Paintball store

[MMextremePB]

I am currently thinking about opening a paintball store. The closest one to my town is about 20 minutes away. I have asked around and there are many paintball players in my area. The problem is that even though I play paintball almost weekly its mostly rec and I know very little about the sport. I'm 26 and have some retail expierence..I'm currently a full time firefighter so I will be running the business on the side with part time help. Any advice or info peopl ecan give will be much appreciated. If there is anything you think I should carry or anything that you would like a paintball store to offer you please let me kno. Thanks for any advice.

[paintballdude_13]

well here is some inpute from me i think u should go around and ask people some of the stuff u should carry. make sure u have a good amount of selction and variety well i hope this helps

[MuckRaker]

My 2cents worth, for what it's worth:

when I was on the market for a paintgun, I hated going into stores that carried a whole wall of expensive cockers, mags, etc, and then only had one or two entry level markers (spyders, piranahs, etc.) Now that I've got a marker, and I'm looking for upgrades, I'd like to see some selection, not just a three or four barrels or a couple of expansion chambers and two different size tanks. Poor selection and high prices drove me to the Internet.

Good luck with your store, I hope you do well. :D

[Paintball Monkey]

I helped a friend out with paintball in his business and there is potential for money making. However, you need to know about a variety of paintguns, how the work, and how to fill air sources. There is nothing worse than going to a store or field and finding out that the owner/operator knows nothing or very little about paintball. I would personally be embarassed if someone walked into my shop and asked a question about a product I had and I couldn't answer it. The other thing you might want to consider is how much time you have to devote to the store. I also thought about running a small pro-shop while I am in school, but I quickly found that I don't have the time. Also, write up a trial inventory (don't forget about masks, bottles, elbows, etc.) and see if you can afford it. From what I have found most distibutors want you to make a minimum first order of $1,000 plus. This can be a pain if you only want to order a limited amount of things from them (5 masks) and get the rest elsewhere. The other big thing I found is that there is a lot of competition out there. The biggest one is the internet. Consumers can get online and buy just about anything at or less than the wholesale price you will pay. There is a lot more I could go on about, but these were the main things that dicouraged me from it. It isn't impossible to do, but you really need to know what you are getting into.

[butt kicker]

well the store in my town is good thay have a 63 acre field with only a $5 field fea thay have guns from spyders to angels one of the ways that thay get ppl to bye from them is if you bye the gun from them thay will install upgrades for free and if anything goes wrong thay will fix it fore the price of the parts plus $5 thay sell rp paint you can get bigball for 40$ a case witch a to bad and thay have air techs on staff all the time so your gun is fix before you leave all and all a very good set up

[ElectricHead]

At 32degrees.net you can get a form for supplies from NPS...
not sure if that helps you but i thought i might as well mention it.

[MC Escher]

I have the exact opposite opinion of muck raker- when i walk into a proshop, i want to see what they have to offer on a highend level. Let me see those custom in house cockers, bring on those rare angels and awesome looking shockers. Lucky for me, i got a hard to find shocktech AC from my local proshop. I searched the intenet and i know of nearly no store that had what i was looking for. Although keeping the entry and mid level player in mind is a great idea. I recomend i strong mix of both. And you must have a custom cocker- thats what most proshops are known for. (from my experience in Maryland)
REmember- high end guns bring in big profits :-)

*oh, if you need information on air and refils and such, let me know.

[MuckRaker]

I didn't mean to sound negative to the high-end shopper, MC, and I do believe that a good mix is needed to keep everyone happy. And that's the key, a good mix, don't overload your stock on one end of the spectrum and leave the other end lacking. The local store I do frequent offers custom annodizing, custom guns and has a machine shop. But most of their guns are either out of my price range, or so used and abused that I wouldn't consider them. Very little in the mid range.

[Paintball Monkey]

Actually you don't make money on the guns...The mark up on guns is really low compared to the 50%+ markup on accessories. The key to making money is to sell the accessories for the guns. Get the buyer back into the store. Usually the dealers make very little profit on those high priced items. Get your hands on a catalog from a distributer and see what I mean.

[lpsto]

I have been to countless shops,and various pro shops.As a paintball player,you spend a good deal of money on products throughout the year.I will pay a little more if I go into a store,and the guy or girl behind the counter is willing to go out of the way to make my experience memorable.The second thing that will help me spend my money is product selection.I KNOW alot of people out there are impulsive when it comes to tricking out your marker.You don't need that chrome back block,but I bet you will buy it.The last thing I look for is price.However if you create a need for me to have that particular product,I will probably buy it on the spot.

[Sid]

Yes, Customer Service is the most important aspect!

Customer Service is the main factor to separate you from the competition. To provide this, you must know your products inside and out.

You must also collect more info on your potential customers.
1. Are most of the players in your area Rec players or tourney players?
2. Do they enjoy speedball or woodsplay?
3. Ages, how often they play etc.

You must decide on the market you which to target.
If the majority of the players in the area are mainly rec players, that just like to go out on the weekends and play in the woods, you will stock and sell items tailored to them. These might be medium range guns like tippmans and Spyders.
If the majority of the players are tournament speedball players, your stock would lean more to autocockers, shockers, and other high tech guns. These types of players will also want more custom options available, than rec/woods players.

It will most likely be a mix between the two styles and you must find the equalibrium. These will not stay the same because people may change styles of play.

There are many things you must do before you decide to open up shop. Conduct as much research as possible!!!

[MC Escher]

so what your saying is if i buy a $900 gun- im actaully getting $900 in terms of the time and parts need to build that gun? same with a 1500 and 150 dollar gun?
And i do do agree with the markup money making on accesories. ANS charges 13 bucks for what they call the perfect sear spring. and its only 1 spring.

[Paintball Monkey]

Take this for example (these aren't actual prices, but close) the dealer buys a gun for $120 and marks it up to the msrp of $170 to sell..You only make $50 on the sale. The Angels are very similar...the profit is very small compared to the price of the gun. Another example was my Defiant. A year ago they cost the dealer around $650 and were sold for $750. The new Crossfire tanks wholesale for $109 while the retail for around $140. Getting the customer to come back and buy the cool accessories for that gun is where the cash is.

[MuckRaker]

Re: Markup

It's like that in most specialty shops. I used to work for a camera store. Cameras are about as expensive as paintball guns, and there is very little markup on them. That's why the managers always pushed us to sell the extras to the customer ... camera bags, filters, straps, lens caps, film holders, etc. Also, the extended warranty was nothing more than pure profit for the store. A good thing for the buyer to have as well, especially with products that came with a 90 day or one year warranty.

Ipsto and TheFlash make good points about customer service. I posted earlier in the Brass Eagle or Seconds thread about going to buy cheap paintballs at a local discount store. When i asked the "Sales Rep" how long the paintballs had been on the shelve, he replied (and this may not be exactly as posted before, but it's close) "Maybe five minutes, maybe a day, maybe a week. How should I know."

That fool lost his store about $100 in sales that day. And no telling how much since then because I'll never set foot in that store again.

[Dman]

With the proliferation of internet stores for paintball, local stores have a harder time competing. The store I purchase my markers from makes very little on the markers. They make their money on paint and upgrades. They also make it worth buying the gun there because they will fix any gun they sell with no labor charge. That is why I buy my guns there. If you want to beat the internet you have to give your customers a reason to buy their guns brick an mortar.

[PBSouLjAh]

yea, i agree you should know what kinda players there are over there. around my area...so many people have tippmans....and there are nothing like pro tourneys around here. in my case, you should have a lot of tippman upgrades and extra parts. match the type of paintballers that would shop from you. also, dont make it so expensive! the thing is....if ur store is too expensive, you wont get any shoppers, and people will buy from somewhere else online. if its too cheap, you wont make any money, and you mite lose profit. if you make it inbetween, people will come and u'll make profit little by little. also, you said ur paintball store is 20 minutes away? if you make it the perfect price, people wont go over there, they wont order online. also, customer service is key. da paintball store i shop at, the owner never gets tired of asking questions. i love that. also, know ur products! if you give out some false info on a product just to sell it, they wont ever shop from you again! also...if someone buys a gun from you, allow free repairs and free labor, but they pay for parts. that is really sucessful.

[elTwitcho]

Definately the reason I dont buy from the internet and I buy from stores. Be friendly to customers, when they come in dont try and force them to buy anything, just show them a few things. If you dont think they're looking to buy something, dont kick em out. Be friendly, show em the new Z body for the automag, or the New Bolt for such and such a gun. If the person feels welcome in your store he's going to come back and when he wants to buy something he'll be thinking about buying it from you first. There are 2 stores near me, one is staffed by ****s and one is staffed by very friendly people who you can go into the store and just shoot the breeze with. The one with the friendly people have lots of customers, while the one staffed by the rude people is fairly empty most of the time. Customer service should be priority number one. If you are going to open a shop, I'd also strongly suggest taking a course in airsmithing. It mayb be a night school type thing, or it may be a 2 week deal, whatever it is, it'll benefit you greatly. First off, you'll be able to explain the difference between the internals of an angel and a shocker, and second off, you can guarantee your customers that if they have a problem with their guns, you'll be able to fix it. This makes a big difference in sales, and the stores that can back up their products are the ones that survive against the internet stores.

[lpsto]

We should all be partners,and open a store called: "The Paintball Shop You Needed When You Wanted The Custom Talon,And The Guy At Walmart Said It Was A Great Gun"

[MuckRaker]

Or how about "The Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Paintball, But Were Afraid to Ask" store

[ElectricHead]

i think i know what your store will need to survive! (next to customer service, ok prices, and good selection) a TV and a couch! you play paintball videos on the tv and people can see how cool it is, its like that in Mr. Ragz and i think it rocks!

[MC Escher]

i also agree with Dman. The reason i buy from my proshop are these reasons: Rare and hard to find guns they carry, Free air and field fees on more expensive items, they can give you a deal if you buy a lot, (i get free magizenes since i bought my cocker there) , They will fix any problem free of charge and i like to keep my business in my hometown. Personally i would never buy a gun online unless the price difference from an online company to my proshop's was more than $200. I dont mind paying more, i just know i get good service and tech support from the shop. That you just cant beat. (and there is also no shipping $$ and waiting if you have problems with your gun.)

[MeWrOq]

The guy that owns my local store says that the store itself is really his second sorce of income. His first sorce according to him, is his field. At a paintball field you charge for admission, paintballs, gun rentals, air refils, food, and whatever else you can think of. The player will end up spending $60-$100! If you are open up your store, strongly consider opening up your own painball field. Together they would make a great combination. A player would buy a gun from the store, then go play at your field!

[MuckRaker]

Good point Mewroq:

Plus if you have the field and the store side by side, if you're playing and have a problem, you don't have to go far to get it fixed, which leads back into the Customer Service issue.

It's much easier to walk a few feet to get something fixed than to have to drive across town.