Thursday, July 17, 2025

The new Pokemon was more bountiful than I expected. Not only did we get the elite trainers for two different releases, which I can also break into packs, but three other sets, including one set that had two out of date Pokemon boosters plentiful enough to start selling them again by pack. 

So we went from only five different Pokemon items to sell (a worrisome shortage of choice) to fourteen different choices. I'm very clever in how I divide these up. I immediately ordered several items at higher prices because I know I can sell the parts for more than enough to cover the cost. 

All I needed was an opportunity.

What was really strange about the last couple months was that almost all options had disappeared, in both Pokemon and Magic. Now we're set on Pokemon, and the new Magic is coming in two weeks and the latest Magic release (Final Fantasy) is going to last. (Not to mention, that unlike Pokemon, we have at least fifty formers releases in stock, and probably more than a hundred choices.)

So we're set for the summer....I hope.  

 

I panicked when I thought we were only getting a few elite trainer boxes of the new Pokemon. I bought some more online from Amazon at a higher price. 

As it happens, we paid about what we intend to start selling them for, which is crazy. But it will extend the inventory farther and we'll be making enough of a margin the cancel the error. 

And really, what is our purpose here? It's to have stuff when people come in. That's our competitive feature: to have a wide variety and depth. 

We're in a weird sort of zone where we are selling at only slightly above replacement costs. (A good rule of thumb is to never sell below replacement costs.) But that price has started to turn off demand. Nevertheless, I feel it is extremely important to have product in stock when customers come in. 

What we're trying to do here is position ourselves for the future. If we can have enough leftover of the current release to last into the next release then we have two brands available, and we can extend those into the next release, we have three...and so on. 


Wednesday, July 16, 2025

 Ratfink brain woke me at 5:30 so I was on the road by 6:30.

Holy Cow!  The roads were packed, and not only packed, but with really aggressive drivers. This half-awake night person was feeling very threatened by the this heightened energy. I never knew so many businesses started so early. 

My only consolation is that these crazy motherfuckers sometimes have to stay up late and deal with us nighttime crazy motherfuckers.  

 

We had another slow day the day before yesterday which threw me, followed by another busy day. The average is still better than we've ever done, though there is still half the month to go to get to the record.

It turns out, we're getting a bit more Pokemon than I expected, so I now feel like we'll be able to get through the next phase just fine. Not going to lower prices, though. This is the tail end of a bubble and the time will soon come when the sales will drop and we will need to be ready to weather the storm.

Ordering and selling lots of books. Or is it selling and ordering lots of books? My original budget in no way could have kept up with this level of sales so I'm leaning in with the sales level instead of the budget. Theoretically, we should earn just as much profit if not more if we sell at the same percentage of the orders. 

 

Three hours putting books away, one hour cleaning the store. Always feels like I really accomplished something.  

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Interesting market, this Pokemon thing.

I simply can't find anywhere on the world wide web who is selling Pokemon for any cheaper than we're selling it for. In other words, with all the choice in the world, customers can buy Pokemon in my store as cheaply as anywhere else.

Except they can't. There's a time lag involved. They see Pokemon in a store a month ago, and to them that was yesterday. There's retail lag. Some stores simply get their product, put it out for sale a SRP, and they sell out instantly. So they tell the customers, "Yeah, we sell for XXX. But we're out."

The customer translates that into, "We sell for XXX..." conveniently leaving "we're out."

And waves come into the chain stores and are sold at regular prices and are quickly snapped up, but I decided long ago I wouldn't deprive customers of their chance to get that stuff, nor did I want to lurk around chain stores. (A worse hell I can't imagine.)

What it means if we are selling as cheap or cheaper than anywhere online that. well, we're too cheap.

But the customers don't see that.

Nevertheless, I have two options. Sell out and maybe never see those customers again or bump up the price. Despite the increasing prices, our profit margin is getting thinner and thinner. At some point I will have to cry uncle and just let us sell out and hope that some more product becomes available.  

 

One week into Ingram only. Certainly is more timely and doing the budget this morning was a breeze. There's bonus to it in that I can wait for a statement to show up from the other publishers that includes all the orders I've so far made and then I can start with a fresh zero balance in my accounting.  

I ordered on Saturday thinking it would come in on Monday, which meant I could put it away today before work. It was a strange thing Ingram was doing for awhile, packing up stuff on Sunday to arrive on Monday. Except this time, it didn't. So that means that two big orders arrived today. 

So I came in to put the few boxes that came in Monday from other publishers, then waited around for the huge orders. I got about one box in and realized, "Nope." It ain't possible with people crowding the aisles 

That good, right? Not always. Sometimes all they do is clog the aisles. 

But there is nothing I do about it but stand there and wait until the move. Impossible.

So there's a huge amount of books to put away tomorrow and I need to try to get it done before opening.  

Sunday, July 13, 2025

I'm throwing out all the game plans. We've had such an extraordinary month that my budget simply isn't sufficient to replace the sold product (especially books), much less improve it.  

Well, I can't have that. The store must be served. So the budget is now replacing the perennial sellers and the new hot stuff and to figure it will all pan out. 

I'm not spending anything on extraneous stuff. It all product we want in the store. 

So I'll let the chips fall where they lay and hope for the best. On one hand, we're doing far better than I expected, but on the other hand, it's hard to control a runaway beast. Heh. 

If I hadn't stocked Pokemon far beyond normal, I'd be completely wiped out by now. As it is, we'll probably manage to get to Friday without selling out of everything. I have at least two brands and probably three that I can continue to sell, which is still more than most stores, I suspect.

Some new Pokemon brands arrives on this Friday. I don't know if the new stuff will be enough, but I've run out of places to find Pokemon at affordable prices. I'm in the same boat as everyone else, despite all my preparations.

My old saying, "If something is hot, you can't have too much. If it's cold, anything you get is too much," has once again proven to be true. Another saying, "Supply always catches up to demand," may be true in the long run, but in the near future it's going to be an interesting situation of trying to hang onto just enough product to get to the next release.  

And there it is, Bubble Marker #11.

Someone broke into a shop in New Bedford, Mass. and stole 100K worth of Pokemon cards. (I did mention "hijacking," which is pretty much the same thing.)

By the way, that 100K value is bullshit. You have to have a hundred cards to sell one, and a hundred thousand cards to sell 1000, if that. I could live for years on the supposed value of the back issue comics I have. But the only thing that counts is the monthly average in sales, which is a tiny fraction.  

If I was that retailer I'd gladly take 100K than have to spend years and tons of overhead trying to sell the stock.  

It's all rather silly. Life is too short, guys. It's just Pokemon cards! 

Saturday, July 12, 2025

I should elucidate what I think are the major markers of a bubble.

 

1.) Allocations. 

2.) New business's and expanding business's. Everyone jumping into the pool.

3.) Price increases to slow demand.

4.) Separation of product into winners and losers. Dumping the losers. 

5.) Stock at manufacturers and distributors going out the backdoor.  Literal hijacking of product. 

6.) Mainstream media coverage.

7.) Scalpers buying up all available product in mass market. (This should be #1, actually.) Fights in the aisle. 

8.)  Schools banning it because of disruptions. Fights in the schoolyard.

9.) Everyone insisting it isn't a bubble and it's different this time and that they aren't buying for the money but because they really, really like these: pogs, beanie babies, sports cards, Pokemon cards. Also shouting down people like me for being negative. 

10.) Original purveyors complaining but going all in anyway because they think they'll outsmart the market.  

 

I'll add more as I think of them...