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Thoughts, Advice, Pitfalls etc etc on a New Wee Business...,


Norrie

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Hi Guys, As militaria is and has taken my life over, mancave full, loft full, spare room full..and thats after selling at  two militaria shows in England.....I'm considering having a wee place to sell said stuff, tho, will still have my own "private" collection. NOT looking at full time, still got to earn a crust, maybe two or three days a week at most...for now...:)

I am almost ready to rent a wee ex Farm Shop at one of the farms I do pest control on....its very cheap tho does need a coat of paint...

The only thing that really bothers me is, it's a good few miles out of town, in the country....and I don't know if folks would drive 6 miles from the main shopping town to look and hopefully buy my wares.

I've had some great advice from @Baghdadbilly aka Paul, who had a shop once upon a time...and I'm def gonny take it to heart...

BUT, any advice, thoughts, etc from you chaps would be good. 

If this goes ahead, you will all be welcome to visit...:)

 

Edited by Norrie
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  • Norrie changed the title to Thoughts, Advice, Pitfalls etc etc on a New Wee Business...,

Out in the country is fine for me as a customer. I assume, like some antique places at farms, you can pull up and park right outside. That's something that you can rarely do in towns. You need to advertise a bit though, so folk are aware.

Double up with a country pub lunch, to please the other half, and its a nice trip out.

I imagine open at weekends would be better than days in the week, to get customers who work weekdays.

Only thing that might concern me as a seller in a remote location, is security, but I guess there'd also be security concerns in town.

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A few miles out of Hertford , there is a place that sells all sorts of items, old tools,brick a brack some military bits, Every weekend there are people in that shop buying things. The shop is the only place there, and the rest is open fields. In my area there have been a few Millitary shops that have closed, due to lack of interest, I think you need to find out how much interest there will be in your area and how many collectors will be willing to travel , But its like all things, if you dont try you will never know, I hope you make a go of it

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6 miles isn't to far in my book for militaria my question is do you have competition in town? Antique stores or anything else along those lines. 

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Hi Guys, thanks for your input.....I really do appreciate it...

So, taking things one by one,

Security shouldn't be too difficult, the "shop" will be almost next door to the farmhouse....which has a couple of very noisy barky dogs...plus I would put in lights, alarms  etc..... 

 

Parking ??, Not a problem at all....you can actually park right outside the shop,,,cracking wee country pub about 1/2 mile from the shop...again with plenty parking...plus a little cafe if not wanting a full sit down meal...

 

Competition?? Their is one small collectable shop in the centre of town,...but they dont have a lot of militaria...tho, I must admit to buying the odd piece from them now and then for my own collection. I would try to NOT invade on their "space" .  I'm good friends with the owner, and his partner, but hopefully we will have our own different areas of interest. 

Re Visitors Travelling, The location is almost in the middle of the two main motorways in Central Scotland....minutes from either.... I like to think I have a some decent items, and will be for sale at the right price...this will turn me into a "dealer" I suppose....and I would like to think I can sell items at a decent price to a collector , so, when and if they decide to sell, their will be a "return" for them too. I;ve also driven 170 miles for a certain item, so why not folks driving to me....

If I go ahead with it ( to me its a massive step) I would probs open Fri-Sunday....when people can get time to visit. 

I'm also looking at taking the shop on for 6 months or so,to start with.... and will set up a Facebook page, plus an Ebay thingy, tho I hate that place....but it has to be done...

I cant think of anything else at the moment, but if anyone has any thoughts...PLEASE let me know.

Thanks guys, and many thanks to the guys who gave advice...it REALLY means a lot...:)

 

BTW... the kettle will always be on...might even be a digestive biscuit too...:)

 

 

 

Edited by Norrie
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Sounds like you have things thought out well. I like your idea on shop hours F-S sounds the way to  go. 

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Good luck! I have not had much success selling anything here in the States. Maybe "wokeness" is to blame? The bulk of my stuff is TR and DDR. FB banned me from selling or buying ANYTHING on its platform. I've yet to find out why, but believe my account was hacked for a second time in two years. The first time my account was "disabled", w/o warning. This second time, all I had for sale was a portable generator, that evidently violated community standards. I will leave FB. It pretty much sucks. Don't know how militaria sites survive. MeWe hasn't been much better for selling, either.

Anyway, I'll be 73 in August, and haven't had any success selling anything military. My wife and kids want me to get it done so they won't have to after I am gone. Guess I'll contact a dealer I know and have him buy me out. Then instead of buying at a collector's price, they can buy at a dealer's price. I won't make much out of it, but most of my investments have been bad. The US market is pretty much dead, I think. Europe still has an appreciation of military history, so you probably will be quite successful. It was fun over the years, but mortality had to rear its ugly head! 🤣

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7 hours ago, ahrtal said:

 

Hiya, I've only been collecting "properly" for around 5 years or so, but have had quite a bit of luck in sourcing stuff, either for my own collection or to move on....Its starting to take my home over, wife aint too impressed but lets me carry on regardless...I retire in a year, maybe sooner actually, and at 65 am looking for something to while away my days...not fit enough any more to go fishing, and all my shooting is done from a bit of flat land, hills are out now....

I think I will give it a try for a few months, see how it goes, the shop is cheap as chips, and wont be a problem to stop renting it...:)

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Hello Norrie,

Yes you have the plan all sorted out and cleverly worked out, hope all goes well for you and let us know with a few images of your new set-up......Very Best to You.....Bonne Courage.......Ian

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14 hours ago, Mike H said:

Sounds like you have things thought out well. I like your idea on shop hours F-S sounds the way to  go. 

I don't think their will be enough business to warrant being open Mon-thursday...so, three days a week will do for me...:)

 

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Just now, Desert Rat said:

Hello Norrie,

Yes you have the plan all sorted out and cleverly worked out, hope all goes well for you and let us know with a few images of your new set-up......Very Best to You.....Bonne Courage.......Ian

Thanks Ian.....am now looking for more stock!!! Literally just home with two sets of German Repro Uniforms and webbing...more to be collected tomorrow...:)

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Yeah Norrie, go for the 3 days a week and take it easy, make some money and maybe sell some items on MCN......I better start saving! I have a £10 at the moment......what have you got for sale at that price.....Ha Ha Ha......I'll be lucky!😄

Can you send any images of what you are selling?

Best wishes....Ian

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Norrie,

my wife runs a small business selling and upcycling furniture, we have been lucky enough to buy our shop otherwise with Covid 19 we would have been finished, look at auldvintage.de or the same on Facebook to get an idea of what she does as, in principal, a hobby with benefits!

If you are paying for a shop and it is not open for over half of your rental period, then if you are happy with that, ok but it represents over 50% loss on your rental? Do not forget your heating, electric and water costs too....

If you are in an isolated location you will  have to consider advertising until word of mouth prevails?

Do not forget the tax man as he will not forget you.

Security and insurance are two concerns that are not cheap!

We moved shop 3 times in 4 years before we finally bought where we live, the first was too small and damp/cold. The renter had a progressive rent IE, if you are successful and stay they will generally want more rent? That fell through when we asked him to invest in his premises, he wanted us to pay half so we invited him to 'jog on'.

The second place was too big and too warm (the heating bills were outrageous) so we were not happy but lady luck smiled when a customer wanted to sell some furniture from her recently deceased mother, we bought the house, shop and furniture as is and here we are still today as it was just right not to quote 'Goldilocks'! Within this story all shops are within 250meters of each other with the big one just opposite us (now a gambling/games center) but after leaving the small shop and moving to the main street in Bergen business doubled so do not underestimate how lazy people are when it comes to going out of the way?

Good Luck!!!!

Best

Rich

 

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23 hours ago, Richard Auld said:

 

 

 

Hi Rich, All great and very good advice from you.....and very much appreciated.....I thank you for that...:)

BUT, after having a very long and sincere discussion with my wife last night,. I have decided not to go ahead with it....she doesn't want me to start a new venture so soon after my having covid ( badly) and especially when they haven't decided what's still wrong with me....her heart aint in it, and therefore, if I don't have her backing, I'm not going to continue with the idea....I'm gutted, but, like I say, we are married 42 years this year, and I'm not carrying on without her behind me...

Anything I have to sell, will be done at militaria shows, or maybe online....

I'd like to thank you all for the backing and advice over the last few days....but, there it stands...

BTW, It's not all bad news...... I'm now going to Malvern, on the 6th of next month........with Paul aka @Baghdadbilly....so, Hall one, Stall one, right by the door, hopefully see some of you there....please come and have a chat...I'll be the good looking chap with the grey hair and gregories.....:)

Edited by Norrie
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  • 2 months later...
  • Field Marshall

I wish you all the best with it, however... it's hard to make a living form a bricks and mortar militaria shop. Have you considered a cabinet in the usual antique malls? The one in Clyde Valley for example?

Apart from fairs, your own website ecommerce site would be the best option, funnily enough I know a guy, mates rates etc. ;) 

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I read at that other forum :) That a couple shops in the UK have banned the selling of TR memorabilia over complaints from patrons. Getting tough for the TR collector it sounds like. One a well established antique shop and the other a couple weeks later is a member that had a stall in a shop. Same happening here in the US also of course.

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