by Nathan Stout of (AccordingToWhim.com)
[Insert hot, loud rock n’ roll electric guitar riff]
Renegade Anime… REBORN!
Ok, it might not be THAT exciting but I have brought that old business out of the darkness of failed business death for another shot (of sorts). You can read all about Renegade Anime’s first go-round in this group of articles from last year:
Ok, you done? Well, after the comic book shop failed Renegade Anime died I put the website up for sale. Of course it didn’t sell (better for me, eh)? I sold the remaining stock here and there over the years and eventually got out from underneath all that stuff.
About a month ago I got the itch to do some more business-type stuff and I looked into the whole Japanese model thing again. Hobby Link Japan was still doing wholesale ordering and I thought it might be a good time to get back into the whole ebay/convention thing… but doing it right this time.
You are asking me what do you mean by ‘doing it right this time’? Well. If you read the Renegade Anime 5-part story you can see how I did things wrong. You can also read this nifty Ebook I wrote a couple of years back (and will be posting a blog about shortly) called: Wait! Don’t Make These Mistakes When Starting Your Own Business. Let me just sum it all up for you (although it is an interesting read)… if you are going to spend money to open a retail business… get the proper size loan, don’t go cheap.
Anyway the way I (when I say I, I am including Chris) will ‘do it right’ will exclude renting any sort of store front. This is going to be a mostly-online business via EBay and with the occasional toy/sci-fi convention.
I am going to stick with what we still have in the way of the millions of Cyberpunk cards and Magic The Gathering cards with the addition of the new Japanese models I will be getting.
With little to no overhead and proper pricing this will be a profitable business. This new start up money (the money for the models) is from cash and so there is no rush to resell the items so there will be no auctions (unless we are testing the market). The selling on EBay will be ‘Buy It Now’ with our goal price. If they don’t sell fast, so be it. I have purchased models that are tried and true sellers from popular series like Macross/Robotech and Starblazers/Spaceship Yamato.
During the year I am going to set up at a couple of conventions to sell more as well. This will be fun and having fun at this is what is more important to me. I wouldn’t want to sell stuff I didn’t get some enjoyment from.
The models arrived and I have hung the old banner from outside the comic shop on the wall in the back bedroom. I have stacked the models up and will be getting some auctions built soon.
I have also already signed up for a convention at the end of January in Plano.
My hope is to do some brisk business and get a lot of turnover so I can continue ordering more. I think the conventions will be the easiest way to do that turnover (and make the money I want).