Your top 10 puzzle recommendations?

[Goosly]

I really wonder what your plan is. There are a lot of great cubeshops in the US already, who stock all new cubes (instead of the 15 you proposed in your first post).

Why would someone buy from you instead of from the currently existing stores?

 

[stoic]

^Seems a bit harsh, that.
It's clear that the OP has spent some time working on this, and is planning a reasonable investment.
There's plenty of room in the market for some competition.
Personally, I welcome this approach - rather than the type of threads we usually see around these parts by people with absolutely zero knowledge or acumen, and barely enough funds to gather up half a dozen 3x3s to get started.

 

[Goosly]

^Seems a bit harsh, that.
It's clear that the OP has spent some time working on this, and is planning a reasonable investment.

I was simply asking why he thinks people should buy from him, I did not mean to offend anyone.

I have read the entire thread, and he never mentions how many puzzles he is going to stock, how much money he wants to invest or how much time he has been working on this, so I don't know how anything is "clear".

 

[stoic]

Sorry, it was mentioned in another thread that he plans to buy hundreds and potentially thousands of cubes.
And it seems to me that he's thought about it more than most.
The obvious thing would be to compete on price and/or service, but I'll let the OP speak for himself on that.

 

[KenBrace]

Sorry, it was mentioned in another thread that he plans to buy hundreds and potentially thousands of cubes.
And it seems to me that he's thought about it more than most.
The obvious thing would be to compete on price and/or service, but I'll let the OP speak for himself on that.

My eventual goal is to spread out into other areas of the world that are lacking a good puzzle store.

For now my primary objective is to offer the best prices available. Most cube stores charge more than they have to. I can charge low enough prices to make a notable difference while still earning enough profit for it to be worthwhile.

I also have some interesting offers in mind. Some bulk packages with special deals, discount credits for returning customers, frequent coupon giveaways, free puzzle giveaways when stocking a new item, etc.

The inventory will be somewhat small to begin with but that is the case for any store. The first order will contain roughly 250 items in case you all are curious as to my upfront investment. I have a couple grand reserved for startup costs.

The site's revenue will all go completely towards inventory growth until we supply virtually every puzzle related item on the market. I want to expand to other areas of the world that are in need of a good puzzle store as well. That will take some time however. I'll need to save up enough money for the creation of separate store locations as well as finding business partners who I can trust. I would need to find someone who is responsible, honest, and reliable on a daily basis. No 12-year-old kids that just want a bunch of cubes shipped to their house in other words. This may turn out to be an unrealistic venture but I won't know for sure until I've given it a shot. There's nothing wrong with a challenge.

I really wonder what your plan is. There are a lot of great cubeshops in the US already, who stock all new cubes (instead of the 15 you proposed in your first post).

Why would someone buy from you instead of from the currently existing stores?

If you're in the US?

Because my prices will be better and you'll get special offers that may not be available elsewhere.

If you live outside of the US?

When/if I expand to other countries, they will buy because there will be very little if any good cube stores in their country.

 

[shadowslice e]

Just out of interest, do you intend to live off the store in the long term or will you keep it as a supplement income rather than your main source?

 

[KenBrace]

Just out of interest, do you intend to live off the store in the long term or will you keep it as a supplement income rather than your main source?

If the store grows to a level where I can live off the income then that would be great but I'm not counting on it.

Even if it does become a top level store with hundreds of order per day then I still have other projects that I'm involved in. So it will never be my sole investment project/source of income.

I thoroughly enjoy running businesses and investing my time & money into projects related to my interests (chess, cubing, forums, etc). So I will always have a multitude of projects requiring my attention regardless of how much money they make. I almost enjoy running a business more than I like the income it brings.

I operate on a polyphasic sleep cycle and only need 4 hours of sleep as a result. So I have more time on my hands than most people. Just thought I'd throw that in there in case you're wondering how I have the time for all of this lol.

 

[Calamity Strike]

The YuXin timer might be a good item to stock as well, its a lot cheaper than the speedstacks one, and better from what i hear.

 

[TanglongOnly]

Im getting an order for my Birthdayu from the cubicle, and I was wondering what Megaminx I should get; the Dayan with ridges or without? (Also black, white, or stickerless)

 

[KenBrace]

The YuXin timer might be a good item to stock as well, its a lot cheaper than the speedstacks one, and better from what i hear.

Good advise. I have the YuXin timer in stock so it's nice to hear the confirmation that it will likely be a popular product.

Im getting an order for my Birthdayu from the cubicle, and I was wondering what Megaminx I should get; the Dayan with ridges or without? (Also black, white, or stickerless)

I prefer stickerless with ridges myself. I'd rather not have to replace megaminx stickers and I definitely prefer having ridges because it really helps my grip during the solve.

 

[biscuit]

Sounds like you have a good plan. What are you going to use as your website? I think that is a critical part, as or more important than prices. I already have a couple of projects, so can't promise that I be able to do stuff at a high speed, but I might be able to make small modifications to the site or whatever if you are ever interested (although sharing code of this kind may not be the best idea handling money.) If you are ever interested or just want some feedback, I'd be willing to help. When do you plan to start selling?

Good luck with the store!

 

[KenBrace]

Sounds like you have a good plan. What are you going to use as your website? I think that is a critical part, as or more important than prices. I already have a couple of projects, so can't promise that I be able to do stuff at a high speed, but I might be able to make small modifications to the site or whatever if you are ever interested (although sharing code of this kind may not be the best idea handling money.) If you are ever interested or just want some feedback, I'd be willing to help. When do you plan to start selling?

Good luck with the store!

Awesome, thanks for the offer. I'm a bit of a web developer myself but I ever have issues fixing something then I'll definitely drop you a note.

I'm using Wordpress with woo-commerce. Downloaded a pretty nice looking theme.

As far as when I will start selling? I need to finalize my other with the supplier, finish updating my inventory, tweak the site's appearance to perfection, and then announce the site's opening. That will likely take a couple of weeks or so. Basically the store will be open before 2016 if things flow smoothly.

 

[Calamity Strike]

Awesome, thanks for the offer. I'm a bit of a web developer myself but I ever have issues fixing something then I'll definitely drop you a note.

I'm using Wordpress with woo-commerce. Downloaded a pretty nice looking theme.

As far as when I will start selling? I need to finalize my other with the supplier, finish updating my inventory, tweak the site's appearance to perfection, and then announce the site's opening. That will likely take a couple of weeks or so. Basically the store will be open before 2016 if things flow smoothly.

I will definitely be looking forward to this, especially if you have fairly low prices like you say.

 

[KenBrace]

I will definitely be looking forward to this, especially if you have fairly low prices like you say.

Awesome!

I will post updates here regularly regarding the progress of the store until it launches.

 

[KenBrace]

Puzzle order has been finalized and paid for.

I'm now waiting on the supplier to verify the order and have it shipped.

Meanwhile I'll be working on the website.

 

[KenBrace]

Order is set to arrive 12/31.

Store will launch on New Year's day.

 

[stoic]

Best of luck, KB.

 

[KenBrace]

Best of luck, KB.

Thanks!

 

[KenBrace]

Store will launch in exactly 24 hours!

1/1/2016 - 12:00PM EST

 

[Eme]

Good luck indeed, kind fellow. ^^