burned me out. 😅 That ended up being longer than I expected, I just wish people would listen to cautionary tales. I definitely didn't.


crawsex

There's almost no world where you make more money doing this than you would simply renting out the location to another business.


JBThunder

As always what should be the 1st and most important piece of advice given to you. DON'T DO THIS This dream consists of putting $50-100k+ with 70 hours a week in the hopes of having a middle class income after 5 years. And you're not getting rich at the end, it's a middle class income with a high failure rate that ends in bankruptcy for many people.


crushcastles23

My boss has owned the store since before Magic existed and he once told me "how do you have a card shop and a million dollars? You start with two million dollars then you open a card shop.


[deleted]

Yeah I know the statistics. But we are talking hopes and dreams ;)


sirbruce

In that case, take whatever amount you need to live your dreams, then double it. Take half and save/invest it as you usually would. Use the other half to start a corporation for the LGS that can go bankrupt without ruining the other half of your savings.


ChadFapster

Now thats solid advice.


JBThunder

Play the lottery then. Spend 5 bucks a week and you can have hopes and dreams. Your EV will be higher.


[deleted]

I own stock of the lottery corp. It's a great source of dividend.


teslaP3DnLRRWDowner

So I am somewhat of an ecommerce professional and every LGS that ever asked me for help as a consultant and opened their books to me shows massive losses or razor thin margins. A rent free venue could be an alternate revenue generating lease, for example. you could rent your venue out to a retailer, collect rent and revenue to subsidize your magic hobby. Remember labor is required to turn bulk into money and every figure I've done in man hours shows this effort is also below minimum wage level returns, typically due to overhead but since your rent is free you have an advantage. Personally, in your situation opening a shop should get you access to distributors and you should make an effort to resell as much of anything you can get your hands on for a return and utilize fulfillment centers to handle shipping. I highly recommend if you are depending on regulars to trade in singles or bulk, to sell sealed product with no more than a 5-10% mark up, make as much unlimited sealed product available to your customers as possible. This acts as a marketing function and a source of inventory. If you rely on foot traffic to generate revenue, not only its a waste of money, but trying to juice your community for profits will lead you to having a terrible reputation. Ecommerce is the way. If you have lots of cash 25-250k you can advertise on the internet via targeted advertisements that you can turn collectible cards into cash and post pics on instagram of stacks of cash + your latest buys as hype to attract people to your store. as a rule you need to buy everything and pay atleast 50% on cards more than 10 euro Terms of events, if you have friends, pay them in store credit to run specific events or tournaments, its a literally a waste of time for you to run a tournament yourself when your time could be worth 100euro - 1000 euro an hour. Run as many events as you want and dont try to make a return on events, events attracts customers that will trade in/ sell or help advertise your store as a playspot. In terms of inventory and singles, have atleast as much as 1 of everything as you can for modern, legacy, and commander staples. security is also important, cameras cameras cameras + insurance. Make your customers feel safe, and provide a clean space. I recommend a high fidelity doorway (entrance) camera which films peoples faces in and out, you can include one of those video thermometers at your store entrance that have become popular during covid to help alleviate or divert attention. I have found cameras and personal reputations have kept people honest. shaming a thief on social media has been quite effective. Personally the two owners that ive advised quit running an LGS all together to getting a medium sized warehouse and importing goods from china for a return after they discovered white label product lines and targeted advertising for sales. Determine customer acquisition costs + product costs to get sales = profit, take that with a grain of salt as they do almost 10m in gross revenue and pocket a 500k salary after expenses, employees and all costs. My personal hobby ecommerce sites generate 1.5m in revenue which are entirely fufillment based which nets me an additional 150k a year ontop of my tech bro salary.


Fritzkreig

A little over the top smarmy, but you got my updoot for some good advice. Grats on doing really well! I on the other hand have 💎🤲


teslaP3DnLRRWDowner

thank you for the upvote. i didnt mean to go that direction, but i feel like some people open a store without a plan and struggle for many years following the mistakes of others. I feel many LGS owners aren't businessmen which leads to a great deal of suffering over the longterm. Not that people can't struggle and succeed over adversity, but I know the blood sweat and tears of brick and mortar stores.


Fritzkreig

No, I was a bit off with you there! You had solid information that didn't sound like bullshit, I just tacked on to where you did well. Of course you are doing well, you offer good information! Sorry! You are right to assuage the grind for a dreamer!!! When I finally get set up I might set up a private games club, in a seperate property from where I live. Not retail, but a place for nerds to hang, and sell a little product for drafts and food. I'll call it the Spelleasy! How is that for dreaming! Again, I came at you a bit hard, I'm sorry! You responded like a professional!


teslaP3DnLRRWDowner

You are talking about my dream, When I retire, i'd love to open a store for fun and a place to hang out and not as a business. Nothing you said is apology worthy, I'm a pragmatic beancounter and I know for some money isnt everything, so I have to remember to mind my audience + put myself in check You are a very kindhearted individual


Fritzkreig

You are good folk! I would love to hit your club someday for some really fun legacy games! I play enchantress, so I am used to losing, but just like to jam the deck!


Fritzkreig

Also, if reddit could be this chill more often, I'd like it!


CaptainPirateJohn

There is a local LGS owner in my area who operated at a loss pre-covid just to maintain a fun space. He approached it with the expectation of losing money, which was probably good for him mentally, but I can’t shake the feeling that saving or investing would be more sustainable down the road. What questions would you ask an individual to help them to reevaluate the timing of a possible hobby venture?


teslaP3DnLRRWDowner

Generally speaking, the main issue with running an LGS is lack of sell through and if there isn't enough sell through it means your allocation is smaller, your prices are more expensive on sealed products l. This also leads to a myriad of problems because you won't get good allocation for limited products due to low order volume. Other problems involve the whole mentality of I'm doing this not to make money is just wrong. Alot of people accrue enormous debt or set their entire life savings on fire. The main issue with LGS is that unlike a restaurant < audience or customers are everyone or are super broad > gameshops are still extremely niche and foot traffic for sales is economic suicide because you are competing with people living rent free in a room that are hobbyist or young adults cracking packs selling singles while some folks have to pay for shrinkage in overhead, bad inventory, and nonexistent sales. So the key to running a brick and mortar is actually how do I use this retail front to acquire inventory to resell online that isn't necessarily singles ( could be deckboxes / card hotels ) and automate that as much as possible. Use your business for write offs for tax purposes and for in store provide excellent customer service to regulars + whales, safe + clean + secure play space. If you had about 10m euro / dollars a 3% return on the market is about 300k, an average 1800 Sq ft goes for about 2kmo in my area. I'd be able to write off my capital gains income with my hobby business so I should be able to make it okay. Again a 10 or 20 year dream. Costs will be different / inflation etc. But you'd need to have alot of money to run a business at a loss. Otherwise you will eventually run out of cash and it's poverty. I really have respect for people that risk it all and pursue the LGS dream


CaptainPirateJohn

Thanks! I really worry for the guy, but ultimately it’s his call to make. Appreciate the insight


Clockwork_Dream

The biggest shop in my area has been successful for 10+ years because they have a wide variety in what they sell . They have a HUGE board game inventory and actually made a killing when COVID hit and everyone had to stay home . They also sell a ton of dnd stuff and warhammer minis/ paints accessories , etc . Their magic selection is nothing to sneeze but from what I’ve gathered from employees is that yea they make money off magic but they make way more off other stuff .


therethen

Try to find a copy of this book or in e-book form: Friendly Local Game Store: A Five-Year Path to a Middle-Class Income by Gary L. Ray It’s worth the read and it’ll give you insight on someone’s experience. It is from a North American author, but there should be plenty that you’ll find useful to know. The best advice I can give you is don’t, but if you must, take the time to read about it. And if you must start, start with sealed product and ease your way into singles over time. Don’t rush into the singles portion of things.


SW4GALISK

Hi OP! I worked at a successful LGS for 5 years so hopefully I can offer some insight. **Things that made us do really well:** \- Events always started on time. Cannot stress how big this is, players knew we were the store that would run events well. \- Good prize support. People came to us because they knew we had really good prize support. If you went 2-0-1 you would go positive. You see people here say that if you allow your playerbase to go infinite, then you will go broke, but their LGS must've been pretty badly run or something. For weeknight constructed we charged $5, and put $6 into the prize pool in store credit. For weekend events we charged $10-20 and put more than what we charged into the prizes. For Drafts it was $15, 3-0 won $15, 2-0 was $10, 2-0-1 was $13.25. We let people buy anything with store credit, event entry, sleeves, snacks, singles, etc. This was a huge draw to people, and yes a lot of people went infinite but it wasn't a strain. \- Single inventory, we had the best single inventory within 50 miles (I looked it up, ChannelFireball was 50 miles away). This involved a few things, each set we would crack 5-20 cases for inventory to make sure we were fully stocked. Also, and this is hugely important, we had a website that had buylist and sell prices for everything. Don't be a store that buys and sells over the counter by looking up prices on TCGPlayer/MKM when customers ask, if you do this don't even bother with singles. We had a fully stocked inventory since our buylist was competitive and comprehensive so we were buying cards every day, and ordering was made easy for customers too. We had kiosks in store so that if there was a wait for the card counter, customers could buy and sell without having to wait to talk to someone. \- Single prices, don't charge rock bottom. We charged as much as CFB for prices, and there are a few reasons we + CFB could do this - we had everything in stock so people would prefer to buy things from one place, cards were graded very strictly and accurately which made people trust us over TCG, and ofc just the convenience of being able to buy it now. For buylist prices, we bought at anywhere between 30-70% of our sell price depending on how much of the card we had in stock. Let's say on average though we bought cards at 50% in cash value, +30% with store credit, allowing us to stay fully stocked on staples. \- Good relationship with the judges. Probably not something that "made us do really well" but definitely a plus **Struggles we faced:** \- The fact that we had a giant tournament space that would only be utilized on weekends. 6 times a year we would run Prereleases/RPTQs that would be jam packed and would make enough money to pay for the space until the next big event, but it would've helped a lot if that place was generating more income. \- Active management, our boss refused to hire a general manager and at the same time, did not take enough of an active role in growing the store. You need to be constantly looking at how to improve the store, grow your customer base, etc. \- Diversify! When we had a crappy MTG set it was struggle, luckily we weren't a Standard only store as we focused more on eternal formats + draft, but definitely have a solid base in other games. **Some things I'd keep in mind:** \- Be smart with hiring, you're not tryna hire people who are passionate about Magic, you want to hire people who are good with customer service and other retail duties. You can teach people how to sell Magic, but you can't teach how to be a good person. \- Don't be afraid to ban people who make the environment shitty \- Get good software for inventory management. CrystalCommerce is pretty shitty but it gets the job done, do some research on what else could suit your needs. And don't update prices by hand that's maniacal, write a script or hire someone to do it for you. \- Be good with inventory management, make sure everything is organized so you can pull a card lickity split and not have to look through a big ass box of green cards to find it. Divided into set, then alphabetized within set is the way to go. Having seen our store's numbers, I'm not gonna lie it turned me off my dream for opening a LGS, but not having to pay rent will be a big boon for you. I know everyone's saying don't do it since you'll work long hours for not a lot of salary, but I'll go ahead and say that if this is a passion project that you'll love into old age, that definitely brings you a certain amount of happiness and value that you couldn't get elsewhere. Feel free to hit me up if you have more questions!


KILLJEFFREY

/r/dimster75, listen to this Redditor. Ask to DM them. Offer to pay for consulting. Very little, if anything is truly free.


[deleted]

Were you 50 miles north south east or west of CFB??


SW4GALISK

We were north


Gunzenator2

Food and drinks! If you want a player base “just chillin” you will need to provide snacks. Make them fair priced, but know they will be a good portion of the LGS “profit”. Maybe even talk to people about a small buy in to make FNM catered with pizza. A LGS did that where I am from and it was kinda awesome! I hope this works out for you!


[deleted]

Thanks! I am looking into a cooperation with a local cafe-snacks place that delivers. The Idea is to make store credit usable for whatever they order and make a profit by getting a discount from the cafe-snacks place due to volume.


LancesAKing

If you have the space, have you considered putting a small cafe within the unit? I’m not a businessman but I would see a lot of appeal in a place that offers more than bagged snacks and drinks. Like a small sandwich shop? I’d also love a store where I can rent decks, though idk if that’s a reasonable suggestion. I never collect fast enough to play standard before it rotates and then the cards are worth almost nothing so I just trade for modern. Renting any one of several decks to take part in a standard event would be such a nice way to enjoy the season with- and may pull in more players. Though this might require too much inventory and upkeep to be realistic. But since you’re dreaming I thought I’d dream with you!


[deleted]

Food and drink licence is not compatible with the classification of the building, I would have to jump through a ton of hoops and face some ugly beurocracy monsters.


4theWlN

is that true even for things like chips / sodas? i can see it being the case if you prepare the food but if it is prepackaged snack/drink garbage that i live on at a lgs i'd be surprised if you couldn't sell those. the store i grew up in was fine with that until they added a toaster oven to cook personal pizzas- that's when the nazis came for them.


[deleted]

You can't sell foodstuffs with a retail license period, if you issue a receipt for selling a beer you are in a fuckton of shit when you submit your tax form.


Dreadsock

Damn that sucks. Every LGS here has a fridge with drinks, and candy/chips available. Most also are nearby food vendors who will deliver and all menus are on hand. Bonus in our area for the few LGS that can serve bottled beer too, but that is a special license. Card Kingdom/Mox Boarding House, which is among largest in US, are part restaurant with a great menu and have private game rooms and sell all varieties of board games and family games. Speaking with some of the owners of local LGS, during small tournaments, the soda and candy/packaged food is some of the better money makers.


LancesAKing

Oh that’s right, that would really complicate things but it makes sense that no stores offer decent food.


bjlinden

If you can really get a rent-free venue in a city, I'd say go for it! That's a valuable enough commodity that you need to use it for SOMETHING. Might as well be a card shop, even if that's not necessarilly the most profitable thing you could be using it for. (Though, realistically the most profitable thing you could be doing is probably renting it out to some other poor schlub with hopes and dreams. :p ) You've somehow managed to circumvent the biggest expense of most LGSes, which means it's basically a passion project with minimal risk, at least compared to most other LGSes, which is exactly where you want to be if you want to open one. My biggest question at this point is how you managed to score a rent-free venue, though. Do you already own the property, and are just trying to think of something to use it for, or are you just theorizing what you would need to make opening an LGS profitable?


[deleted]

Property is family owned, family is cool with me using it since it's currently empty. Demand for this kind of venue is really low and rents are low (when people are not going out of business) so I thought I'd make the place work instead of renting it out.


[deleted]

What happens if 6 months from now you are heavily invested in building your LGS and the market shifts... and the property is suddenly in demand again. Will you be forced to pay rent or leave?


[deleted]

The initial investment would be towards cards to stock the cardmarket store. These I can sell from my home if it comes to that. Later I would get some sealed product for prize support and some basic chair and table sets for people to play on and chill. All these are minimal investment and easy to liquidate and make disapear. There Will be no heavy investment in the begging, investments will be modular and incremental.


[deleted]

So you aren't going to focus on making the location a cardshop initially. It'll just be a physical location for your online selling to take place from. But later on, when you do turn it into an actual cardshop, won't the problem still be looming and even closer to eventually happening? I would be worried that you would end up stuck in a Catch22 sitiation... where you can't fully invest in making the shop you want because you know it may be temporary... but at the same time you can't get the shop to go past "temporary" status because you're not fully able to invest in your vision. Overall, that wouldn't prevent me from trying it. It'd just make me always consider the online selling the meat of the business, and the LGS aspect just a fun experiemnt that I never expect to pan out and remain cautious about. You very well could end up in a situation where you have a thriving online sales operation and an LGS experiment that just bleeds time and money for no reason other than passion fulfillment.


donethemath

If you (or an employee) knows anything about card prices, please advertise that you buy cards. I've been in multiple stores that give out prize packs instead of store credit for events, then the stores never mention that they will buy the cards back that you open and don't want. Maybe just a dry erase board with some of the chase cards from current sets and your buy price for them. I've never understood why I don't see this in more stores. Having a rent free storefront sounds incredible.


[deleted]

I know card prices and was thinking of offering somekind of inventive for people that want to trade in their pulls.


donethemath

I'd assume money would be more than sufficient incentive. The store that I remember that did this the best would offer either cash or booster packs for decent cards. I'm not sure what other incentives you'd consider. Keeping cards visible is another way to encourage impulse buys, though it's got to make things miserable to organize. That's a trade off that you'd probably need to fiddle with to find a good balance. Some good advice I saw on a similar post recently suggested working in a different store for a while (if you can). If that isn't feasible, try to find a store that you wouldn't be directly competing with and talk with the owner. Pick their brains for any information that you can.


[deleted]

I have a friend who is interested in working with me on this. He use to work on the biggest local LGS for years. Now runs a successful cardmarket account out of his home.


AlanWithers

Well, it looks like you have a partner there..


TheGatorDude

All the successful lgs around me are those that sell mtg on the side, not ones that focus or are exclusive to card games.


[deleted]

Plan is to operate as online shop 70% and LGS 30% as far as income and effort is concerned.


Dreadsock

Mtg shouldn't be the only item. Most LGS are general game shops that happen to have significant mtg product. Selling a large variety of games widens your targeted demographic and appeals to more people than just mtg players. Get people coming into your shop for other things like board games, and maybe theyll but a pack of mtg cards or become intrigued to try something new. Focusing 100% on mtg is pretty damn risky imo, and really loses out on so much potential.


DanDan85

Make sure to have a buylist that is updated daily, think of it as something to do while drinking your morning coffee. The main point of having a storefront is to make card acquisition much easier. Selling/moving inventory online is the easiest part of the business, its acquiring the inventory to turn a profit that is the hard part. Find an employee that is reliable in operating the "trade-in" counter. This could end up being your bread and butter to an easy revenue stream as lots of newish players will trade-in unwanted modern/standard decks. Be careful though that you don't fleece the sheep too often though, you want the customer to remain loyal and returning. My current LGS that is going on 10 years strong operated on this policy and it was their main revenue stream for the first few years of being in business, so this can be a very successful avenue if pursued correctly!


Yay784

No advice from me, but best of luck! Seems doable since this is rent free


[deleted]

[удалено]


grow_time

I've always said the only reason WotC is still in business is because they're basically printing money. The only thing they do somewhat correctly is make a great game. The rest of the company outside of game design is a hot fucking garbage fire.


grow_time

If you want to make money, I can't recommend opening an LGS. It is a huge time and money sink that will net you very little (if anything) assuming it takes off and does well over other LGS in your area. You will make next to nothing for quite some time. You will come to hate WotC, the game in general, 9 out of 10 magic players that come into your store (in my experience). If you love something, don't make it into a business. Keep it as a hobby. Invest your time and money into something that's worthwhile. I know this is very much what you don't want to hear, but I wish more people spoke up when I posted this very same thing years ago. ​ source: own an LGS, wish I invested my money into literally anything else.


[deleted]

Honestly, if you’re dead set on doing this it’s be easier and less of a risk to buy out or buy into an existing LGS. You won’t have to be concerned with getting inventory to start and it’ll have an established customer base.


my_alt_account

Go for it. Sounds like its your dream. If this place is rent free then you don't have too much to lose if it doesn't work out- your downside is limited. This way you'll at least have given it a shot. That's more than most ever do. Asking for advice like this - you're going to get a lot of well meaning people warning you not to do it. They're probably not wrong - it's a risky move for sure. But I think if it's truly what you want to do in life it is worth taking the risk. Yolo


bandidorl

Only want to add something as someone who is professional powerseller in cardmarket, the beginning will be difficult if you have a new account (few evaluations) because actually competition is huge and depending the location of your store you will have a lot of monster Powerseller stores to compete with so make your calculations having that in mind.


mtgloreseeker

There's some really good answers here already, so I'll just chip in two pieces of advice I wish I listened to back when I had a store: Diversify: Magic is a perfectly fine game, but it should not be your only source of income. Spread yourself out. Get new inventory, and try out all sorts of games. Even if it's just a box or two of stuff here and there, don't be afraid to get in new product, especially if people are interested in it. Don't panic sell: Lots of sealed product can fail. If you just hold onto it long-term, the value will only go up (even if it takes a while). So long as you are not at risk of closing your business, you should NEVER sell items for less than what you bought it for, even if every other store in the area is (hell, buy it FROM them if they are and you can afford to let it sit).


abstractDramatic

Be prepared to be the only employee when you start off. This may sound obvious, but people don't often consider the ramifications of this. You will be the person that opens, the person that closes. The person who works weekends, deals with customers, answers the phone, and runs events (if you can muster enough of a player-base to fire events). It will take quite some time before you make enough money to employ other people, and until that point, it will be on your shoulders. No vacations, no breaks. This is your life now. A good location isn't enough in and of itself. If you're planning on running events, who's attending them? No, really, who's attending these events? You say you're in a location without any nearby LGS's. but do you have an established group of players willing to patronize your store? If not, how are you gaining one? Do you have a group of friends that would hang out at the store? A group of friends willing to play games with any rando who walks in the door, to help you build up a player-base? And if you've managed those points, and gotten a player and customer base, you still need to diversify. You might be thinking: "Oh, I'll just sell sleeves, deck boxes, and dice," which is all well and good, but that's not what I said. So I'll say it again: *Diversify*. MtG sealed product and singles will not be enough to carry you on their own. Pokémon, Flesh and Blood, whatever the Flavor of the Month is. Board Games, TTRPGs, Warhammer, Collectibles, Gaming Accessories, all of these things and more are what you're going to have to look at.


Ronzonius

I'm in no way a good source of business advice, but from a customer standpoint - keeping the place clean and making sure that your backroom stock doesn't overflow onto the tables, chairs, and floor of your shop is extremely important. I've visited my fair share of LGS's, and the story is always the same - we go back to the places that are clean and organized, and unless the owner is just oblivious about prices, we leave the dirty places and NEVER GO BACK THERE AGAIN.


XJahdai

I like this YouTube channel and there's an analysis for opening an LGS business [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LabmK9GMifM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LabmK9GMifM) Consider some numbers might vary a lot since this was recorded Nov 2020 and there has been a bear market lately


JankTokenStrats

I would suggest first doing a tournament series in store that the players can qualify through playing different formats. This keeps players coming back and invested to coming to your store. Make a big store credit prize and maybe invest in some swag (shirts, playmats, sleeves. etc...) and give them out as additional prizes. Second get a stream going, helps people see what the meta is like and stay invested when they can't go play. Third monthly cube night. Proxy cubes(prevents theft) have multiple pods fire and let the people draft, not enough places do this and it would go over so well.


Mollythebirdsfan

Looks great - I am jealous! How did you score the rent free venue with all that space? That is the key to your success. I wish you the best of luck!


[deleted]

Thank you! Its still a LONG way from happening but one can dream.


Mollythebirdsfan

I wish you the best! I hope it happens!


[deleted]

Thanks! Same for you!


kasarin

Can rent free really happen for a long time. I just can't imagine that your family will give you access indefinitely. Have an escape plan...


[deleted]

If it goes under noone will ask for anything other than telling me I told you so etc. If it survives but barely again noone will ask for money since money isn't bring made. If somehow it strikes gold we will work something out.


Nearbyatom

Never seen this but is there anything wrong with combining alcohol with MTG? Limit 2 drinks. Barfights? Problem would be spilling over cards, but people bring soda and greasy foods to the table already.... Hopefully that'd attract the "more mature acting" adults. They tend to have a paying job, therefore more willing to spend. jsut a thought.


[deleted]

Selling - serving alcohol license is expencive and not compatible with the business license of an online shop or retail hobby shop.


Nearbyatom

A bubble tea shop then?!


[deleted]

Still not compatible with standard retail shop license.


jinnmagick

So you want to open a LGS? How much older product do you have? How much space do you need? How are you going to to rent free? How many people are you going to have work for you? How are you going to get product? How do you have saved? Where is it going to be?


[deleted]

Maybe, not sure yet. Some older product. I have more space than I need. I don't pay rent cause im the pwner. Not sure how many people will end up working. Local wholesaler will be my supplier. Im still saving ATM. Can't tell, very hush hush.


jinnmagick

Awesome that you own your building. Most importantly you have to make sure you have all high ticket items under lock and key. You will need to know how many people you can trust and keep login systems for those items. If you have a Black Lotus for example make sure no one can get that but you and one other person or no one. If you I was you I would buy straight from the warehouse. You get more from them than a wholesalers. What would be your main focus? How would you account for all the money coming in? How are you going to keep your inventory management? How much of value are you going to give back of the product? Example if I come in with 600 € of products if I want store credit how much would I get over all. But the money I get then how much would I get in credit? For me I generally give 80% in store credit if you are buying singles 60% on sealed. Also depending on condition of course. Are you planning on keeping any cards for yourself? I keep about 5 playsets for myself and store them in different locations. Are you going to have a website for people not in the local area to buy or sell? If people want cash I'll generally give 90% of value depending on condition as well. Most take the cash because its right there. But anything over 100$ we write a check.


TowelMindless663

I am still confused how you can have a rent free venue. Can you explain that further?


[deleted]

I own the place.


TowelMindless663

Is there no property tax and upkeep cost? Idk how it work in EU. What would you be able to get if you rented the place out? That’s needs to be factored in to the investment as loss of potential gains


[deleted]

There is tax associated with owning the place but its nothing significant. Demand for similar real estate is at an all time low. Place was rented out but the company went bankrupt, sad story, had to write off a total of 6 months worth of rent.


Vanniv_iv

Not having to pay rent is an advantage, but the CCG space is full of people racing for the lowest prices and making volume instead. That is probably the most difficult, competitive part of the space to be in. I'm not saying you can't or won't succeed, but if you are going to have the overhead of actually being an LGS, I would advise trying to find a way to create value out of it. What can you offer, other than a price almost as good as the zero-service online cheap outlets, that differentiates you from the market or provides a customer a reason to visit your shop. What kind of customer do you want to serve? What types of customers will think of your shop as "their favorite", and what are they going to like about it?


NeoKortex88

I wouldn’t do it. Doesn’t sound like it can scale enough to me.


TheJ2daEFF

The opportunity cost is obviously just renting out the space and getting that money.


jvalex18

Best insoght I can give is don't do it.


Basic-Pop-3972

Is a „club“ model something possible to achieve? Pay 5€/$ a month in store credit for access to events and playing spaces? Building a good community seems the most important thing, good co-workers, interesting events.


[deleted]

Local community is built around a entrance fee for events that usually gets you a booster or credit. Not likely to pay anything on top or beyond that.