Talk me out of starting an online hobby shop

man i know exactly what you mean! i can't count how many times i've wanted to just call up some of the shops and say "can i make this better...PLEASE!" I have tons of experience in credit card systems, shipping systems and ecommerce (i've written two software packages from the ground up, working on a 3rd). I've also contemplated having my own hobby shop, as I have lots of experience with shipping and moving products, as well as capital to get started. However, its the time i don't have.

Any shops want some improvements for parts?

 

Guys, remember that most of the discount e-tailers have very thin margins, so using an "off-the-shelf" shopping cart or other mechanisms are often the only thing that is economically feasible. They don't have the budget that Amazon has to build a "state of the art model railroading e-commerce masterpiece".

I do agree that most current sites need work, and even some very basic changes would be improvements. On the other hand, I also like low prices so I can live with ugly websites. Someday those won't be mutually exclusive, but for now they are, for the most part.

I do think that elements of good sites exist in the model railroad e-tailer domain. N-Scale Supply does indeed have stellar photography for most items, for example. Some have good carts with save-able wish lists which are nice. (Litchfield Station comes to mind there) Feather River has the right idea and is up there with N-Scale Supply on content "above and beyond". I also agree that there IS room for an innovative model railroading e-tailer, but I just don't know if the model supports it without a perfect mix of skills and innovation (and probably boxcar loads of LUCK) coming together.

 

Where's Fifer, Wig-Wag, Feather River, KSI and Discount Rails' owners when you need them?


Probably too busy taking care of their business to have much time to browse forums........

Ed

 

The problem I have with most e-tailers is that with a couple exceptions, you don't REALLY know if they have the item. They may show it, but that doesn't mean they know they have it. Walthers actually has a good system, but they are out of stock on about as many items as they have, too.

Let's take one of my recent gripe issues. Detail Associates wire. It's darn hard to find and Walthers is out of stock. Who has it? Anybody?

Wire, even at $3.00 a package for 5 tiny wires, isn't particularly sexy. Not like a new Kato C-44W. So nobody is going to headline WIRE!!! on their online web page.

Nobody has it online, but everybody 'says' they have lots of other material not on their page, just ask. So you do. A couple e-mails and a couple days later, you've confirmed somebody actually has it. Now, mind you, it's not in their online inventory and web page, so you can now call or e-mail, with the credit card information, etc. Can't order it directly from a web page.

So far, this has been a titanic waste of time and resources for both you and the e-tailer. You're wasting time, and he can't make money responding to individual e-mails for this stuff. Even if he WAS a direct Walthers dealer, the inventory systems aren't linked so that he could have a local view of his inventory via Walthers for an online order service. Doesn't exist.

For the sexy, top-of-the-chart, items like new Intermountain SD45-2's, the e-tailer can take the time to modify their own web page, etc.. Most can't. Nothing in the industry takes that massive database and allows an e-tailer to tap into a local dealer view (which, by the way, is one of the truly brilliant features of the Amazon used book system). Walthers can tell customers which stores bought wire in the past, but no idea if they have any now.

20 years ago nothing was bar coded, computers were ridiculously expensive, and nobody ordered online. Now, the tools and technology are rather widespread to automate it all, but the sheer volume of infomation is daunting, and specialty inventory systems stagger under all that data entry.

That's the uncharted territory, and the first solution wins. As for me, it's a 50-mile round trip drive to check a LHS to see if they have it, which right now costs me about another $5 in gas and a couple hours of time, and they're not open except on Saturdays before noon and close at 6PM on weekdays, can't make it!

Amazon has done it to used books, very effectively. Now us?

 

I will be the first one to admit I don't know squat about being a e-tailer. However I have worked for myself since I was 19 years old. So that puts it right at 21 years Being in business for myself. I had much of the same discouraging comments by many people when I started my first business. Some told me I was to young, some told me I did not have the capital, others told me that there was a saturated market in my area etc. You know what most of the comments were by people that had never worked for themselves. There is a luxury that working for yourself has that cannont be expressed in dollars and cents.

It is very simple what it takes to be successful in any business is your commitment and be willing to do hard work. Nothing I have found good is easy. Just remember no matter what you do hard work is the only way to get ahead.

As Adam Smith said the wealth of a nation lies in its people. It is the same with a business. The wealth of the business lies in its people. Being a entrepreneur is not for everyone. However you never know unless you try. You may be the next big thing to come along.

There is no such thing as a slam dunk business and the only slam dunk is when you work your tail off. I have a friend that has a brick and mortar hobby shop that does quite well for himself. I know others that have failed. It is how the business is handled. As a self employed pearson I make a very good living. I also know others in my same field that have a hard time. Its not that I offer anything different other than myself. That is what makes the difference. I am what makes the difference.

If you really want to start your own business figure out a plan and make it happen. Being young is a big advantage that you will never get back.

I hate to use a commercial but Gatorade has it right. Is it in you?


Good Luck

Al

 

You just have to be clever. Consider APlus.net Maxima Account, which will get you will all the server you can eat, plus merchant services, for $35 a month. Ya rustle up a hot shot programmer and a nice camera and a photo taking tent from B&H audio video http://www.bhphotovideo.com/, and TADA! For a grand or two you are in business with possibly a million browsers clicking at your site at a much lower cost than an additional employee at your brick and mortar store. Give the programmer a percentage bonus from your on-line store to get them working for a peanut butter sandwich and all nighters, and you are rolling in dough! :teeth:

 

Well, there are a lot of reasons the shops avoid full "shopping cart ecommerce" systems. A lot of companies don't want to have to pay the charges of having both a merchant account for their online stuff + for their credit card machine in the store, although you could use the online one as the machine. You definitely loose that personal touch. There are a couple sites out there that use email as the primary ordering method. These sites would benifit from some simple php shopping cart code that at the end, would email all the data to the store (or enter it in a DB for them to manually process). Maybe I should write one of those and host it

 

Work is work. I lost a good job with halfway decent benefits last year. The thing is I hated that job. Every morning I would wake up and tell the wife "I hate my job", then run off to work as a cog in a big corporation. I took a huge pay cut going to my new job, 25% less income. I really like my new job. Every day is a new experience. My bosses appreciate my skill set, our clients value my skill set. I value my coworkers and they value me. Going to work is like spending time with good friends. If you think owning and running a webshop is your kind of work, and is in your line of interest GO FOR IT! Money isn't everything and hard work is good for the soul.

 

Also be careful,being in the business myself,I can tell you that certain distibutors will not sell to internet dealers only.Certain ones require that you have a store front.Hope it helps.

 

Then there is the LHS business hours. Monday thru Thursday 9-5, open late on Friday till 7PM, open Saturday and closed Sunday. Well, these hours are foolish! Closing at 5PM during the week means that there is no chance whatsoever of making it to the shop after work, which means they are open for visitors from out of town and retirees. Doesn't pay the rent. Friday night is a very bad night. It's before you start weekend projects (can't get out on Friday anyway), and you don't know if you need anything else before the weekend. So, you work on Saturday and you run out of stuff by Saturday late evening. The next chance to get to the hobby shop is the next Saturday morning? Bah! You can order the stuff from an online shop and easily have it by the next Friday. Not only can you avoid the long trip to the hobby shop, but you just saved 1/3 off the cost and no taxes, and you didn't loose any convenience versus buying stuff local. No value added.

One shop tried staying open late for a week, and they went right back to the old times afterward because no one showed up. I asked them, did they tell anyone? Nope. Yep, they just closed. Pound head on wall, rinse, repeat.

Another shop opened up with fresh faced energy and stocked their shop with Bachmann and other junk cars. Well, I tried to warn the owner, no one is going to buy that stuff. Nope, he was an expert and had long experience in the field. Yep, he just went out of business with the same cars on the perf board. He also complained that the hobby was dying out. Grrrr!!!

You want to see how a good local shop can jam? Fly to San Bernardino and visit Milepost 38. Two or three deep at the register every day when I've been there. Tight staff, good selection, but it's more than that. It has the ambiance that makes dollars just fly out of your wallet. If they could combine this with Internet sales...

 

Amen...like, why not figure out when people want to shop for hobby stuff! my LHS is closed on Sun and Mon! grrr...great shop, but i just wish i could go in Sunday around noon and get some unitrack!

 

I think Chuck is much too smart to weigh in here . . . Why would someone who has successfully navigated these waters want to hand the keys to the kingdom to a competitor?

David

 

If you have ever seen a site called 1stplacehobbies.com then there is a good example of what a guy like you could do. They advertise in MR. I was surfing the web one day and found them. The funny part was they were in the small town I work in. I had never seen there store. it was on a small side street. I felt like I stumbled into a goldmine. The guy use to be a succesful software designer, got tired of it and opened his shop. He now is one of Walthers biggest customers. In the last couple of years he has grown and grown. I stop in his shop befor noon and he has my stuff from Walthers the next afternoon. And at a good discount. I asked him why he even has his doors open to the public and he told me it wasnt worth it but he had to because of Walthers. The brick and mortar was really a loser. But when Im in there the phone is always ringing and his website is always busy. I dont know what his profit is but he has hired a couple of people to keep up. I have been either fulltime or partime employeed all my life. I will repeat some of the things others have said. Be prepared to commit yourself 110%. Its the only way it will fly. There is an organization called SCORE. I believe it stands for Society Of Concerned Retired Executives. They have a website that should be of help. They have a mentoring system. Let them help you avoid the mistakes they learned the hard way. If you arent married and have no kids it is a great time to give it a go. Good look young fella.

 

Otter, all of the negatives mentioned by respondents on this list are very valid, just multiply them by a factor of 10 to understand the true magnitude.

I had an opportunity to work in the industry several years ago as a salesman for a hobby distributor. Wow, I'll get to go to all the train shops in my area all the time! As I got to know the owners better I found that they were struggling to take much money home, and this was in the days before Web-based selling existed. All the shop owners were buying from the same sources at the same markups. Now the vendors have extreme cost cutters online to compete with.

I would suggest two things. First, "apprentice" at a major shop selling train stuff. See what it takes to sell trains AND make a profit at it. Second, pile tons and tons of money in your bank account so you can always, ALWAYS, keep your accounts current. I have seen shops fail because their credit slips just a little and now they cannot get the latest stuff people want.

Otter, this is a tough business, a very tough business. Do not underestimate the negative elements pointed out in this thread.