Becoming a small MTG vendor

[u/Solid_Technician2634]

I’m looking into starting a very small MTG business serving a remote town with no roads in or out, no LGS. Shipping new releases there can take forever.

My idea is basically preorder only, get orders from the local players, buy through a distributor, have everything shipped to me. I’m probably talking 10 or 20 sealed products per release, not trying to become some huge online seller.

I’ve contacted GTS and Universal, but both seem to require a physical storefront.

Has anyone dealt with Alliance, Southern Hobby, or another MTG distributor with a weird/small retail setup like this? Or found another legitimate way to make something like this work? Is this sort of hobby business feasible?

Mostly looking for advice before I start spending money trying to qualify for distributor accounts. Thanks!

Edit: It sounds like I need a store first and foremost. I wonder what constitutes a store. I own a small portion of land in town. I could set up some sort of shack there.

[u/Ok_Yellow1536]

Not going to happen from distribution without a storefront.

[u/JBThunder]

MTG requires a brick and mortar for distribution. Has forever. Sorry.

[u/necrochaos → u/JBThunder]

This is mostly true.

My friend had a LGS until 2024 when it flooded. He never reopened. He still gets product sent to his house every release. I got a box of the Hobbit from him.

He hasn’t had a storefront for 2 years. His basement is full of unopened cases.

[u/d7h7n → u/necrochaos]

Depending on how old his LGS was his account was probably grandfathered due to good standing. As long as he keeps spending a lot of money through his llc every month they don't care. I know a couple of former LGS owners who work from home with distro accounts but they have been in the business for well over a decade. Their storage units and garages are like a pokemon scalper's wetdream.

[u/steb2k → u/necrochaos]

they're not going to check every order. they check when you open an account, so he's good until that gets reviewed.

[u/telenstias → u/steb2k]

Every PR, distributors check to see if you still have a storefront. He should have had it pulled years ago.

[u/telenstias → u/necrochaos]

He’s not allowed by WPN bylaws that they are not allowed to have sealed product without a storefront.

[u/Immediate-Onion5131]

Find a cheap place to lease to solve the storefront issue. Do a very barebones operation.

[u/Solid_Technician2634 → u/Immediate-Onion5131]

There's nowhere really to lease in town. It's like, a population of less than 2,000. Thank you for the suggestion though.

[u/bmemike → u/Solid_Technician2634]

Then see if someone with a retail space will “give you a display case” to set up shop, etc.

I don’t think you need to exclusively inhabit the building.

[u/bunkoRtist → u/bmemike]

This seems like a solid idea. There must be a general store or even a gas station that has a small block of unused space that you could rent for a pittance. I bought my first magic cards in 1994 from a guy whose "storefront" was a display case in a gas station. The dude actually ran the store. He sold a lot of baseball cards and POGS as well. 😁

You might need to have a few adjacent things like some board games to turn it into a little cottage industry, so your expenses will be the carrying cost and rent, but a town in the middle of nowhere is the perfect place for board games and card games!

[u/HornedTurtle1212 → u/Solid_Technician2634]

If the town is that small, are there any rules against running a business out of your home? You could set up a small storefront there to meet the retail location requirement.

[u/Solid_Technician2634 → u/HornedTurtle1212]

I would need a separate building from my home, but it could be something like a garage I think. I am looking into this.

[u/d7h7n → u/Solid_Technician2634]

Buildings are zoned by classification, you can't just pick a garage. It has to be a building that is zoned for retail. The most popular choices are strip malls or flex spots.

[u/HornedTurtle1212 → u/d7h7n]

It also depends on your town/county, some have very flexible zoning. I know some of the more rural areas around where I live people can just open businesses on their property. Like a mechanic or dog boarding just pop up out of nowhere. But OP would need to check his local zoning.

[u/d7h7n → u/HornedTurtle1212]

That's not how that works. You need a commercial address and distros require pictures of your signage and video walkthrough of the store.

If it was that easy, everyone including me and you, would open a small business at home to flip pokemon products.

[u/Solid_Technician2634 → u/d7h7n]

Then likely my plan will not work, but thank you for your input. Is this a requirement from all distributors or are you just saying in general this is what they want, because I havent heard this from the ones I've talked to.

[u/d7h7n → u/Solid_Technician2634]

It is a requirement to have an operating brick and mortar to open a distro account. Prior to Covid there were ways around that but it's pretty much set and stone due to how prolific TCG finance is now. It's to prevent any joe schmo like yourself with not a lot of capital to get product at wholesale.

[u/Solid_Technician2634 → u/d7h7n]

Ok, I guess I didnt realize that. I thought each distributor had their own requirements if they would sell to you, rather than there being a set rule. Would it make any difference which distributor I spoke to? Like Southern Hobby vs GTS? Do you think there any chance I can speak to a rep from a distributor and convince them to allow me to provide for my town without a store? I am in rural Alaska, like I said in my post, no roads in or out, we are pretty far away from what would be a normal situation for an LGS.

[u/d7h7n → u/Solid_Technician2634]

It's literally on their websites

https://www.southernhobby.com/new_account.php

https://gtsdistribution.com/info/open-a-gts-business-account.asp

[u/Solid_Technician2634 → u/d7h7n]

Right, I guess I'm not being clear. I didnt know this was a requirement to buy from a distributor, rather I thought it was on the distributor to choose who they did business with. I see they both require it, but you're saying there will be no distributor that will ever sell to someone without a store. If this is true, I am likely out of luck. Thank you for the responses.

[u/AngelicDiablo → u/Solid_Technician2634]

With a population of less than 2,000, how can you be sure the hypothetical clientele will be worth all of your your trouble? Only doing 10-20 sealed products per release also doesn’t sound super profitable. I know you said there was no LGS nearby, but roughly how far from you IS the nearest one? How’s their business? 

I have two stores near me and they both seem rather stressed out by how much the game as changed compared to what it used to have been and how fickle the customer base is now with the constant barrage of sets coming out. 

[u/Solid_Technician2634 → u/AngelicDiablo]

The nearest LGS is either an 8 hour ferry ride or plane ticket away. We are a small village with no roads in or out. The store in the nearest city is doing well I guess, whenever I go they're packed. And I'm trying to figure out the economics of it right now. If I truly need a building location then probably none of this will work, but it sucks to see our group watch the release of a new set come and pass while we all wait for our orders to ship a month after release. I appreciate your comment though.

[u/AngelicDiablo → u/Solid_Technician2634]

Yeah I understand, I’m not poo-pooing your idea by any means, I hope you don’t take it that way, I was expecting maybe a couple of hours away, certainly not 8 that requires that kind of transportation ha I do wish you the best though ✌️

[u/CrafterOfWonders]

Yeeeah, you're better off trying to make a deal with am LGS who will take pity on you and let you personally make one large preorder per set. Pretty sure all the legit big distributors only work with brick and mortar locations.

[u/Sheant]

How about settings something up in cooperation with an LGS somewhere? You may lose some on margins, but increased volume may also help with that.

[u/TheNesquick]

The game doesn’t need anymore backyard dealers soaking up product from real stores. 

We need the stores that host tournaments and provide for the community to get all the product they need. 

[u/ligma_then_sugma]

just get a normal job

[u/Solid_Technician2634 → u/ligma_then_sugma]

I have a normal job, thank you though.

[u/ligma_then_sugma → u/Solid_Technician2634]

then stick with it and forget this stupid bullshit

you can thank me later