We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anthony Salina a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Anthony thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
In the collectibles market you have several challenges to profitability. The first is a high cost of entry. Running a collectibles shop requires inventory of collectibles that are high in demand. This high demand makes sourcing items at a reasonable/low cost difficult because you have to ensure you can make a profit after factoring in item cost, shipping cost, taxes, and other business expenses. The second challenge is a saturated market. A lot of people all over the world run collectibles shops so there are many places that buyers can go to. It makes it especially difficult to stand out in such a saturated market.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Anthony and I’m a 31 year old IT professional and self proclaimed nerd. I love all things sci-fi, fantasy, superhero, and anime. As a millennial I grew up a huge fan of the Pokemon anime and trading card game. This love of Pokemon and the recent resurgence in popularity of the brand led me to start collecting again. As I began collecting rare, vintage Japanese Pokemon cards and merchandise, I met many collectors who ran businesses of their own. I felt that opening my own collectibles business could allow me to have some extra money for funding my collecting goals and traveling, as well as allowing me to expand connections in the collectibles space.
My online Ebay store, Salina Collectibles, provides primarily vintage Pokemon cards and toys but also includes some Disney and comic related items as well. I’m most proud of the customer service and fair deals I provide buyers and the 100% positive rating over the last 2 years .
What I most want people to know about the collectibles market is that it is filled with so many amazing and kind people. Many people see collectibles and assume that it is just greedy resellers or people out to make a quick buck. But what I found is that most of us don’t consider each other “competition” and often support one another and promote each other’s businesses. There is a strong sense of community there and so many of us lift each other up, compliment one another’s collections, and even help each other meet collecting goals by sharing info and trading with one another.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media for a business is so much more than just advertising and pushing products. You have to share things with followers that will benefit them in some way. I like to share informative posts on social media to teach people about the history of the items and fun facts about them. I also like to follow trending ideas to make posts that will make people smile or laugh.
I strongly recommend joining groups like Discord or Facebook that include like-minded individuals in the same business space. There is a strong collaborative effort in the collectibles space where everyone shares one another’s businesses and social posts to help each other grow.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Being willing to first help others and provide value to them is the number one thing that helped me grow. By showing genuine interest in other’s collections, businesses, and social posts, I was able to get back from the community in the form of them purchasing from me and sharing my store with others. Joining groups was also a big contributor to this. I am part of a large group of vintage Pokemon collectors from all over the world. Together we share information about various items and even go as far as assisting authentication and grading companies with accuracy of their data.
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Anthony Salina