Hi there,
I'm opening an LGS in my area, but I cannot get access to distributors catalogs without having the business license first. This is hard for me because I have an investor who needs my expenses laid out first. But I can't provide my expenses unless I actually know them. Does anyone have a PDF Catalog for Southern Hobby or Peachstate Hobby? Or does anyone know how I can figure out the costs of products without needing the license first? Thanks.
Hey there. I don't post a lot on here either but read quite a bit. Anywho, me and my friends opened up an LGS nearly a year ago, on Sept 1st. So, I know how you feel. We didn't have 'investors' but still had the same issue. It can be hard to get information. While there isn't a PDF catalog at least for Peachstate(which is what we use primarily), I can tell you that it varies with a lot of distributors as to how much you'll pay for booster boxes, for example. I've had the catalog price say, for example, 79.20, but then when we place the order our individual warehouse/sales rep will give us a better deal based on whatever he bases it on(probably relationship and/or amount purchased in the last quarter), and then he'd set the same booster box for us at like 76.
Most of the distributors will give you 45% off of MSRP. Then it varies from there based on a lot of variables. Some give you 42% off MSRP, then some can give you 50% off MSRP if you're a big spender, etc. But the starting value on most things are 45% of MSRP in my experience. I hope this helps.
I can corroborate that you should probably expect a ~4_% discount. Conventional wisdom dictates that manufacturers are looking to double their money, and so are distributors. In a niche industry (like the gaming industry), they generally try to bump their margins a bit more to account for the (relatively) higher risk. Keep in mind, the exact percent is likely to vary from item to item. You'll likely be seeing bigger discounts on board games than sealed MTG product for example.
That being said, I feel obligated to give a shout-out to my place of employment, ACD Distribution. I'm in the warehouse, so I don't have any first-hand experience with the customer side of things, but the local establishments had nothing but praise (this was prior to my employment, so I'm assuming it was relatively unbiased).
Your question motivated me to give the customer application documentation a glance, and it looks like we're pretty upfront about the cost of doing business.
Additionally, I've previously given a few of our competitors sites a browse (I'd been looking for information on products locked behind exclusivity contracts so I'd know in advance what I'd be able to order from the local shops), and frankly, found that information difficult to come by. Our catalog is searchable, and can be browsed without an account (the only information that's blocked off is current inventory levels and customer price).
Just something to consider...
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
L1 judge since 1/30/12 (lapsed as of 1/30/13)
My Friend Code is: 0146-9645-8893
In my state a business license is an easy document to obtain. Just incorporating, obtaining an FEIN from the IRS and then filing the requisite paperwork with your state secretary should be relatively accessible with low upfront costs. I imagine this legal framework is what that distributors are looking for. You should be able to go in baby steps as opposed to all in all at once.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I'm opening an LGS in my area, but I cannot get access to distributors catalogs without having the business license first. This is hard for me because I have an investor who needs my expenses laid out first. But I can't provide my expenses unless I actually know them. Does anyone have a PDF Catalog for Southern Hobby or Peachstate Hobby? Or does anyone know how I can figure out the costs of products without needing the license first? Thanks.
Most of the distributors will give you 45% off of MSRP. Then it varies from there based on a lot of variables. Some give you 42% off MSRP, then some can give you 50% off MSRP if you're a big spender, etc. But the starting value on most things are 45% of MSRP in my experience. I hope this helps.
That being said, I feel obligated to give a shout-out to my place of employment, ACD Distribution. I'm in the warehouse, so I don't have any first-hand experience with the customer side of things, but the local establishments had nothing but praise (this was prior to my employment, so I'm assuming it was relatively unbiased).
Your question motivated me to give the customer application documentation a glance, and it looks like we're pretty upfront about the cost of doing business.
Additionally, I've previously given a few of our competitors sites a browse (I'd been looking for information on products locked behind exclusivity contracts so I'd know in advance what I'd be able to order from the local shops), and frankly, found that information difficult to come by. Our catalog is searchable, and can be browsed without an account (the only information that's blocked off is current inventory levels and customer price).
Just something to consider...
My Friend Code is: 0146-9645-8893