05-06-2009, 10:27 AM
Tom, Nick, Andrew, Ed, and Tin Goat
THANK YOU Guys so much for all the replies, so much to think about and thats really what i need, so thanks alot guys, this is something serious and could be a life changing decision.
One thing i would like to point out however, is that i am not looking to open a hobby shop or anything like it. As Tin Goat mentioned, opening a small space hobby shop as a side business inside my grandfathers jewelery shop would not likely be possible either, its already a small space only large enough for his store and all of the tools and workbenches necessary to do onsite jewelery repairs, along with the massive safes and such.... On top of this, his business as well as just about every single other small business, and some larger ones, is struggling to start afloat and keep his doors open everyday. Jewelery, like many other things, has become an un-needed accessory at this time for many people.
What i am looking to do however is buy wholsesale from Walthers and sell online. I am considering opening my own retail hobby shop online, and operating it out of my house. The other option would be to open a store on ebay and sell there, which might come with some ups and downs. For one i would get my stuff out there right away for TONS of people to see, and if i opened a hobby shop online site, it might take a long while for my name to get out there and people start ordering from me. The bad about the ebay store however would be paying all the fees to list all the stuff. This is why i was thinking i would list limited stuff, maybe stick to 150 auctions at a time. As i said earlier, i would offer at a discount off retail, and list starting a little over what it cost me to get so at least im making a profit on the stuff it sells.
I still have not received a reply from Walthers, and im hoping there working on responding to my email, but if i do order from them, i would be ordering mostly only there product. I would get less of a discount if i ordered other MRF's products from them, as Walthers is the middle man kinda if you want Kato Products from Walthers. They have to order from Kato, and you order from Walthers, therefore the wholsale price of Kato from Walthers goes up alot because they also have to make some money. With that said, i might also try contacting Athearn, Kato, and a few others after i establish the Walthers orders and have some extra money to place some orders with some other MRF's. But im thinking ebay is going to be the best way to go right now. I can open an online site too and make up a hobby shop of my own and run it strickly online, but as i said above, i have a feeling its going to take a long while for my name to get out there and for people to start placing orders from me. If i have both the ebay and online hobby shop up and running, then at least i will be making some money on ebay at the same time while my site name gets out there for others to see.
Now to your guys ideas to advertise in my LHS about building and weathering. Thats an excellent idea that has been mentioned to me more then once. I have not done it yet, but i want to, and i think it would be beneficial to both me and the LHS for exactly the reasons you guys said above, the hobby shop would be benefiting from the customer buying the structure from the Hobby Shop, and i would be benefiting from the customer who has bought the structure, seen my work in the Hobby Shop, and has contacted me to do a structure built and or weathering job on it. I really like the idea, and next time im in the shops, i will definitely be talking to the owners and running the ideas by them to see if they will bite. I also think if i can leave a few sample structures with them, as well as pictures of more structures that i have done, they would be more convinced and the people who see them might want to hire me to do there structures for them. This would be possible if i could get structures wholesale from Walthers, so im not paying retail for structures and just leaving them at the shops, and then being out $150 per shop in kits lol.
I need to read over some of your replies some more, i find it i always miss important things when i read the first time and always need to go back and reread lol. So thank you again for all of your replies, they have definitely helped me
THANK YOU Guys so much for all the replies, so much to think about and thats really what i need, so thanks alot guys, this is something serious and could be a life changing decision.
One thing i would like to point out however, is that i am not looking to open a hobby shop or anything like it. As Tin Goat mentioned, opening a small space hobby shop as a side business inside my grandfathers jewelery shop would not likely be possible either, its already a small space only large enough for his store and all of the tools and workbenches necessary to do onsite jewelery repairs, along with the massive safes and such.... On top of this, his business as well as just about every single other small business, and some larger ones, is struggling to start afloat and keep his doors open everyday. Jewelery, like many other things, has become an un-needed accessory at this time for many people.
What i am looking to do however is buy wholsesale from Walthers and sell online. I am considering opening my own retail hobby shop online, and operating it out of my house. The other option would be to open a store on ebay and sell there, which might come with some ups and downs. For one i would get my stuff out there right away for TONS of people to see, and if i opened a hobby shop online site, it might take a long while for my name to get out there and people start ordering from me. The bad about the ebay store however would be paying all the fees to list all the stuff. This is why i was thinking i would list limited stuff, maybe stick to 150 auctions at a time. As i said earlier, i would offer at a discount off retail, and list starting a little over what it cost me to get so at least im making a profit on the stuff it sells.
I still have not received a reply from Walthers, and im hoping there working on responding to my email, but if i do order from them, i would be ordering mostly only there product. I would get less of a discount if i ordered other MRF's products from them, as Walthers is the middle man kinda if you want Kato Products from Walthers. They have to order from Kato, and you order from Walthers, therefore the wholsale price of Kato from Walthers goes up alot because they also have to make some money. With that said, i might also try contacting Athearn, Kato, and a few others after i establish the Walthers orders and have some extra money to place some orders with some other MRF's. But im thinking ebay is going to be the best way to go right now. I can open an online site too and make up a hobby shop of my own and run it strickly online, but as i said above, i have a feeling its going to take a long while for my name to get out there and for people to start placing orders from me. If i have both the ebay and online hobby shop up and running, then at least i will be making some money on ebay at the same time while my site name gets out there for others to see.
Now to your guys ideas to advertise in my LHS about building and weathering. Thats an excellent idea that has been mentioned to me more then once. I have not done it yet, but i want to, and i think it would be beneficial to both me and the LHS for exactly the reasons you guys said above, the hobby shop would be benefiting from the customer buying the structure from the Hobby Shop, and i would be benefiting from the customer who has bought the structure, seen my work in the Hobby Shop, and has contacted me to do a structure built and or weathering job on it. I really like the idea, and next time im in the shops, i will definitely be talking to the owners and running the ideas by them to see if they will bite. I also think if i can leave a few sample structures with them, as well as pictures of more structures that i have done, they would be more convinced and the people who see them might want to hire me to do there structures for them. This would be possible if i could get structures wholesale from Walthers, so im not paying retail for structures and just leaving them at the shops, and then being out $150 per shop in kits lol.
I need to read over some of your replies some more, i find it i always miss important things when i read the first time and always need to go back and reread lol. So thank you again for all of your replies, they have definitely helped me