So you want to branch out to Trading Card Games. Well, the first obvious game to get started with because of its extreme popularity would be Magic: The Gathering by Wizards of the Coast. The first time I tried to get started with these guys it took forever for anyone ever to get back to me. So, I bought bulk purchases from some of the “Wholesalers” on-line to get stock in and make a little profit. Fact was at the time, the online wholesalers were giving great deals and were cheaper than what I could buy them from the wholesalers on the list I was eventually provided by WotC. A little investigation shows that WotC have remedied this by putting requirements in place to stop the online wholesalers from making all their profit off the internet and making it impossible for brick and mortar stores to compete. Below is what I did about 3 weeks ago to get setup with Wizards of the Coast
First, I would suggest signing up for the Wizards Play Network, it is in place to help retailers. Once you have a created an account you can access their distributor list here. I personally used Diamond Comics, mainly because I also sold board games and comics and it made it very easy for me to order all my stock in one place.
When you go to sign up with the distributor it is definitely best to call them, they will eventually need a business license, EIN, and also proof of a sales and use tax permit. When signing up with distributors be sure to put aside a lot of time to get the process done because it’s always been a tedious chore. (I’m actually reviewing a service now that would get you setup with everything you would need to have ready for a Distributor)
Once, you’ve done this you can use a lot of the resources available at the WPN (Wizards Play Network) and start building your Magic: The Gathering Community. It’s a very profitable sub-niche if you can build that type of community within the store. You will eventually move into selling and trading singles and it will definitely take time to build up your inventory for that. It’s also helpful to have an employee on board that is very in tune with the MTG crowd in your area and can help you accurately price singles. If you don’t have that resource available to you I always just used Starcitygames.com and just priced singles according to what they had them listed there.
Hope this information has been helpful to you getting start in the wonderful world of Magic: The Gathering, and that it brings you plenty of profit in your store.
