@411MissingHooPLa - Great post and good luck with your venture.
Some feedback (which I'm sure has already been mentioned).
- Easy access to transport - EJ cards in Box Hill is well located. Near Laburnum Railway Station and on the corner of two main roads (Middleborough and Maroondah Hwy). So looking at your location options and target market, perhaps Eltham or Heidelberg
- Do you want to be in a shopping centre (ie Knox) where rent is huge (as price per metre)
- Definitely need access to low-end inserts, PC's and commons to cater for all markets (not just the pointy end). Sitting at a table and going thru boxes of old cards is very theraputic!
- Marketing - Get onboard with a number of junior footy clubs - Fire out some common and low end insert re-packs to kids in Auskick to U12's. The industry is competing with onling gaming like never before. Excellent marketing and follow-up customer service is the point of difference.
- Offer a membership with multiple benefits (ie. Member only days for pre-release or specials, or a flat fee annually which gives members free postage).
- Set-up a portal or sub-directory on your website which allows members to list/trade cards and avoid the eBay/Paypal fees - Your store could be the conduit where cards are handed over (for a small handling fee).
- TV's showing live games or re-runs of classics (via NBATV or similar) - What you save in rent, you can put towards adding value to your customers. (Have a closed store session during NBA Finals to a handful of lucky members etc).
Just throwing a few options out there. Would love to be in your position, but it would cost a marriage.