Running an Online Card Store - Not Easy!

Have you ever thought about opening a card shop? I think anyone who enjoys collecting cards has probably had this thought at one time or another, whether serious or not. Maybe it happened when you where busting open a box of cards, 'Wow, imagine if I could do this every day and make a living at it?' Or maybe it happened when you attended a local card show, looking at the dealers with all those 'hits' laid out on their tables or under glass. To me it was a combination of the two but I always gravitated towards the dealers who catered to the set builders. All those cards lined up in numerical order by year or neatly put in the plastic pages of binders.

I had my first thoughts of what it would be like to deal in cards when I started earning a little spending money by mowing lawns. I was able to buy my first wax box in 1980. I spent what seemed like hours opening the packs, sorting the cards, and admiring the stacks of cards from my purchase. I thought I had hit it big time and how fun it would be to set up a table with my 'huge' purchase at a card show. Then I'd put rubber bands around those neatly sorted cards and put them in a shoe box (yea, I didn't quite have it all figured out yet).

Anyway, let me cut the history lesson short and explain why am I writing this blog?

I've seen more than a few posts in forums on people wondering what it would be like to run a card store so I thought it would be an interesting topic. Being that I actually opened an online sports card store last year I thought I could give some interesting insight as to what went into opening the store, what it's like running the store day to day, and why I started this business. Believe me it's been harder than I thought it would be!

In addition, I plan on writing about what it's like having a son who is starting to enjoy the hobby. Kind of like a 'Collecting through the eyes of a Kid' section.

Finally, I think I have a few interesting collecting/sports related stories; like the time Jim Leyland had me take a walk with him at a minor league game.

So is this something that you'd come back to read? I'd love to hear what you think.....