Paintball: A tough business.

[Zone Drifter]

Fox 4 paintball is also all about service. They have the best reffing staff you could have. It's just about the only place I would take a newbie simply because I know they'll be safe and have a good time. I've been to too many crappy fields with poor refs and unsafe conditions. It's just not that much fun playing at places like that.

I have been to Fox4 (with the guy who im talking about who's closing as well) and i was really impressed with everything they had to offer there. Thing is, they have a field, so they are always going to have store business since they have a backing. The guy im talking about was just really passionate about the game, but was totally in the wrong location and didnt have a field. He just didnt set himself up for success.

and to skriptal: no, this guy is in burlington, CT, and he's just a small shop with archery and paintball.

[rabidchihauhau]

What Tom said and

in many cases with paintball, its not so much the economics as it is the internal politics - a "hidden cost of business" you have no way of knowing about until after you've been victimized by it: things like another field and store owner, jealous of the competition, using his local fan boys to bad mouth the store, the person, etc. Or 'suggesting' that it might be a good time for someone to rob him, or calling up shared distributors/suppliers and insuring that the new guy can never get a better deal on product...

And that's even before we start talking about the attitude: if you aren't a whiney, threatening, arm-twisting SOB, you won't fit in with the people you're buying from and will never get any breaks. You have to demonstrate your own ruthlessness and willingness to "cheat" before the old boys network will trust you and let you in. In paintball, the good guys ALWAYS finish last...