Collector opinions needed

[Mikey25]

Hello guys,


Although this section is meant to introduce yourself, I would like to ask your help.

My wife and I are thinking about starting our own company. It came to our attention that a lot of collectors in foreign countries pay good money for military items (ordnance, uniforms, ribbons, ...). Anything related to the military (especially WWII) would apply.

The goal of our company is to visit fairs across Europe and buy or sell items on demand for foreign collectors.

As always, NO LIVE ordnance AND, no complete ordnance.. For instance, we wouldn't sell hand grenades or mortars, but we would ship stuff like tail fins, inerted fuzes, parts, ...


Now, being a legit and registered company, we would require basic buyer information (which we already need to ship the item) to be in rule with the tax office.

Now we need your opinions:
- What do you think about the idea in general?
- Would you be prepared to sign and send back papers (over the internet)?
- What kind of (electronic) payment would you suggest? We realise that PayPal is not an option.
Checks would be ok, but we know that a lot of buyers don't want to use them.

Any feedback/suggestions on this idea is welcome. Of course, we are in it for the money, yet we realise that unreal or overpriced prices will work against us and will eventually ruin our business.


Thank you for your time.

Dave

 

[pointblank0]

I think uniforms would be a great idea. I say this because I am currently looking for some original Russian army winter combats for the cold. These are nearly impossible to buy here and when I do find a compant , they are very pricy. I would imagine that other countries have similar problems when it comes to picking up British issue kit, yet it is very cheap for us in the UK.

I would suggest taking credit card payments as well as something easy like Google checkout or something. Just my thoughts,
Rob

 

[Mikey25]

I think uniforms would be a great idea. I say this because I am currently looking for some original Russian army winter combats for the cold. These are nearly impossible to buy here and when I do find a compant , they are very pricy. I would imagine that other countries have similar problems when it comes to picking up British issue kit, yet it is very cheap for us in the UK.

I would suggest taking credit card payments as well as something easy like Google checkout or something. Just my thoughts,
Rob

Thanks for the input. Didn't think about Google Checkout yet.
Atm we are brainstorming about a lot of things. Unlike in the US, it's not that easy to start a company over here.

 

[18pounder]

Hello guys,


Although this section is meant to introduce yourself, I would like to ask your help.

My wife and I are thinking about starting our own company. It came to our attention that a lot of collectors in foreign countries pay good money for military items (ordnance, uniforms, ribbons, ...). Anything related to the military (especially WWII) would apply.

The goal of our company is to visit fairs across Europe and buy or sell items on demand for foreign collectors.

As always, NO LIVE ordnance AND, no complete ordnance.. For instance, we wouldn't sell hand grenades or mortars, but we would ship stuff like tail fins, inerted fuzes, parts, ...


Now, being a legit and registered company, we would require basic buyer information (which we already need to ship the item) to be in rule with the tax office.

Now we need your opinions:
- What do you think about the idea in general?
- Would you be prepared to sign and send back papers (over the internet)?
- What kind of (electronic) payment would you suggest? We realise that PayPal is not an option.
Checks would be ok, but we know that a lot of buyers don't want to use them.

Any feedback/suggestions on this idea is welcome. Of course, we are in it for the money, yet we realise that unreal or overpriced prices will work against us and will eventually ruin our business.


Thank you for your time.

Dave

hi dave

are you thinking of small quantities?
you said you were going to visit with your wife to various fairs?

sounds ok,if your going to buy small ammount as i cant see two people buying loads of stuff to sell on,unless you have a team of folk buying for you.
Also,i think you have to know alot about the stuff you sell.
There are ALOT of fakes about.
Fakes are produced now in the far east and alot of the stuff is good quality, can you tell a fake from the real thing?

If I lived in France or Belgium,then that is the type of venture i would get into as i know where to get stuff from.

I would study other websites selling stuff to gauge what sells and how much.
A new website has recently started up called
milisales.com
They seem to sell stuff in small quantities and from the FIRST AND SECOND WW so seem to cater for everyone.I think they are just building up their bussiness slowly to gauge the market.

You have a real danger of buying loads of stuff that you cant sell.

I would definitely start it off as a small venture as a side line and build up slowly,that way you wont have much to loose.

What about offering BOCN mmbers 10% off for starters?:bigsmile:

Keep us all informed of what your planning,i'm sure there are dealers on this site that will advise you as you get to know them.
All the very best with your venture
(i'm very jealous as its something i'd love to do myself)

I would say this though,your web design is CRUCIAL to your bussiness.I have scanned many an web page and found alot of sites far too complicated to find stuff,so i end up giving up and they have lost custom.

Regards to you and your wife

Doug

 

[Mikey25]

Hi Doug,


Good point on the fake part. Didn't really think about it. I know a lot about hand grenades and some more on rockets and mines, but that's it.

I do have a lot of "fellow collectors" specialised in uniforms and vehicles. Most of them attend thesame fairs so..

Our company would be a small company. Something for the afternoons/evenings. We both have a daytime job, so this would be something extra.

Like I said, we are just brainstorming atm. The goal would be not to buy small/large quantities, but to go out to fairs and look for special items by demand of possible buyers. Depending on the item, we might buy a larger quantity.


Thanks for the ideas/input guys.

 

[LCplCombat]

You would need to know the various laws concerning militaria in the different countries that you visited/transited through. You might fall foul of customs or gendarmerie without realising. For instance its illegal to own a gas mask/respirator in France.

 

[V40]

For Vietnam I 'd go to www.moremilitaria.com, and for all of the possible WW II clothing you can get an idea from http://www.tridentmilitary.com/. This way I'd get a price ad what uniforms are out there, and work your into that

What unirorms would you make? I'd be willing tp pay via Paypal or m.o. Checks, definately a no, no.

I think it would be great idea.

Siging papers via the internet, I ama littly fuzedon that one.

Every thing sounds great without what Stated abouve,

The above websights I gave you were to see what is out there and to see their prices. Also to give you any ides of what is out there.


I hope I am helping you out here?

Mark

 

[Mikey25]

You would need to know the various laws concerning militaria in the different countries that you visited/transited through. You might fall foul of customs or gendarmerie without realising. For instance its illegal to own a gas mask/respirator in France.

We already thought about that. Several countries have their odd laws. Here in Belgium it's forbidden to own military night vision goggles. In some countries items with a swastika are forbidden..

We would try our best to apply to the buyers country law. I guess it ends at a certain point.

 

[Mikey25]

For Vietnam I 'd go to www.moremilitaria.com, and for all of the possible WW II clothing you can get an idea from http://www.tridentmilitary.com/. This way I'd get a price ad what uniforms are out there, and work your into that

What unirorms would you make? I'd be willing tp pay via Paypal or m.o. Checks, definately a no, no.

I think it would be great idea.

Siging papers via the internet, I ama littly fuzedon that one.

Every thing sounds great without what Stated abouve,

The above websights I gave you were to see what is out there and to see their prices. Also to give you any ides of what is out there.


I hope I am helping you out here?

Mark

PayPal would be ok, as long as the items are in rule with their TOS. Ordnance isn't allowed. Not sure about Nazi/Third Reich items.. I will read up on that.
Hopefully GunPay will be available internationally soon.

As for the papers.. Not sure how that would work. Normally the tax office needs a receipt of a sale (perhaps there are exceptions). Of course, those are things we need to sort out.

I'm not sure what you mean about "making" uniforms. We are looking to sell the real deal. The site you gave me only sells replica/reproduction WWII German uniforms?

 

[V40]

Mike

Sorry about that one my friend. What era were you gonna do? I'll buy if you can do Vietnam ERDL's? I believe that german Nazi/Third Reich items cannot go to Germany. Here in the USA I believe we will take anything as long as you are not on the CIA's hit list.

Why wouldn't you just start out with replicas, you can sell the real deals when they come in. This way you wouldn't go out of business down the road. Then like I stated before the replicas could sell faster than the "Real Deal". But the hard-core collector would be willing to pay the price.

Just a thought.

Mark

 

[dano1917]

business

Hi Dave, Welcome to BOCN. You are picking a hell of a time to go in business. You're right about here in the US, because if you have a computer and minimul saavy you are in business! I do think you are at an advantage being located in Europe you can get items a damn sight cheaper than we can in the US. You'll need to inform your abroad customers that customs is at their risk and not yours as that is something you have no control over. And as far as what to sell, I think all militaria especially from the world wars would fit the bill. Ordnance is real popular but if you want everything perfectly legal you'll need to check local laws and such. Good luck in your endeavor...Dano

 

[Millsman]

Hi Dave

There are a hell of a lot of things to consider.

1. Visiting fairs you will be buying retail and even though you may get some discount I've found some dealers in France will give no discount at all. They would rather hang on to the item than sell it cheaper. You can't run a business easily by buying retail and selling retail. You need to buy cheap.

2. Stock - If you want to be a retailer there is no convenient Militaria warehouse where you can buy a large amount of stock. You have to go out and look for it which is time consuming and can be expensive.

3. If you handle large amounts of stock you could have problems with customs officials. Also some customs officials regard militaria as 'Heritage' and will not let it out of the country. Taking something like a Stokes Mortar through customs can be a problem at some entry points.

4. Militaria is a huge broad thing. I could list a dozen categories and it is difficult to be knowledgeble in all aspects. You will make mistakes that can cost you money.

5. Delivery. I could sell some large items personally but posting them can be difficult and expensive which puts some buyers off.

6. How do you sell? The web via ebay or SA? Fairs? Your own website?, Public events like air displays? A private clients list? To the trade? All of them?

7. If you sell on the web there will be countries you can't sell some types of things to. Australia, Italy, and Canada are difficult and it is no good posting a grenade or shell to these countries. Your customer is unlikely to receive it. The Canadians have famously blown up resin Mills bombs found in the post.

8. Visiting fairs in Europe is expensive. If you do it as a business you will have to include transport, fuel, food, hotels, road tolls etc in your business costs. You may buy something cheaper in Europe but add in the actual costs and they may not be such a good bargain.

9. Currency variations and conversions. These may vary at any time and may affect the price you sell at to some countries, and some transactions may be affected by charges for credit and debit card transactions.

Good luck

John

 

[Mikey25]

Thank you for all the input folks. Appreciate it.

It seems there's a lot we need to figure out before actually starting our business. It will take fairly long I guess.

We kind of lost hope. Perhaps when we work out things out it might seem positive again.


We wanted to start something like "siegfreid" on SA. Some of you might know him. He sells tons of items (and will probably earn some nice money), yet there is no way to do it without starting a business

---

Why wouldn't you just start out with replicas, you can sell the real deals when they come in... But the hard-core collector would be willing to pay the price.

No replicas. Replicas can be found elsewhere. Only the real deal (now it still lasts).

1. Visiting fairs you will be buying retail and even though you may get some discount I've found some dealers in France will give no discount at all. They would rather hang on to the item than sell it cheaper. You can't run a business easily by buying retail and selling retail. You need to buy cheap.

Maybe.. Or maybe not. I've set up "connections" with a few dealers during the years. They won't screw me over, just like I won't screw over a customer or fellow dealer. If they do, in the long run, they will lose customers.
Also, I've seen it before; the more items you buy, the cheaper they get.
You have situations like this in every business: One would rather sell large quantities at a slightly lower price than sell only a few items at a higher price. You know what I mean?

2. Stock - If you want to be a retailer there is no convenient Militaria warehouse where you can buy a large amount of stock. You have to go out and look for it which is time consuming and can be expensive.

Not always. Time consuming, perhaps. But I guess that's work. As for the location, I live near the border with 2 other countries and the 3rd and 4th are only 70 minutes away. Don't really see a problem in that.

3. If you handle large amounts of stock you could have problems with customs officials. Also some customs officials regard militaria as 'Heritage' and will not let it out of the country. Taking something like a Stokes Mortar through customs can be a problem at some entry points.

Agreed. This is one of the points we didn't take into consideration. Will be a hard thing to overcome..

4. Militaria is a huge broad thing. I could list a dozen categories and it is difficult to be knowledgeble in all aspects. You will make mistakes that can cost you money.

Losing money is the risk of starting a business. I'm not that worried about that. Lots of collectors friends and trusted sellers.

5. Delivery. I could sell some large items personally but posting them can be difficult and expensive which puts some buyers off.

We realised that.. But even with shipping/packaging costs, items here are cheaper than fi in the US. And I guess collectors will pay for the costs if that's the only way they can get the actual item.

6. How do you sell? The web via ebay or SA? Fairs? Your own website?, Public events like air displays? A private clients list? To the trade? All of them?

Our own website. Trusted buyers/customers could contact us for something special they are looking for. Sites like this forum would be a great way to build a relationship with the customers/

7. If you sell on the web there will be countries you can't sell some types of things to. Australia, Italy, and Canada are difficult and it is no good posting a grenade or shell to these countries. Your customer is unlikely to receive it. The Canadians have famously blown up resin Mills bombs found in the post.

As said in a previous reply, we can only do as much as we can. Textual warnings, additional check boxes, email confirmations, ...
The buyer should take full responsibility.

8. Visiting fairs in Europe is expensive. If you do it as a business you will have to include transport, fuel, food, hotels, road tolls etc in your business costs. You may buy something cheaper in Europe but add in the actual costs and they may not be such a good bargain.

Hotels, no. Food, of course, but I also eat when I'm not at a fair.
Fuel and transport isn't a big issue. See point 2.

9. Currency variations and conversions. These may vary at any time and may affect the price you sell at to some countries, and some transactions may be affected by charges for credit and debit card transactions.

Variations and conversions are neglectable. Every internet store MUST take this into consideration. At least we did.
We didn't think about credit/debit card charges yet.

 

[Millsman]

Well at least the thought processes are working! There are so many things to consider on a start up and Militaria is a difficult market Very best of luck with the business and post the URL on here somewhere.

John

 

[18pounder]

Mikey

I'm sure you'll be fine,you dont sound daft.
I think it will take a while to establish,but like other enterprize's they start small and work up untill you have it where you want it annd then you can have folk running it for you!
You never know.Its well worth the effort,if you dont you'll kick your sef for the rest of your life.

All the best and here's to sucess.

regards
Doug