With the production of high-end baseball cards with autographs of players and the emergence of game jersey swatch cards, the hobby of collecting baseball cards is becoming popular once again since interest waned in the 90’s. So, running an online baseball card shop now can be profitable, that is if you have a plan and you’re committed to following it.
Starting a Dealership
Cost
Setting up a dealership will cost money, especially if you plan to get a physical retail place in addition to an online business. The cost of acquiring property or renting a place will not be an issue if you plan to sell purely online.
However, in all cases, you will require capital for inventory building.
If you’re passionate about this hobby, know it well including the latest trends about it, then you have a strong potential of good returns on your investment.
Demand
Who would buy from you? As long as you sell official trading cards from well -known brands, you can expect to receive steady business from young and grown-up customers alike.
Become an Authorized Dealer
The license property rights of official baseball cards are strictly protected by the Major League Baseball organization. In order to sell new trading cards, you need to have authorized distributorship agreement with baseball card manufacturers that have been licensed by the major leagues.
Steps to Becoming an Online Baseball Card Dealer
Step 1: Establish a Legitimate Business
You must have a real and licensed business first in order to be eligible to become an authorized dealer with licensed baseball cards manufacturers. This means you need take the time to complete the necessary paperwork such as getting a business license and ensuring all tax obligations are met.
Step 2: Set Up Your Business
Once you have a legal business entity in place, you can then set up your ecommerce website. This is also the time to put up your physical storefront if you plan to have one.
Step 3: Build Your Inventory
Build your inventory.
If you have your own card collection that you’re ready to sell, it would be a great start for your inventory. But you would certainly need to have lots more items to fill your display cases.
Specifically, you want to invest in factory-sealed products. As you know very wellbeing a collector yourself, there is always a thrill opening a box of cards. So, factory-sealed merchandise draws both serious and casual collectors alike, making it a big money maker.
Also, it would be smart to build and keep an inventory of baseball cards from all releases from the last five years. Check with card manufacturers if they give discounts to distributors so you can take advantage of the savings once you become authorized.
Step 4: Send Your Applications to Card Manufacturers
Get in touch with the baseball card manufacturers you’d like to distribute for tosecure each of their application forms.
Next, prepare your inventory and take a photo of each item. You will need to include the photos with your application for distributorship.
Step 5: Start Marketing
Once you become an authorized dealer, you can now focus on marketing and promoting your products. The market for baseball cards is ever changing. Collectors are constantly on the lookout for the next hot merchandise.
Of course, you have to be ready to deliver what collectors are looking for. But your inventory would be useless if the collecting community is not aware of it. This is where using the right and best marketing techniques will be crucial to your business.
Keep in mind that there are different consumer types in your market and you have to appeal to all from the sport fans and younger consumers to casual collectors and high end collectors.
You will have to use various internet marketing programs to increase consumer awareness of your business and ultimately bring collectors to your online store and make a purchase.
The most successful online baseball card stores know how to drive traffic to their websites, how to appeal and stay relevant to their entire target market.
Aspiring online card dealers have to realize that many of these companies were not always this way. They gained knowledge along the way, being willing to study and learn what they did not know when they were just starting. This means success comes to those who are ready to acquire the knowledge they need to become successful.
Get the Training You Need
A wonderful resource for those who want to learn all about Internet marketing and running a successful online business is an online affiliate training program like Wealthy Affiliate, which is essentially a community of online entrepreneurs who are committed to help each other succeed.
