Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`m opening a video game retail store and need some distributors. I`ve contacted a few but they give me the cold shoulder. I have my vendors license and TIN but they will not give me a list. I`ve contacted one in New York but they require a New York vendors license. I`m so confused right now. Is there an easier way for me to find distributors besides searching the web? And when I find one are there some things I should be concerned about?

Perhaps you can contact publishers, and then ask them who are their distributors in your area.

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Aaron Agassi -=- FoolQuest.com

If you are looking locally, then you should use the brick and mortar approach in addition to your online efforts.

A good friend of mine had looked into adding new games to his game store my business helped him do the research to see where the best revenue streams were. One thing he found out was when you are a small guy the margins were almost non-existent. You may do better searching eBay for video game lots from when game stores go under, but it appears to me, unless you are a Best Buy the profit and best margin is in used video games. Where you will lose money though is if you do not track the product that comes in and goes out. If you pay too high for games that do not roll off the shelves. So a liding pricing model and a sliding payment model will help insure your pricing is correct.

 

So I would first

 

1) Hit eBay and buy video game lots for my initial stock.

2) Make sure I troll eBay for retro games. They are profitable. Plus the accessories you can get for decent mark-up.

3)Create a great website, one that will be used as your inventory system

4) Soon as I am profitable, I would have someone build a tool that at nights checks my prices against what the same product sells for on eBay. If something I sell all the time for $9, is selling on eBay for 20. I have it priced wrong. If something I never sell for $9 is selling for $20, then my market doesn't want that game. I should be putting it up on eBay. If I never sell something for $20, but on eBay I see it sell for $12, then I have it priced too high and I am probably paying too much for it.

5) Make sure my store is more than a store. I would have tournaments, allow gaming clubs to meet there. make it the place to be.

6) Even if I didn't have high turnover at the beginning I would make it look like I did. Move things around, pull things off of my shelves. It does a couple of things. It tells customers if there is something they want, they should jump on it. If someone wanted something, they will say, hey, do you have any more of x game. You them say, I just sold my last copy. Let me run in the back and see if I got it in today's shipment....

Those would be my ideas.

 

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The 1st thing you should do is set up a website.  Once you have a website, it'll be much easier for you to get things done.

When you meet with potential distributors or resellers, they'll be able to see exactly what you're selling.

You can sell directly online!  This is the most-effective way to make money.  No middle man.

Beat the streets.

Partner with Beauty salons to distribute.

Most house holds are woman ran and they spend the money on the hardward.

Give the owner a percentage of what you sell.

A friend of mines  makes flower baskets, making a  killing with local barber shops on valentine baskets!

 

 

A Simple solution is simply contact compuexpert.com the gaming distributor for your business.

Dr.D

there are a lot of business directories available in your local library (probably) just page over to the video game distrib.  page :)

it really might take some time to built repor as a business, you should try really hard to build somthing that give you somthing to "bring to the table"

I have the same situation with music distrib's. I talk to a lot of them and a small percentage accept me :)

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Tim Pletcher http://www.geargoggle.com