Is there anyone here who operates a small video game and/or console business online and has made good (or above average) profit. This is the field I wish to deal in as I love it heaps and was wondering if there has been any probs or ups and downs in sale with regards to selling these items.
Video games and consoles have been a close passion to me, always loved them since I was knee high to a grasshopper, I think I'll deal with the ins and outs for something I enjoy, even if I just do it seasonally (Christmas especially) and only buy small bulk throughout the year.
If you are only planning on buying in small bulk then to be honest the profit per game will only be very small. If you can work to 10% on small bulk buys on video games then you will be doing well. It doesn't sound much, and it isn't, but in reality I think this is level of return you should plan for. With video games (and this is in my experience) it is the quantity of games you sell and the quick turnover of stock that is the important thing.
If you are making £3 on a game costing you £26-£30, then selling 10 makes you a profit of around £30. Sell only 9 of the games and you are still not in profit. You need to sell all your stock as quickly as possible (as video games lose value particularly quickly) Obviously this is a simplistic account, and others may have a different opinion, but you need to buy in as large a quantity as you can and make sure they all sell quickly.
I have recently started a Games business here in Spain.
Why did I do this? I was bored and there is a gap here for English Games, so I have someone running the DVD shop and I will have a crack at this. So I started off with GBP4k, yep thats it 4k. I never invest heavily into a business I have a budget and stick to it. Cant be done the 100´s will shout. B0l0x, the ones that shout probably havent even attempted it.
I started getting in accessories etc as they were cheap and people love the Wii and DS packs, also Preowned games was going to be a big thing so I trawled classifieds etc buying games on the cheap to build up some stock. I didnt expect much at first and with the budget obviously a shop was probably out of the question but sales are doing well. I advertised on every Expat forum i could find and already needed space so i rent half a shop until January 09 when i will go for one purely for this business.
If you want to go for it online only you will need alot of stock or find an excellent dropshipper but of course you might not make much with dropshipping, i dont know as never done it.
Of course maybe the market is different where you are, i can only comment on how it has gone over here, so far anyway.
There is alot of negative comments about the gaming business on here, why I dont know as it is one of the only industries still making money and will continue to make money in hard times. I know prices are competitive and you will notice alot of people saying how hard it is always refer to Ebay as a price comparison......People have to realise Ebay is not everything, not everyone in the world uses Ebay. I dont use it yet still sell games that may very well be dearer than Ebay.