Q&A: I Finally Answer What You Need to Open a Game Store

My name is Mason and I’m an owner of Card N All Gaming in Louisville, Kentucky. Follow this channel to gain insight from what the Pokemon hobby is like for a game store owner that’s been buying and selling Pokemon for nearly 10 years. I encourage you to engage in conversation and ask me questions that you always wanted to know the answers to but never get the chance to ask a hobby store business owner.
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We appreciate everyone wanting to support the store and channel! The best way to do that is to visit www.cardnallgaming.com to check out what we have for sale - we have sealed product and card singles for Magic, Pokemon, Yugioh, and Cardfight Vanguard, as well as video games, table top games, gaming supplies, and a ton more!
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To see recent pick ups and awesome intake pictures, follow our Instagram at / cardnallgaming
Join the conversation in our discord at: / discord

[@GLamb3895]

The card shop I went to as a kid, the owner sold knives in the same case with Magic and coins lol. He sold homemade smoothies, pizza from the local pizza parlor, soda, candy bars, even packs that were supposed to be specifically handed out in tournaments. He was also selling Fossil Packs at $3.00 a piece because they "werent moving". What a time to be alive

[@therealnibbles1281]

You were a kid, fossils packs only costed 3 bucks.

[@monicabijeaux2059]

Nmassassssss

[@JakeHario]

I really enjoy this man's input on the business side of things, it really gives you some light on the difficulties of being a part of an LGS.

[@Kangasconrad]

great information! running a small business is probably really difficult and i can respect anyone who has the motivation to do it and keeps it running smoothly. kudos

[@kevinc5820]

Just recently found your channel and I’m loving these videos they have been very helpful in understanding how LGS run as well as helping me understand the market more. Thank you !

[@SpielmansCollectibles]

Definitely appreciate you breaking down all of the overhead expenses just to operate a brick and mortar store. It is such a big task and if someone isn't prepared for all of those things then it can definitely put a lot of pressure on a new business. I think I'll be sticking to online just due to all the added stress I feel like it would cause

[@TrailBlazer5280]

Great info man, been dabbling online a bit and boy it seems like a long road to owning a shop. Love hearing your perspective on things its very helpful

[@EvilTermite]

I enjoy hearing about how you've built up your business. The advice I keep hearing from you is, "Start small and make sure you can hack it when it's small before you take on more risk and more debt." Your advice makes a lot of sense. I admire the work you've done to get your game store running.

[@DallasKICS]

Great video and breakdown Thanks for the insight and it’s awesome to see all the things you’ve applied to be successful

[@RealTalkRicky]

Finally a video that doesn't pull its punches. This was incredibly helpful and I'll be watching and studying this vid for the future

[@allnaturalfarmraisedhandma8637]

Listened through a few times, great speaking voice brotha and a lot of good information compacted which made it a great listen that can make time fly 👍

[@ktewksbury1992]

Thanks for answering my question, love the video!!

[@terebiomimasu]

Sadly, the only 2 LGS in my area recently closed so learning about all the nuts and bolts of this business is fascinating. I'm no businessman and I don't intend to turn to this as a career, but you sharing your opinions and knowledge is greatly appreciated.

[@masonweaver5005]

Where are you from friend the wife and I are trying to start up a business and are looking for places that need game stores

[@willisthedon4761]

Hey Mason thank you for answering my question in great length! After I originally commented I thought to myself, "He probably gets asked this question A LOT!." so hopefully you never have to answer these kinds of questions again for a while haha. The reality of me owning a brick and mortar is more like a 20+ year plan that may or may not even happen. Currently I'm in a better financial stance where I can just focus on buying for my personal collection, some product to open every now and then and I'm looking into buying up bulk/collections!

[@Callmehadaddy]

Damn, 120k in rent a year sounds insane, here in Vegas I rent a 1500 sf retail space for $1500 a month so like 20k a year after all the other stuff like electric and all that but 120k is insane what city are you in?

[@summer3summer379]

Appreciate your honesty

[@NehemiahTheVampire93]

my friends are opening up a smaller shop soon and i've been helping them out with it, hope everything goes well it's been pretty stressful lol

[@dreamtcg]

Thank you!

[@gnarrdog]

Very informative. Thanks for posting this video.

[@kb6530]

Wow dude 7500 sq is no joke. That's a good sized store my man , you are the top 2% of game stores I'm sure. You should definitely have more subs, you know what your talking about!

[@thecinematiccrapalliance]

Thanks for this. Very very helpful.

[@imjody]

Holy shit, Mason! That giant CARD 'N' ALL GAMING lit up store name logo is a beauty!! Not sure why, but I wasn't expecting a beautiful custom-cut logo like that whatsoever! 😍

[@CNA-Games]

yeah, the green screen is really making the "store" look more and more real, isn't it?

[@imjody]

@@CNA-Games I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm so used to seeing stores around here with simple rectangular lit up signs with the logo printed onto it, but yours is literally die-cut, which I'm sure would be far, FAR more expensive, but looks soooo good! But it is in fact the first time I see the exterior of your store! To be honest, I wouldn't mind a full store walkthrough at all! 😊

[@bbqwittom]

🍻🍻🍻. Always love the information

[@IgnorantTod]

just bought my first ever booster box from you 😅

[@rivercityrippersyoutube6780]

Killer video Mason killed it

[@gekhang]

Nice video, as a new LGS owner there are a few things that you didnt touch on. Most distributors are not accepting online only businesses. So you are screwed if you are wanting to get sealed products. And Second, even if you got distributors. It is not like you will be able to get products every week like target does. Most distributors are sold out on just about everything(pokemon) related and will get waves here and there. Third being a new LGS owner you are screwed because you get very little to no allocation on new products(pokemon specifically).

[@LionGamingNacho]

This is true. Every Distributor I talked to said they couldn't give me an account because I needed to have a retail space and they couldn't guarentee me product. I told them to call me when they wanna be serious. New product isn't even my biggest profit.

[@CardboardEmpires]

All true, but for me the biggest thing is TIME! You need 6 months easy to build inventory over release schedules. You're also going to need months for counters and displays.

[@CNA-Games]

Oh wow, you're alive.

[@CardboardEmpires]

@@CNA-Games I'm just building suspense.

[@tmaciejewski]

Hi Mason, love the videos! I was curious what you think will happen to the value of modern graded cards moving forward. It seems like their will be massive amounts of graded cards given the amount of volume they are seeing at PSA/BGS. Do you think this will prevent these modern cards from rising to the level that the vintage cards have?

[@therealnibbles1281]

They're worthless now and they will be even more worthless in years. No one buys graded cards for collections, you can't use them for play, it's just the trend.

[@CaptainZackSparrow]

inb4 Danny Phantump watches... Ah who am I kidding? He's already watched this 3 times and took 7 pages of notes. Appreciate the vid, Mason!

[@CNA-Games]

Danny doesn't need any tips from me, he's a legend and totally prepared to do pretty much anything he would want to do. :)

[@CaptainZackSparrow]

@@CNA-Games haha you’re both legends!

[@ladymsthing6056]

My husband has hundreds of marvel comic cards from the early 90's and has no idea how to get them evaluated! Where does he start?

[@coltoncollects290]

Nice Video! 👍 😊

[@fatumaj4436]

where do you go to buy stock for the business?

[@genigeekus]

My main question is where do I go to get games because I've seen users sell games but only one copy. Do I buy one copy or bulk? Do I buy from manufactures? I really want to know!

[@hasaki_oce4611]

There should be distributors in ur region. None of them sell to individuals tho. Some of them only sell to shops with a physical venue too.

[@pokegangg]

Watttssss gooooddsdddd how u been???

[@blinddog4288]

Every thing this guy said is correct, BUT don’t be discouraged. You do not need 250,000! As he stated in his early days he did NOT have all the things he has now. You don’t need to be online and doing events day 1. Ask around and on social media for anyone looking to sell gaming items and off to sell them on consignment and such. If someone comes into your store and you don’t have it, simply say I’m new and not sure what customers are wanting in this area and offer a small discount to help you get us and going. People always like to help the new guy. I’m 1-2 months from opening my store with about 50,000$ and I’ll be profitable week 1. I’m just waiting for the funds to arrive and then it’s… every pun intended - GAME ON!!

[@cheatcodecharlie]

I think is 120k is not factual....to be honest I think he is giving a great opinion but you can start small rent a small space.....with 10k....and hit up flee markets....etc and find ganes for cheap...then resale them and have some money aside for people who bring in games and do it again resale them for more then what you put into it......so you can start small then once business takes off then move forward with bigger spaces.....its all about the time you out into networking and going to conventions to get your name out there.....

[@CNA-Games]

Absolutely. I've told people that's the best way to start. But when people look at my space and ask how much it costs, that's where you're at.

[@cheatcodecharlie]

@@CNA-Games correct

[@williamflanigan2829]

What's up brother! How u doing today! You gotta send money to make money. Nice video!!

[@pokegangg]

Slow day

[@tonobaker601]

I feel like Rudy’s content is deceptive 4:18 in case my 2 cents matter

[@coltoncollects290]

Third!

[@PokeManCave]

The amount of red tape in the industry is insane

[@elvincortez1484]

Can you explain taxes please?

[@CNA-Games]

Hire experts. That's what I have to do.

[@purplegion]

The things he mentions are correct but the amounts seem over inflated. Just my opinion as I don't even know which area he's in, but I would say you could accomplish what he's talking about for half the 120k, nevermind 250k!

[@CNA-Games]

That was for a fully decked out store from the get-go to make a store similar to mine currently. I think I later say 60k will get you going in a store with plays pace. Sorry if that was confusing.

[@resellrobin]

@@CNA-Games I just opened a store in Houston for under 20k . So it’s al about prices . Rents 2k a month for 1500 sq ft . And I clear over 2500 a month on eBay alone . So it’s all about how you want to run things

[@ktewksbury1992]

@@resellrobin what’s the name of your store?

[@Rossbrian1]

Win the lottery and you too can own a store

[@GlassEater420]

Lemme guess, I need 100K and a business license

[@lag9]

I have almost 500k to start. What size store do I buy.

[@CNA-Games]

That sounds legendary.

[@Gogies777]

If you are asking that question after watching this video,you might want to do more research.

[@Superdoopercooper]

This will be a lot cheaper once we all live in the Metaverse

[@KelvinTrading]

Were we can go to the metazoo

[@Superdoopercooper]

@@KelvinTrading now that's next level. I can imagine them being NFTs

[@joo0ey]

Wait, now that Mason released a video detailing expense on opening a store, where are all the comments claiming that his prices are outlandish just because an online store can sell a booster for 20 dollars less?

[@CNA-Games]

oh they'll be here, give them time.

[@mountainsofisraelazarel5713]

Lmk i got you on a taper

[@Flowmaster925]

good luck getting a line of credit after 2021

[@clownster456]

Too hard

[@KingTheGermanShepherd]

All the LGS around me and 90% of the country are still scalping... pathetic

[@KingKuba1313]

So they should sell it for cheap so someone else can scalp it?

[@Brianf1977]

deriums' store is permanently closed, probably not the best place to get advice from

[@o0QuAdSh0t0o]

69th view

[@gilbertnunez3970]

Tons of your pricing is insanely OVER MARKET rate.. dam

[@blinddog4288]

Every thing this guy said is correct, BUT don’t be discouraged. You do not need 250,000! As he stated in his early days he did NOT have all the things he has now. You don’t need to be online and doing events day 1. Ask around and on social media for anyone looking to sell gaming items and off to sell them on consignment and such. If someone comes into your store and you don’t have it, simply say I’m new and not sure what customers are wanting in this area and offer a small discount to help you get us and going. People always like to help the new guy. I’m 1-2 months from opening my store with about 50,000$ and I’ll be profitable week 1. I’m just waiting for the funds to arrive and then it’s… every pun intended - GAME ON!!

[@flintwick186]

Have you opened up? Have any tips or advice for newcomers to this business?

[@blinddog4288]

@@flintwick186 Although I’m ready with my inventor built up and the 50k in cash I wanted, I have decided to hold off for a bit. I want to see what happens in the next few months with the economy and war.

[@blinddog4288]

Check out RNG -gamez

[@flintwick186]

@@blinddog4288 Very Smart! This will give you time to build up more capital for an even bigger safety net once you open. Best of luck!

[@SunslayerJenkins]

@@blinddog4288 Did you ever open up?