A Horrible Look At The Hobby Shop and My Ranting Response

Last week I read a pretty interesting article over on VOTC about the reasons a card shop would be having problems and I couldn’t help but feel angry over the way this guy wrote the article. It was written like a timeline and detailed the state of the shop from the 80s through now. Basically, I got such a vibe off it that it made it seem like the whaaaaah-bulance was driving right by my window. I believe quite a few other people got the same vibe because Rob, in addition to a few others, wrote their own piece in response.

Im not going to sit here and lay out my plans for opening a shop, because in this day and age, it’s a credit death sentence. Yet, for some reason, in this article, this author thought that shop owners were arrogantly entitled to a castle despite the fact that this scenario had shown that little to nothing was done to ensure this shop's survival other than an ill fated attempt at a pack war. In any other industry, even those that are thriving, when you fail to move with the times, you will get swept under the riptide. All I got out of this recount was "eBay sucks."

Instead of going out and finding new ways of getting customers through the door, all I saw this hypothetical owner tried in the article was relying on his "whales" to drum up cash to run the store. He even went as far as saying that he couldn’t afford a web page. Give me a fucking break. I pay less than 10 bucks a year for SCU.com and you are telling me you cant find anyone willing to help you with that? Give me five minutes and ill find someone on a message board with the know how to do it, and ill have the page up in less than 4 hours.

See, the problem is that you can never expect someone to do shit for you, you have to do it yourself. Just going into work everyday at the shop would never be enough, as everyone needs marketing and a community. Luckily for everyone, building a reputation and followers is easy through sites like FCB, blogs, and even SCF. If he had taken the time to account for new directions instead of relying on tactics that were good 20 years ago, things may have turned out different.

Normally I would have simpathy for someone who is losing their business, trust me. However, when post on a national site that you are pissed that things tend to happen this way, all while showing little evidence that old fashioned owners are trying to turn the tables, I lose that sympathy. At least show me that eBay consignment was considered, that a try at a bid board in the shop was done, or even had low cost events that were publicized on the internet, rather than saying "he just went into work each day." No one says that the american dream is realized by just showing up, you have to work harder than you ever thought possible to make it work. Then when the going gets rough, you either move on, or you adapt, you don’t complain about a changing world. Yes, the 90s were good because everyone and their mother had a baseball card shop and there was demand to match the supply, but that doesn’t mean you have a license to rest on those laurels. Its offensive to read an article like that, mainly because its meant to imply the sky is falling on a once great industry when really the hobby itself is in no danger as long as you know how to tap those resources. If you don’t know how to tap the resources, then you need to learn, and that comes through the massive community of people we have built.

Arrogance and entitlement are turn offs, and you can bet that people catch on to that very quickly. If you sit in the shop all day talking about the good ole days and how you are losing touch, people will echo your feelings by leaving. Ill give you an example. I was in a shop in woodland hills, california a while back and all I could see wall to wall were overpriced singles. In fact, the shop didn’t even have recent boxes or packs for sale, most of the wax was older than the beginning of the year. Then I hear the employee in the back leaning against the cases, talking about how eBay has put a dent in his sales. Maybe its because you are relying on singles priced at hi book rather than investing well in your store. Instead of buying thousands of cards at 1/4 book when they sell for about that much, maybe buy at below eBay price and sell for more? Don’t tell me you are trying to sell me a 5 dollar card for 30 bucks because you paid 10 for it.

Listen, I know its expensive to keep the walls stocked with wax, but that’s where shop owners need to build on their previous business models. You will not be able to survive without new wax, mainly because people wont come if you don’t have it. That means dumping singles sales and focusing on more important things that will bring more people as well as more money. There is just no money to be made in singles anymore, so stop spending that cash when it could be used elsewhere. Focus on providing services for customers who may be in your previously uninformed position. If someone comes in with a box full of 1987 cards, don’t buy them for the store, consign them to sell for the customer and take a percentage from the eBay sale. Chances are, even the crappiest of cards can sell on eBay, and all you need to do is charge for the service.

Im sorry for the long, poorly written rant, I just get quite worked up when someone acts the way this "shop owner" did in the article. I get that my ramblings are just that, but there is truth in what the net has been saying. Basically, if you live by the rule that the internet is your friend rather than your enemy, things will be that much easier for you. That’s the bottom line. Beckett isnt the number one authority anymore, they are just a disconnected magazine in texas with problems. The internet community can make or break your shop. Play your cards right.