3DO ZONE Forums

So my videogame store has had a rather rocky history these last few years, bouncing between three locations, the current one being absolutely horrible with hobos screaming about how they're going to knife each other right outside on two occasions this month.

Well, despite the landlord finding my vaporizer in the apartment I rent upstairs, it looks like I get to return to Little Tokyo. She is still talking to the management group, but it seems like they're going to offer us a contract.

I had to explain the vaporizer. A man with a thyroid needs his relief, seriously. But now I can get back to pimpin'!

This is good news.

I still intend to open a game store after I get my payout. So, what you can do for me is tell me what you call your store and I'll call mine the same but with a "v2.0" after it Oh, how we will chuckle, and I won't have to think.

, nice.

Just out of curiosity, what did it originally take to start up said-videogame store (inventory and finacially speaking, anyway)?

I've always contemplated doing that myself..

Some thick sunglasses and a tin cup, if you don't do it right.

Honestly, knowledge of how to start is a lot more important than money, but I wouldn't do it without a very thick comfort cushion, say at least $100,000. New games carry a profit margin of about 15-20% unless you find a reliable closeout specialist, so you need to be able to take care of yourself for about a year while the trade-ins start to cycle in.

Vance wrote:Some thick sunglasses and a tin cup, if you don't do it right.

Honestly, knowledge of how to start is a lot more important than money, but I wouldn't do it without a very thick comfort cushion, say at least $100,000. New games carry a profit margin of about 15-20% unless you find a reliable closeout specialist, so you need to be able to take care of yourself for about a year while the trade-ins start to cycle in.

Ah, ok.. Makes sense. 15-20% margin on new product though, is that true? My managers @ Electronics Boutique must have been fooling us purposefully in order to sell more used product..

"How to start"--Do you mean along the lines of learning business rule & law, the leasing process, sourcing proper distributers, setting up an efficient inventory system, etc., etc., amongst other things?

Business law is moot, especially in bigger cities. Except that more than four arcade machines in LA is horrible bullshit that they will kill you for. Learning what license you need alone is tricky, but once you find the proper office they tend to have a big guide on everything for you. What's taxable, what's not, etc etc. Confusion can spring from county and city definitions. I'm right next to the building that gives you county licenses, but it's a one hour drive to the city office... doesn't make sense, but whatever.

The leasing process is the worst part. All I can say is never back down on what you want, and be willing to walk away from otherwise nice opportunities if you don't get your way. The kind of landlord who won't work with you now won't work with you later.

Proper distributors in America are Ingram Entertainment. Pricey, but you get price protection (price drops and they cover you), which is the only way an indie shop will ever get it. Otherwise, I can set you up with some nice secondaries if they ship out of LA.

For inventory tracking, drop near two grand for the big Quickbooks Point of Sale bundle. I've read a ton of bad reviews on CNET, I have to assume from people who want you to spend five grand on their PoS system. QB PoS is amazing software.

Okay, I've moved some stuff in. I'm sitting in the store right now. It has the most obnoxious paint scheme, all yellow and orange up front, green on the mid-trim, and violet on the back wall. I realize now that the cardboard box on the ground was to cover the spot where somebody was murdered, probably. The ceiling tiles are completely damaged by condensing water, likely from the hostel upstairs.

The switches don't seem to work logically, but this is a 100-year-old building that seems to have received the most cursory of upgrades. The front lock needs to go, and the air conditioning is a wall unit stuck through the mid-top of the front facade. There is a ceiling panel stuck above it for some reason, maybe to not let the air escape.

But it came with an AVN catalog, so I have all the naked women my poor eyes can stand.

Ah, thanks for all the info. That helps me understand better than I did before. I have about five years of working mainstream gaming retail, then a year of working a local independent shop, so I am fairly well-versed in how to run the day-to-day operations.. It's all the behind-the-scenes stuff I need to get familiar with.

I can't picture myself working for others my entire life, so I really need to get on this.. Finding the funds to start something like it though is going to be the hard part. Time to start saving, I suppose?

Interesting info regarding the arcade machines, btw. I thought there was some kind of restriction.. If I ever manage to do this, there will definitely be at least a handful of machines..

Employee Manual, page 7: If you sell a copy of Shenmue, have the decency to apologize to the customer.

Vance wrote:Employee Manual, page 7: If you sell a copy of Shenmue, have the decency to apologize to the customer.

"Oh hi, do you have Super Nintendo power cords?"

"The SNES AC adapter. We do, they are six bucks plus tax."

Man and woman exchange a look. "Let's just get one on eBay" she says a little too loudly, "it'll be cheaper."

"Right, here, I'll help." I call up eBay and look up the part. "Yes, here's one for four dollars."

"Do you think you could match that?"

I buy these for $4.50 apiece. "You want me to price match with the internet?

"Yeah."

"Sure. Give me money."

They hand over a $20 bill. I make change. $10.

"Wait, you still owe me more!"

"I do not. Shipping was another six dollars."

"That's a ripoff!"

"I have to agree. But remember, the internet ripped you off. I only facilitated the exchange."

"I want a refund!"

"Sure. Gimme that." I take the ten and return sixteen dollars.

"Wait, you owe me my twenty back."

"Shipping is non-refundable, sir."

We eventually agreed on a compromise. He would purchase the two dollar cord which also had the six dollar shipping attached. This would not have happened if we did not rely so heavily on the internet, is basically the moral of the story.

If I could go into a shop in the UK and buy a SNES Powercord, I'd likely pitch a tent outside and worship the proprietor.

People are stupid too. The more stupid they are the more likely they are to do something really stupid. The more really stupid stuff they do, the more likely they're are to die from it.

...and that's why i agree with the principles of the Theory of Human Evolution. For millions of years, the stupid people killed themselves and the more intelligent folks lived on to improve the species.

3DOKid wrote: ...and that's why i agree with the principles of the Theory of Human Evolution. For millions of years, the stupid people killed themselves and the more intelligent folks lived on to improve the species.

you need to watch Idiocracy (2006) www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/
this is where this world is going.
the stupid people are now out F'ing the smart people and soon the smart people will be extinct

3DOKid wrote:(...)
...and that's why i agree with the principles of the Theory of Human Evolution. For millions of years, the stupid people killed themselves and the more intelligent folks lived on to improve the species.

file found: Social Darwinism reloaded_

intelligent people develop weapons of mass destruction, intelligent people build and plan oil rigs, intelligent people run bio labs,
the elite says which person can die and which can live, intelligent people say who is stupid, intelligent people make war and send
in the stupid people, super intelligent aflluance guys burn the money on the stock exchange,
the stupid people do not improve the species, but at least they do not try to destroy it. prisons and graveyards are full of so called intelligent people. brandnew you're retro.

Lemmi wrote:

3DOKid wrote: ...and that's why i agree with the principles of the Theory of Human Evolution. For millions of years, the stupid people killed themselves and the more intelligent folks lived on to improve the species.

you need to watch Idiocracy (2006) www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/
this is where this world is going.
the stupid people are now out F'ing the smart people and soon the smart people will be extinct

No, the world is turning into a super clever elite wonderland, where all "stupid people" (99%) - as the intelligent people call them, because they
have preogerative of interpreatation will be outsourced from society, being
cut of from their human rights, their families being destroyed by state agendas, kids turned into human robots.

A very good buddy of mine who is a physicist, knows much more than I, but has a philosophy of a 12 year old (he divides people in good / bad, right / wrong, dumb / smart). When we talk his talking becomes very shameful and naive. Easy Internet thinking is in the people's head already.

Lemmi wrote:

3DOKid wrote: ...and that's why i agree with the principles of the Theory of Human Evolution. For millions of years, the stupid people killed themselves and the more intelligent folks lived on to improve the species.

you need to watch Idiocracy (2006) www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/
this is where this world is going.
the stupid people are now out F'ing the smart people and soon the smart people will be extinct

Not true. Really stupid people drive too fast, in bad cars, don't go to the doctors when they are ill, walk into lions cages, eat gone off food, eat too much, smoke, f**k too much (and catch all sort of diseases) all manner of things. A few of which I haven't even done. They need more stupid people just to keep the equilibrium. They tend to kill off themselves or render themselves irrelevant so quickly, it's a good thing they are on the accelerated breeding curve.

Stephen Hawkins bores me, imagine a world cram packed with his kind too.

The world needs more people like me. Imagine that - a sort of paradise. with 3DOs

Those fucking smart people, always infringing on your rights.

I can honestly barely follow the path of logic that brought us to this point. Well done, people.

At 3DO Zone we can derail any topic with minimal posts!

onward with the de-railing. Idiocracy is an awesome movie. love it!

FINALLY got the contract signed. It says nothing about dogs. I have bonded very well with a tiny Shiba Inu puppy at the local shelter, who is currently tearing up and sleeping on an old sweater of mine so that he knows my scent.

There is a homeless guy across the street. He wears trashbags all the time. Not just over his jacket (it's 93 degrees out) but tied in a cone over his head. I call him Bleep Blorp Bleep. And he's not the weirdest regular in the neighborhood.

Also, I'm volunteering to help Uwe Boll in November.

Vance wrote:FINALLY got the contract signed. It says nothing about dogs. I have bonded very well with a tiny Shiba Inu puppy at the local shelter, who is currently tearing up and sleeping on an old sweater of mine so that he knows my scent.

There is a homeless guy across the street. He wears trashbags all the time. Not just over his jacket (it's 93 degrees out) but tied in a cone over his head. I call him Bleep Blorp Bleep. And he's not the weirdest regular in the neighborhood.

Also, I'm volunteering to help Uwe Boll in November.

Immercenary the Movie. My letters finally mean something.

I'm lobbying for him to do a God Hand flick.

They're doing a remake of Logans Run. I Loved Logans Run. Nothing to do with Uwe Boll by the way.

"Do you have that Japanese... learning?"

"My Japanese Coach for DS?"

"Yeah!"

"We're out. It sells pretty well here."

"Oh... (too many minutes about how he want's to learn Japanese, I think one minute) anyway, I've been learning by watching anime."

"So... what, like 'Please no, you're my brother?'"

They've been talking about doing a Logan's Run remake for how many years? I hope they do it and do it well but the way hollywood is pumping out crappy remakes right now it could end up very sour.

Vance wrote:"So... what, like 'Please no, you're my brother?'"

ROFL!

...it goes further than that surely?

More typically in ANime it's...

...please no, you're my brother.
...and you killed my other brother.
...and ate our father.
...and you're the evil genius behind the giga-mega-robot-zilla
...and you're dead!
...and you're actually my mother!!!
...AND YOU'RE A ROBOT
...FROM MARS!
...YOU'RE MEE!!!

IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!!1!!11