Want to open a paintball store

[RiddalinJunkie08]

I am thinking about opening up a paintball store and have a few questions. How big of a store would it need to be and what are the steps I would need to take to get it up and running? I have already thought of some things that I would need like a cash register, phone, and credit card scanner and such. What are some things that are commonly overlooked? How do I go about setting up deals with companys so I can stock their merchandise? Any help would be appreciated.
-Mark

[jdhogg]

i dont know much about opening a business, but i know what one needs to have a successful one. GOOD SERVICE! Friendly people that are easy to talk to. the next best thing is good prices. sorry i cant help much with all the hard stuff, but good luck with it! hope everything turns out great

[elpimpo]

get someone who knows what they are doing, get a tourney player that is up on things so when you have those little kids that come in fresh from the internet he can somewhat answer there questions

[Blazestorm]

Buy parts kits for lots of guns, when you fix something tell them what you did, what was wrong, what was causing the problem.

Do it the right way and explain that their gun may just be a crappy gun and not worth fixing, they should save up a bit more and get something more reliable.

The final thing is... red loctite is not the solution to everything. My local store, www.splatattackonline.com uses red loctite on pretty much everything, macro-line fittings, screwing certain parts on, even when assemblying nitro tanks! They just put some red-loctite on the threads of the cylinder and screw it on the reg and fill it up... stupid stupid stupid.

You should be there for the customer, not to make money

But you need money to stay in business, to continue to help the customer...

My recommendation is to do a sale when you first open, maybe 20-25% off, you may lose some money but it'll get people's attention and they'll come to you more often. Offer special deals if someone buys a lot of gear... say someone wants a tippmann 98 custom, with a hopper, barrel condom, tank, mask, and a squeegie... instead of totalling that all up to an exact cost, throw in a bag of paint and knock off a few bucks. Again you won't make as much money, but people will recognize your awesome deals and come to you more often.

Good luck man! I've been thinking about becoming a retailer for some people recently, but whatever.

[RiddalinJunkie08]

Thanks so far but I still need input about start up costs and when I will start to make the money bck. IM NOT JUST IN THIS FOR THE MONEY!!!!!!!! But would like a little extra than what I'm currently making. And plus I think it would be fun way to be involved in paintball besides just playing.
-Mark

[Automaget]

heres what you do get people who know what there talking about theres this guy at my local shop in michigan and his name is (insert any name here) I think he supposed to be good with tippmanns but on my A5 he couldnt figure out how to but the internals back in and im like this is the way you do it, it looks bad if you have a costermer telling your techs what to do, and have your techs read stuff thats true on the internet give them quizes or something to make sure they know what there doing dont just hire someone because they know alot about one gun make them know everything about almost all guns it will help, and dont jack up paintballs I would keep em low, also usually all a shop is for is quick fixes and kids that dont have the internet becuase the internet has great deals that i can find (not ebay) but brand new crap if you look for it right, so really just beef up your stock on extra parts for guns and you will be fine only noobs buy guns from stores so only stock noob guns IE spyders tippmanns not Agd there to good, i dont know of any players who buy guns from stores sooooo.... you get my point

[Automaggot68]

Dont forget about Advertising, word of Mouth generally works best with paintball players, in my experiences.
oh...and you'd want a nice little website going, a phone, well..A phone with several lines to i maybe. Decent prices for smithing.
And the biggest one.....(dunno if anyone has said it yet)


Pay for rent, and the electric bills !

Oh, and hook up with a field. Alot of fields nowadays are hooking up with shoppes, i.e., buy the paint from the shoppe, and get a discount, or possibly a free day of paly at the field.
I'm an idiot, so I dont knot.

[Digits]

I'll work for yA!

[The Spanish Inquisition]

Well there is some pretty obvious stuff.


a high pressure compressor or a ton of tanks.
co2 cylinders.
clothing racks.
display cases.
bins to store things in.
magazine rack



where is this store going to be? How close to other stores/fields?


as far as connections, look for smaller upstarts and build a raport with them. The chain of stores near me started the same year Dye did and they have a great relationship. The two owners played together alot and formed a nice little union. Also I know Ebay plays a big part in income for smaller shops.

[Blazestorm]

One major thing is, don't buy a small store and cramp it all in there.. have it be decent sized. I wouldn't waste money on racks for clothes (PVC Racks!)

Do not skimp on security either, a nice video system may be a bit more but definately worth it. Getting guns jacked is not cool. I'd suggest what my local store does. Which is glass cabinets and the only access is from behind. with guns on racks BEHIND that.

I don't know much about the costs, but it's not going to be cheap to start out. If you were near me I'd definately help out,

[RiddalinJunkie08]

The closest stores to me are both about 20 minutes away. Im really not sure about how big it needs to be. I don't want something too huge but I also don't wanna try to cram everything together into too small a space as Blaze suggested. Anyone who currently owns or works at a store, could you give me some dimensions please. That would quite possibly be the biggest help to me right now. When you say smaller upstarts, do you mean newer companies, or still go with the big names like Dye, JT, ect...? One nice thing though, is that there is a big store called Mendelsons Liquidation Outlet that sells all sorts of stuff including display cases and clothes racks for pretty cheap. I think its for when stores go out of buisness they buy the stuff, so hopefully I wont be selling anything back to them
-Mark

[GA Devil]

Well this is what ive encountered...its no easy task believe me. You need to get a business license and tax id number after you research the name you want to use to make sur eits not in use somewhere. Thats totals about $200-$300. Now find a building. A decent building but cheap you can get for about $1000 a month or a bit more. Then get your utilities on. Start contacting suppliers for wholesale/dealer accounts. Most have a $1000-$2500 initial order amount each before they will deal with you. You have to find a niche for yourself or it will be a real hard road ahead. Dont forget insurance cause your money can go up in smoke quick. If you want to offer service you need someone who can work on just about anything..cause it will come in. Paint is a big part of a store and the most expensive to stock. figure $3000-$5000 for a good amount of paint to sell. Minimum inventory i recommend before opening the doors is at LEAST $10,000 but be ready to add quick cause it wont be enough. A good inventory start up is about $50k. Dont forget employees cause with the ordering, customers, service, books, and everything else you will encounter is way more then one person can handle. Hope this helps.

[bryceeden]

My reccomendation is at first don't stock very many high end markers and such, because it takes a while before people are willing to buy them from a new store, you need one or two just to get peoples attention but don't over do it. Also no matter what you do get an account with Tippmann, th markers sell great, and the MAP agreement alows you to make alittle money. Also the profits are in paint and air not so much markers. Keep your prices low and I reccomend a good $40 a case paint like Zap Spank for low budget customers. The biggest thing is be consistant and don't give up because the first year is hard, but after that things get alot easier. Also teams like sponsorships, if you give small teams somthing like if they buy 10 or more cases of paint they get $5 off each case. It cuts your profits down alittle, but gets loyal customers.