Should I OPEN a RETRO GAMING STORE?  

Set up an online store, the main reason not to do this is limited supply and that this is catering to a small niche. Physical store is probably a bad idea but a small online store on the side is much more manageable.

Reggie brings a good vibe to the show, would be cool to see him on more often.

people tend to confuse collectors with people who buy for the purpose of selling for a profit

Good Question. I'd love to open a store one day. I have the inventory for it with my duplicates. But once my initial inventory depleates, then it would be hard to keep things in stock. Right now, hunting for games is fun, but once it becomes a job then all the fun gets taken out of it.

Owning a retro gaming store is one of my future goals. This video is giving me more inspiration to pursue that goal. And the name of my retro gaming store would be CKB Gamer' Paradise.

Druggies don't make good drug dealers ;)

I feel that I'd grow to dislike games if it became my job. The only benefit in my opinion would be people bringing in there stuff. Great question! If you ever have a change of heart Metal Jesus, I'll wear the leather...

I've been following your channel for well over a year and I have to say, I really enjoy the videos. It's great having a collector who not only shows a true passion for gaming, but also creates videos that are so damn pleasant. I know that no matter what, I'm going to learn something, but am also not going to get my eardrums blown out with over-the-top mock rage. I love your hidden gems videos the most and have purchased a lot based on your and your guests' recommendations. Keep up the AWESOME work!

i opened a video game store in 1996 till 2001 with just a few games from my collection and a few hundred dollars. i just put a sign out that read i buy used games and consoles and bought stuff for 3 months straight, i ended up with a massive collection of games, consoles, records, videotapes and it was one of the best years of my life. it was a very profitable business if you know how to have a proper business etiquette.just have fun doing it if you love the video game culture and definitely don't mind giving customers a break now and then. good luck to all interested in opening a business, its was great from my experience. just a few things ive got from the shop neo geo aes system w/4 games atari 2600 with games colecovision with games 3 garbage bags full of snes and genesis games. 2 boxes filled with nes games. panzer dragoon rpg multiple nes, snes,dreamcast, ps1 consoles super 8 top loader for the snes

I just love going to retro stores. You never know what you're gonna find. What I really miss is record stores. They're still around, but mostly just for collecting. I used love discovering new music in them.

I have a store. Not brick and mortar though. I run it part-time out of the home so my prices stay low and it's less stress. Have about 2000 games. Will be incorporating Records and Dvd's and such soon. It's not bad. Market is really interesting as every game is different. Love learning about different games and consoles and history as I develop the business. The most tedious part is cleaning the games.

If you and Reggie open a store, I'd be your number 1 best customer.lol :D

- sold my entire collection of retro games from the NES Sega CD, Saturn, etc...to PS2 Era. All original, black labels and original boxes.......so i can get married. its hard to sell your holy grails, but it gets easier.

When I move out of my parents basement I'm planning on opening a gaming store but I would also sell things like comic books and board games

There needs to be a show that combines American Pickers with Comic Book Men for videogames. That NEEDS to happen. Netflix or I wonder if Twitch would eventually consider investing money in producing original shows at some point or another. It would be cool.

I think the much better option is to start with Ebay. Basically no risk and you'll start making money straight away.

The novelty of being able to walk into a retro game store is great, however owning a store and coming to the realization that you have to push inventory in order to turn a profit to pay your light bill is a real bummer. I've walked into many retro game stores or collectors stores like comic shops and it's always a disappointing and frustrating experience. Seeing so many over priced cartridges and disc based games is atrocious considering the fact that you can buy games online from ebay or amazon or whatever at more reasonable or lower prices. What I would like to see or something I think that could work is maybe more like a trading post store for video games. Somewhere were the owner buys used games from customers and sells them at a reasonable price in the hopes that people will actually play these old games and not collect them, that way when you get tired of your games that you do buy, you can sell them back and trade them for new games of equal value so everyone in the community has a chance to play and recycle each others games, and broke people have somewhere to go to purchase and sell back games to be able to experience retro without having to break bank. This of course wouldn't work unless the owner or investor was already well off in the first place as to be able to purchase a location downright already fully paid for and all he'd really have to worry about is utilities and payment network. It would be more of a community trading thing. Kind of like a flea market but more reliable as in you know that you would have a better chance of finding good games there if it was to become trusted. Also this business would be highly dependent on some kind of mediator that knows and understands what are reasonable prices for games of all consoles and types and wouldn't rip off any little kids or unassuming parents. So yea unless your gonna do it for the community because you love games so much and wan't other people to share these experiences I wouldn't reccomned getting into retro for a profit, it's kind of douchey ripping people off because you thought it would be cool to have a space full of retro stuff and then all of a sudden you put yourself in a place where you can't pay rent with your profits so you start ripping everyone off. Not cool. For the most part, stick with online purchases nowadays, cut out the middle man and no one has to pay rent, it's all profit and overall better experience that way.

Metal Jesus, I have only been watching your video's for a short time. In that time i have noticed that you are cool, kind and you have a passion for old video games. A person who has a passion and respect for old school games has my vote!!! Open a store!!!! :)

I don’t think even a large collection would be enough for a starting inventory. It seems like you would need to feel the showroom plus back stock for replenishing the showroom while you buy more back stock so you always have the same amount of inventory.

This was probably one of the best questions I have seen asked and answered so far, no offense to anyone who asked others. I know up here in Canada my LGS has video games, comic books, graphic novels, MTG, Yu-Gi-O, Pokemon, Force of Will, etc not to mention all the sleeves and binders and what not that go with those games as well. There are also board games and POP! figurines. Just an idea for anyone who might be interested in starting out is to maybe branch out into more than a few specific things.

love me some REGGIE!

I wouldn’t wanna open a store either. When you combine a favorite hobby with work it ruins it’s usually. I tried being an auto mechanic then my classic cars never got touched

I dont know why but watching these long videos and getting hi has become a thing for me recently

I ran a tabletop gaming store in Burien for a couple years. The one thing I found was that you stop doing what you love. It becomes work. So we'd play very occasionally, or if there was a need to jump in to help out customers. But overall gaming became a chore while we owned the store. Not saying 'don't do it' but it may tarnish your love after a while.

I don't know that I would ever want to open/own a store just by itself. However, I would love, as a side thing, to have a retro ARCADE, that has, among other things, a store section in the building, and THAT would have collectibles, memorabilia, retro gaming stuff, etc.

Here's a tip if you want to start a retro store. 1. Start a ebay business this will give you a feeling of how the whole thing works. 2. Start a online shopping website this will teach you what having a local business is like and how to promote your company.

I've gotten to know store owners over the years and I could only recommend running a store if you can do so as a hobby and want to meet other gamers (warning: you're also going to meet a lot of thieves and idiots). As a profitable business it's a losing proposition unless you're selling other stuff as well. Traditionally that "other stuff" would be music and videos but those aren't exactly popular these days either (though vinyl is making a comeback). As they've discussed here, stock is getting harder and harder to replace and the kind of people who buy retro games won't patronize you for long if all you have is common stuff they already own. People aren't tending to bring old games into stores as much anymore either because they're starting to understand they have value to them. Ultimately you just have to keep in mind you're probably not going to get rich and you might not even break even. Unless you've got a great method of sourcing inventory and can perform repairs and really know what your goals are as a business you shouldn't do it.

As a former small business owner, I ran a bookstore/cardshop/videogame/movie/cd/culture shop. I ran it for about 6 months and it was great. The stories I could tell. Alas, we closed due to being out in the boondocks. I do want to do it again though, it's what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Cross shopping is essential; collectibles, action figures, magazines/guides all help you bring in more customers and give them reasons to return. I love being able to find stuff related to games if I don't find any specific games I wanted. Usually they have DVD's as well and one around me also has lego's. Retro game stores are really used entertainment goods stores, would be interesting to see if there are any that also include board games/tabletop stuff as well.

I'd love to work in a retro game store, but I would never sell my collection. I hold my games really dear to me.

If you did open a store I would be one of your most loyal and frequent customers. I do contract work in Seattle and always hope that one day I'd end up at your place to do work. I would require a quick tour of your game room though, that's a must.

I opened my own business several months ago, its doing pretty well which makes me happy, but I really only get like an hour of free time a day. If I'm not managing inventory, hunting for new stock, mailing online sales, managing online postings, or working on repair orders, Im online watching price changes or trying to learn more about individual consoles. Add normal life management into it and I end up only having enough time to eat and shower every day. For a while selling potentially cool games to collect made me sad, but Im at the point now where I cant touch any of my games anyway, its really becoming more trouble than I think most people are really willing to go through because Im not making much more than I did with min. wage. The idea sounds fun, and some people would really enjoy the sense of satisfaction you can get from owning your own business, but you have to accept that you lose time to do anything like gaming or socializing more than once a month or so.

There's a Mexican RU-vidr that have a great collection,have a store,sell in internet and also have a RU-vid channel, so is not impossible to do all that The name of the channel is CrazyVideoGamer (sorry for my English I am from Mexico

WOW Metal Jesus, this question is right up my alley. I've always wanted to open a Retro Gaming Store and started with setting up at my local indoor flea market. I've got about 3400 games in my collection and haven't sold any of my personal collection. I'm sitting at close to 2000 games in the large booth and I've been doing it with my wife since April. I also have a full time 5 days a week job and set up at the flea market on Saturday's and Sundays. I have picked a few items for my collection but the business always comes first. We've been looking at Real Estate in our area but haven't found the spot yet that I could dedicate my life to opening the store. We also sell comic books and dvds as well. I agree it is hard to do a RU-vid channel and run this business as well but I found it easier to incorporate the flea market time into my videos and do a weekly segment dedicated to what happens out there. Thanks so much for answering this question.

MTG (Magic The Gathering) Saved my friend and his store from shutting down but now hes keeping all the cards he wants/"Needs" to himself and its starting to crash again so yeah can be a collector and a shop owner at the same time.

I love these videos! Does Reggie also have a channel?

Long Island New York Needs A Retro Gaming Store! Especially In Nassau County!

Metal Jesus, if you and Reggie open a retro gaming store,I would go there EVERY DAY and I don't even live in seattle

Hey man just wanted to say I love your channel, been following you for a long time now. Keep up the good work

7:15 confirmed, MetalJesusRocks is a vampire

I had a go at this back around 2002 when I'd managed to save up a hefty chunk of money and had a medium mixed sized collection. The best part was all the dif kit but you are right as you can't keep it as it needs to be resold, the worst was having to trawl around different sales, ebay, peoples houses etc. Just to keep on top of stock, I would spend every waking hour doing it and I managed 18 months before I started to burn out. Was fun while it lasted but so much work!

If you are going to open a store dedicated to gaming then make sure gaming is just one of your revenue streams. You never know when one division of your operation will underperform and a separate sector might begin performing well. Think long term/big picture. And most important thing of all: have fun doing what you love.

you should make it like a gaming shop and also a relaxing store to where people can sit down and just discuss about gaming

This is a subject I'm right in tune with. Started dealing games in 1999, then opened my first full time store in 2005. I still do it today. I'm a collector as well. Makes it hard when really good stuff comes through the door. and Though I'm not nearly at your level of youtube popularity, it makes shooting and editing new content pretty difficult sometimes. And of course, there's the question: "do you really want to take something you love and make a job out of it?" So if you ever have any questions, ask away. I may have some insight you'd find helpful :)

I am a collector and I buy and sell video games online for a living and it really sucks having to sell rare games but the hunt is addicting.

the way to open a gaming store is to buy the inventory of a current one as a base... and take over the store, putting your own spin on it.

I wouldnt be able to hold a retail store..."thats new ,it must be for me, thats for me too, all for me, everything for me, nothing to you, get away and out of my store!" haha

here's a good suggestion if you do open a retro gaming store make sure you send someone out to flea markets bc the sellers don't have time to walk away from their stalls and look around i''ve found 40-70$ games myself by doing this the best deal for me was both zelda windwaker just missing manual and zelda colectors edition without manual both for 14$.

It would be a serious commitment. Most the shops I know do sell movies as well just to keep the bills paid. Biggest thing is the time you have to commit to it.

Maybe this question would have been better answered by Kelsey. Doesn’t she have a store and a RU-vid. And has time to do videos with this guy.

Man this hits close to home, talking about selling games and thinking "man, that will be hard to find again". I had a near-complete JRPG collection for the DS back in high school, and when I had to sell a good portion of it to pay for college, I was like "man, Idk if I'll ever be able to re-buy Phantasy Star 0 with how much its gonna go up by the time I get out".

I'm Metal Jesus and this is my pawn sh--- RETRO GAMING STORE! Lol

Love Retro games and Reggie videos! :)

Full Throttle in a box! OMG I want! This game literally saved my life. Wowza I love this chanel.

I run a videogame booth at a local flea market on the weekends.That is the best way that i have found to buy sell and trade games.

Don't even mind opening a store, i'd buy ALL your games!

As a follow up to my previous comment, I'm still hell bent on owning MY own retro video game store. I just need to learn everything about owning a small business and all the legal paperwork and stuff that goes with it. There's a retro video game dealer named Jack and I could get some tips and advice on owning my OWN retro video game store. In the mean time, I'm gonna take business courses sometime soon to better help me own and manage the retro video game store of my dreams.

It would be a cool to open a store but i enjoy MetalJesusRocks doing video games and other things on youtube alot more its quite alot of fun to watch his videos! :) Reggie is a pretty cool dude btw MetalJesusRock's shirt is epic i love the design!

yeah but the gaming part should only be a small part. Gaming theme store, but all those other services associated with gaming, repairs, customizations, ebay/amazon fba, etc. 80 hours a week, a real commitment to find your footing.

You have to consider location when starting up. If your city is already saturated with stores, how is yours gonna be better? I think it would be a lot of fun, but at the same time its pretty competitive and stressful.

Maybe you guys should have someone come in and plan out that room with awesome shelves or something? Thanks for the videos!

And think about this. With a new store you will have more video's to upload, like meeting new customers!!!! and new experiences for us all to watch

good to know the "don't smoke your own stash" rule applies to retail gaming stores as well.

I love how they talk shit about Wood in the VERY NEXT video! 7:03 -> onwards

Interesting question. I don't have enough of a collection to warrant opening a store, and even if I did I wouldn't. I put so much effort and money into what I have so far that I don't want to turn around and get rid of it!

You guys are so lucky that you have 14 retro gaming stores near you i have only 1

LOL@"Leather and studs!"

I'm gonna post this in hopes the idea spreads... What if a majority of retro/gaming RU-vidrs and other influencers proposed a plan for the GameStop rebranding and actually save it? (go in and by used and new old and modern games store) for us who want physical to still have the option to go in a store hang out like at card shops for example. They've already started walk in play retro games remodeling of stores and to have an open mind and allow these creators and influencers who definitely know best to step in and make changes while bringing there fan base along to do what they do now coming to them for news and gaming culture?.. I grew up in a small country town in Georgia as a kid and had to go pretty far out of the way or beg my grandparents to do so just to get games that had special editions Walmart did not or get games that Walmart wouldn't try to keep in stock.. I have already experienced the lack of a physical store to feel welcomed in and not treated weird for wanting a type of game cause it didn't have big buck hunting in the name -.- .. being a gamer was the most isolated feeling growing up and thanks to content creators like rgt 85. This amazing ass dude right here? .. I have come to not feel as alienated even after moving to near Orlando I. The recent years there's not much and I feel if they could force GameStop's hand to take the idea and offer of there influence... We could save GameStop and eb games

Opening an exclusively retro gaming store seems like an extremely high risk move. You’re dealing with a supply that won’t being able to meet the demand. These retro games aren’t being manufactured anymore so eventually the well is going to start to run dry. Like they said you are going to have to supplement it with other things like music, DVD’s, etc to turn any real profit.

This talk reminds me of a game store in my town called game city, they do that extra stuff like sell movies and repairs.

theres a huge demand for it. I live in Australia and the market for that vintage stuff is very small. Great video though. You and Reggie should consider an online vintage retro gaming store...

@metaljesusrocks i think it would be tough not only being a collector but finding items complete. if there is one thing i cant stand is when retro stores sell items at top price and items are not in good condition and not complete. also like reggie said about fixing people consoles but then they break again. many retro stores in pa wont touch controllers consoles because they don't want to held responsible if it breaks again. theres only a handful of retro stores i know about in pa where im from I'd love to open a retro videogame store/ arcade. i think that could be really profitable. things i would change is pricing of games if not complete, stickers ripped, disc scratched, etc.

I work at Game Stop. They prefer you wear video game related shirts but they don't care.

Great question and great answer.

great overall choice MJR. The shop would also have all those "hidden" hours, doin' books at 2am.

Retro games retailers also have a REALLY high attrition rate (they fail often). Even some of the more popular ones tend to not make a whole lot of profit. Success is also very dependant on your location. Seattle is probably a great location if it wasn't for all the competition, but like he said, the market is very taxed due to all of the retailer demand for inventory. They are also competing with their own customers for the same stuff and the profit margins are likely quite thin as no collector wants to pay even 10-20 more than say eBay has stuff going for just so you can pay your employees. It's so important to find a good location. Like where I live (ultra conservative South East Idaho) I have seen 4-5 used/retro gaming stores fail HARD in the last 8 YEARS. One huge issue is that there is no real collector market here compared to bigger liberal cities. There video game lovers, but it's all modern games. There are maybe 1-2 listings on craigslist and FB per week for retro stuff. There are very few retro collectors here (and the ones that are here don't have the kind of money to be paying full retail for games) and most people who still buy physical modern titles just go to Gamestop or Walmart. These retro places just never last more than a year as they literally starve for reasonably priced inventory and customers. It's just a shitty area to even be into retro gaming a little bit, much less to try and make a living hustling games. There are also absolutely ZERO big gaming conventions/expos less than 300 miles away. The closest is Salt Lake but it isn't very impressive and relying on places like that for inventory is suicide. You can drive for the 10 hrs it takes to get to Portland or Vegas but it's alot of work and not enough to stock a store with reasonably priced stuff. So yeah, if you are thinking about it just know that it will be a shit load of work, tons of stress and a HUGE amount of risk. Just take the area/region of your store VERY seriously and be prepared to make about as much salary as a waiter at a ok restaurant for at least the first year or two if your extremely lucky and even survive the forest 6 months. Oh, and from what my buddy who valiantly attempted to succeed at this told me, be prepared to potentially have game collecting ruined for you forever. He doesn't even enjoy his hobby anymore after his store tanked. It's a cool, seemingly fun business but it is still a business, and opening one requires some serious balls, risk and know how. If you're thinking about doing it don't make the decision lightly.

Yo, been watching the channel for awhile now. If you are ever in Davis check out the retro store I began working at, Bizarro World. We sell some retro games and consoles but are branched out into comics, cards and games as well as records and DVDs with a full rental library catalogue in the back. But we have some good game stuff like complete in box snes games and a sealed Breath of the Wild 4 for PS1 to name a couple.

I wish there were more stores that sold classic games around where I live. The best one is located in a busy area in my city and is annoying to drive to from my area.

Coming from someone who loves the channel and respects you, here's some input. As you are aware, there is a lot to maintaining a business and keeping in the spirit of doing it day after day after day, even if it is as fun and exciting as a market in retro games. Good customer service in dealing with people is a huge aspect in this business. You can be busy bending over backwards to serve people and some still want a knife you in the back, employees and customers alike. Being behind the counter of a busy game store, I've seen it all. Some of the best people I've ever met and some of the worst. For someone who's been in the business for a while, I'm speaking from experience. So if you're thinking about getting in the market of business ownership, there is a LOT of things to consider let me warn you.

awesome video man i feel the same way a bought giving up games as a collector man i wouldn't give up games i searched hard to find

i'm diggin' this channel. I like it when reggie is in videos

All of the retro game stores where I live have either gone out of business or started focusing on dolls and toys

I'm in south jersey and there's 1 retro game store and its in a mall 25 min from me that's it . Also no flee markets I'm amazed how many are in your area and other places like Texas when I watch game chasers . It blows my mind

i think ebay is the best way to go for people interested in selling games. No overhead and all profit.

Thumbs up for Reggie :-) Love you guys!

I plan to open a business at one point, but I wouldn't go into video games. I love to buy games, not to sell them lol. I'm not entirely sure if I will go into retail since there are so many chain store that dominate (unless I can find a niche market). By the way, all the people you bring on here are awesome. You seem to always pick the perfect person for each video.

Me and my friend usually go to 4 different stores to look for used games as our city doesn't have much.

A bad ass store here locally would be sweet!

Another HUGE issue with opening a retro game store...the type of guarantee you are going to give on purchases. Retro games can die at any moment. Plus you can get some people that return a game just because they don't like it. That will really eat into your profits (I used to sell 100s of items on eBay...and that killed my profits).

The collecting scene can change pretty quick and once you made some bad business decisions, whatcha gonna do with too many copies of one game? Its not like you can predict what will be sought after in the next 6 months. From this perspective id rather open up a store featuring new games, retro games and 30% merch and games related stuff. Besides opening up a gaming store is pretty risky because of ebay and theres the chance that in the future there are mostly digital games. Nah, better stick with collecting. If one wants to have a games related job, id work (part time) in a games store and let the owner undertake the risk :p

If u open a store in this day in age the way things are u need to focus also on the experience there getting from your store alone the vibe kinda like what blockbuster and hollywood video did to us as kids left a foot mark on us to wanting to come back u dont get that experience online ever that will be a huge selling point in my view?

i think if you keep it a online thing it would greatly workout. A store front is not going to workout it'll be cool at first but you would get more looky lou's than anything. My friend has been a owner of a retro gaming store in downtown nyc most likely the only one and i can tell you from what i seen it will be a hassle if your not financially settled like he is in a way his store is like a front for washing money lol but its a cool looking place even though the recent location is extremely tight in comparison to his past locations.

I would love to open my own store here in Auburn,Wa but, I want to sell both retro and modern.

Tough one....on one hand turning your passion into a job might make it work NOT fun, on the other hand, having a job being surrounded by things you love would you really consider that "work" hmmmm if he did do it, Id say have arcade games, host tournaments, have a little stage and do open mic night, sell retro games and musical stuff too! :)

I could never open a retro game store. I would dislike giving bad trade in values and collectors always want to haggle. I am happy collecting for myself :)

Great discussion! I don't think I'd ever want to open a game store for the same reason you gave man! It's too hard to be a collector and a seller...

It would be difficult for a collector to have a retro store. Especially when things you don't have in your personal collection continue to show up on a regular basis. That's when you are forced to decide, do I keep this for my collection or sell it? Keeping in mind that the store is your income source.

I'm so glad you said no because

wow please do! I will fly to seattle just to visit your store!!

Wisconsin needs some retro gaming stores....hell I can't even think of any. MegaMediaXchange, but their selection is more modern and a few glass areas with gameboy/atari/nes/snes /etc. Mainly older consoles and not many games.