[matojami]

I have the extra room, but will it really be worth starting a store? About how many guns do you guys sell a month? Or should I just stick to paint sales?

[7paintball]

If people are asking for it then you might want to set one up.

[MstrKey]

If you're not in a fairly decent sized metro area....it may not be worth your while . Of course if you run open games with tons of players using their own gear...meaning.....100 a week or so then it may be worth it to start selling smaller items as a test market. Things people need, like pads, goggles, tanks, entry level gun packages. There's more profit and less up front cost in the smaller accessories I think. Others may have a more experienced opinion. I'm going on instinct here.

The problem is....if you have a pro shop, you need someone to be working in it all the time. That costs money. So you need to know you can sell enough product to cover the costs and turn a profit. It's tough these days with online stores.

[99BPS]

Soft goods are key. easy to care high margin.
Swabs, goggles, jerseys,

in terms of hard parts, pick an entry marker and sell it, no selection just a solid cheaper marker for those so captivated by their day or play they wanna grab one. Or for those with nice markers that break down and dont wanna play a day with a rental. (GoG enemy ftw).

Some barrels that fit your field paint really well are good too, people can up there game that day a lot with a matched barrel.

[GatSplat]

I'll toss out my opinion for what it's worth... We used to have a pro shop - sold tons of stuff... but in the end. A huge hassle and very little if any profit. You are dealing with an industry where the manufacturers have terrible margins, they sell the product them selves on their own web pages, they change makes, models, go out of business, start under new names, have terrible customer service, and on and on and on.

I'm used to retail and internet sales - my scuba shop sells millions of dollars worth of scuba equipment a year, locally in our shop, and more millions on line. So I know about inventory control, have all the systems in place - and when it came down to it.. .the paintball sales was just not worth it. We had a full pro shop at our field, and now I carry just a few feed necks, tank o-rings, and some barrel socks.

It turned out it's just too much hassle for the tiny margins. This is a true and typical scenario:

kid - "Do you have feed necks?"

Me - "Yes, for which gun?"

kid - "An ion."

Me - rummage through a box, pop up with a black feed neck for an ion.

kid - "do you have it in blue?"

me - "let me check...." rummage more..... Find it in blue.

kid - "no, not gloss blue.. do you have dust blue?"

me - "hold on.. I'll look for one...." rummage some more, come up with a dust blue locking feed neck for an ion "here you go..."

kid - "how much"

me - "Tell you what - I'll sell it to you for basically my cost - how about 20 bucks..."

kid - "Oh... well I don't have 20 bucks. I just want to see if you had one... thanks."

Me - realize, that even if the kid would have bought it... I would have made more money selling a slushy to the sweaty kid next to him.

If you decide you want to get into sales... I have boxes of misc stuff I will dump for cheap. Come grab it all... and in there.. there is probably still a dust blue feedneck for an ion.

[ericl1982]

Originally Posted by matojami

I have the extra room, but will it really be worth starting a store? About how many guns do you guys sell a month? Or should I just stick to paint sales?

I would at least Set up some accessories like gloves and other items that are a high demand and a decent markup to be made on them could not hurt to start small and work up once demand can be gauged

[raehl]

Have and sell what people need/want to use that day.

- Chris

[MstrKey]

Originally Posted by GatSplat

Me - realize, that even if the kid would have bought it... I would have made more money selling a slushy to the sweaty kid next to him.

If you decide you want to get into sales... I have boxes of misc stuff I will dump for cheap. Come grab it all... and in there.. there is probably still a dust blue feedneck for an ion.

Slushies, snacks and cold drinks are pure profit!