Possible IRISH Airsoft/Paintball shop!?!?!

whupass

O.K. as some of you will know I'm going into 4th year (for you foreigners: a doss year where we get jobs), one of the classes I chose was "mini-company", can you see where this is going? Well if I get the class I hope to open an Airsoft/Paintball shop!!! My dad owns a server so he said if I want he can help set up a website (easier than a shop by far!!). So fingers crossed I get this class!!

1 or 2 drawbacks, I probably won't be doing international orders, at the start I might not have a large stock, the obvious, I might not set up the company at all and seeing as it is out of my house there might be a back log or my room will be completely and utterly PACKED *EDIT* (I KNEW there was another) I have to get in contact with the suppliers.


PS: Maybe, just maybe I will open the shop without the class but there has to be enough customers and I have to be able to get the merchandise from the companies.

PPS:Seeing as I don't have to pay a mortgage or other bills I'll think of selling below RRP and seeing as I'm in Ireland I could do pick-up.

SpitfireIV

*Pheeww* When I read the title first Whupass I thought you were going to say that there was a new law now banning airsoft here, or customs were seizing airsoft weapons being shipped here :eek:.

Great idea, if you did go ahead with that I'm sure it would be pretty successful, look at the interest here thus far, there is a big market here in Ireland for it and a vacuum to be filled. If you could get in there first and get establish you'd be doing pretty darn well me thinks! Keep up posted.

whupass

only thing is that i can't store the stuff so orders might take a while, i might have say one of EACH in stock at a time

whupass

i was really expecting a large amount of replies but i guess a lot of people aren't on, bummer.

SpitfireIV

whupass wrote:

only thing is that i can't store the stuff so orders might take a while, i might have say one of EACH in stock at a time

I'm sure the fact that you are based in Ireland would be the deciding factor for many buying airsoft equipment here, and if they knew the shipping would take a little longer it wouldnt be a problem, well, not to me anyway if I knew I were getting it a little cheaper or could possibly pick it up myself!

Maybe people are afraid to open the thread

whupass

yea that's why i changed the name matbe i will again.

any ideas for a website name?

SpitfireIV

Something with 'Ireland' in it anyway (probably stating the obvious)...:D

whupass

yea that was the one condition i wanted, that and a .ie address

kdouglas

sounds like a good idea man, but (without trying to put a downer on it) getting products to sell is gonna be difficult, ordering 1 or 2 guns at a time direct from manufacturer/supplier is unlikely as id imagine most places would only sell in bulk, and youll probably end up losing out a fair bit on the amount youll have to pay to ship them to ireland in the first place.

however, id say go for it, but spend a good deal of time sourcing suppliers and finding out just how good your prices will be first.
you wont have much trouble getting a market to be honest, there's no airsoft shops in Ireland yet....

B00MSTICK

Good luck, im sure ill get at least bb's off you

EyesOnly

how about WhupassAirsoftsupplies.ie? ;p maybe too corny

Good idea tho id shop their if price was good, time doesnt realy matter.

whupass

yeah i know that's why i want to go to the source, the manufactureer. i have emailed a seller i know and am waiting to find out where he gets his from.

whupass

i might just sell gas and bbs at the start because i could find space for them in the shed i'm sure.

anyone know the price of a storage unit? you know one of those U STORE units?


WhupassIrishAirsoft.ie?

SpitfireIV

www.WhupassArmoury.ie

whupass

yeah but it doesn't have ireland in it

i want it short so you won't forget it

this: www.whupassairsoftandpaintballshopbassedinireland.ie/shop won't do now will it?


got a reply from that guy, he said that most sites have contact us links but what i wanted to do was go to the source like actually get the guns of tokyo mauri and people.

anyone know the website of an airsoft manufactureer?

*edit* see that address is so long they shortened it!! whupassairsoftandpaintballshopbassedinireland.ie/shop

Sparks

Hmmm. There's some merit in this thread from the point of view of showing people what the behind-the-scenes view is for this sort of thing, as it's not something most people see - but just remember that there's a rule here against advertising...

Waylander24

Sounds like a good idea. It would be much faster to get gas in Ireland as ground shipping takes ages. Id try to support your shop if I could

whupass

oh yeah sorry sparks
i was just trying to see if there would be a base for it.

i was in school today and i got mini-company, thing is the school don't think airsoft would give them a good name:(

when i told my dad though he said i still could thing is i won't have much help so i might not do it (but i REALLY want to!!!) i mentioned it to some friends and most wanted it. we also deciced we didn't want to sell to youngsters, so i'll be setting a minimum age. my friend ferdiacomplained that i had stolen his idea as soon as i mentioned it, he had had the idea too and his dad, a broker, had gotten some places to buy the guns. so me and ferdia will hopefully be going into business soon (yes we joined forces)

whupass

hi, more news (and good news!!)

i spoke to ferdia yesterday, and we both agreed to give this our all, his dad has a traders credit card so we can get vat and duty back, he has storage and i'll get the website. i might talk to him again today if so then more news soon!!

we both want to stock GOOD guns thing is we need to know what manufactureers to go to, so if you could do us a favour and list any off the top of your head and their websites if possible?

thanks!!

EyesOnly

good Manufacturers:
Classic Army
ICS
Tokyo Marui
Western Arms
G&G
KSC/KWA
are the main ones i think ..

found this it might help http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Airsoft_Manufacturers

whupass

thanks real eyes!!

KutjeBef

Why don't you start off with a few basic/popular guns first. And of course supplies (BB's, gas, etc etc). And when that is going good, slowly build up your stocks?

whupass

we were going to have to because of our lack of storage. but if you want something we might try get it.

Harekin

Can I ask how you'd be able to get it cheaper than a "normal" person?

SpitfireIV

Or even to start off with just bb's and gas. People are gonna need to feed there weapons with fuel and ammo in big quantities. So perhaps you could buy in large amounts of different grade bb's and sell them by the 100-1000-5000 etc etc.

whupass

see our thinking was we would buy them for the price others do and sell them on at less profit then them. thing is we don't need much money so any profit is good, get it?

Harekin

You wont be able to buy them wholesale if you arnt registered as a company and buying in major bulk. My reply on ASI pointed out the potential problems to registering as a company.

whupass

okokok as i said in my reply to the irishpaintball.net thread " i have a triple figure iq PLEASE give me some credit!"

whupass

we know you have to be 18 as well that's why god invented parents

Shigsy

just being realistic here... i would be surprised if you could get a supplier (an actual supplier, not just some online shop that will knock a few quid off if you buy a load of gear). If you do, your goiing to need to buy in large amounts (a few hundred guns at a go) if you want to cover your costs, never mind make a profit.
Hope it goes well anyway, would be nice to be able to pickup the guns and save on postage.

whupass

my friend owns a wharehouse (no joke) so we should be fine.

we found some suppliers.

now we just need to raise capitol

whupass

ok so we need more supliers so that we will have a wide enough range, any one here able to find some manufacturers homepages?

liamo333

http://www.classicarmy.com/

http://www.icsbb.com/news/e_news_main.asp?id=29

EyesOnly

these supply gas, bb's i think http://www.actionsportgames.com/

Bob the Builder

yep, great idea, but buying in small stock isn't going to let you have any discounts. If you order 20 of one product, you might get 5free, etc, etc.

Have you thought of how your financial situation is gonna fair out and overdraft etc....

Good Luck with it anyway

o1s1n

hey whupass, how's this project going for you? make any more advances?

whupass

ok you're going to laugh,

the friend i'm doing this with has had MANY an airsoft gun but when i brought him over to show him the stuff i wanted to order, he kept asking if it was an "air pistol" or "is that an air rifle thingy?" so it's not going to well, i might just go it alone, but that i'll take longer.

o1s1n

lol hmmm you might wanna go through the legality with him one more time, before he imports a batch of 50 .22 rifles

whupass

yea me thinks so too,

i've told him twenty times but he just doesn't get it!!!!

o1s1n

i know what you mean. i told a few people in college about the legality, as i knew theyd be interested. however they keep insiting on refering to them as
"air rifles"
i can see now why the damn press keep confusing the two

mikeanywhere

Hey Whupass, got your dealers licence yet for all this. Have the Feds (police) seen the storage facility to approve etc etc etc etc etc??

This has already been mentioned to you but nothing has been highlighted to you about it on here.

-Strawbs-

Way to kill the dream man, :mad: But sure i guess we may aswell be realistic.

o1s1n

but but but

a retailer in ireland would be nice. well, online retailer. id hate the idea of scumbags being able to stroll into an airsoft shop on, i dunno, Capel street and buy some automatic thing, then going to his local post office and cause a scene.

can you say instant ban?

then again, how often does this happen in england? hmmm

actually, i only found out recently that wolfarmouries had a pretty big shop in Camden, along with a firing range. i wish i had of known this last year when i was in the middle of Camden. bugger that anyway.

IronWolf

The "firing range" in Wolf is about as big as 3 telephone booths side by side, so you didn't miss much

o1s1n

heres me thinking it was some underground open area with 10 human sized reel in targets and lots and lots of automatic airsoft guns you could just pick up and shoot at your leisure.
damn it!

Spitfire666

o1s1n wrote:

but but but

a retailer in ireland would be nice. well, online retailer. id hate the idea of scumbags being able to stroll into an airsoft shop on, i dunno, Capel street and buy some automatic thing, then going to his local post office and cause a scene.

can you say instant ban?

then again, how often does this happen in england? hmmm

actually, i only found out recently that wolfarmouries had a pretty big shop in Camden, along with a firing range. i wish i had of known this last year when i was in the middle of Camden. bugger that anyway.

Whats to stop them doing that anyway? online or not wont make a diff?

o1s1n

of course it will.
if an airsoft shop opened in town, scumbags/thieves/rapists/bag snatchers and god knows who else insantly know its there,know they can have a imitation firearm on the spot.all they need is €20 and they have a realistic springer that could be used to assault someone.

keep it online and only the people genuinely interested in airsoft will buy them. you might get one or two bad ones ordering them online. but it would be nowhere near the amount buying from a shop in dublin.

cheap springers are basically bad for airsoft. cheap springers being sold in dublin to anyone who wants one? insane.

"dont stock cheap springers then."

so what, you'd rather them saving up for AEGs?!

i'd say a very small % of ireland knows about the new 1 joule law and its implications. it might be best to keep it that way for the time being.

Sparks

i'd say a very small % of ireland knows about the new 1 joule law and its implications. it might be best to keep it that way for the time being.

I seriously doubt that would do anything positive.
Look, any scumbag who'd abuse an airsoft gun like that does not care about the firearms laws anyway because the penalties for assault, armed robbery and so forth are so much higher anyway. It'd be like being stabbed in the heart and worrying about picking up an infection from the wound!

You want airsoft to stay? It has to be mainstream. That means high street shops, lots of them, it means publicity, it means being seen to be responsible.
Take it from someone who's sport chose to hide for thirty years - it doesn't work. If people don't know you, they don't know you're legitimate, and that makes them think you're dodgy and have something to hide.

Spitfire666

scumbags use the net too. and there are already alot of heads around caring bb guns acting like they are real. If they want one they will get one wether or not there is a shop online only or othewise.

[--SC(+)PE--]

scumbags use the net too. and there are already alot of heads around caring bb guns acting like they are real. If they want one they will get one wether or not there is a shop online only or othewise.

quoted for truth

o1s1n

i still think you're wrong here. there may be people carring them, but open a shop and i'll guarantee you'll see an explosion in that kind of behavior.

scumbags may use the internet, but most of them probably dont know that its now legal to import airsoft. if it wasnt for airsoftireland.com and the original airsoftireland thread in the shooting forum on this site, i wouldnt have known either.

whats the big problem having to import anyway? postage is a pain in the arse, but buy from ehobbyasia and after postage the gun will still cost less then it would retail for in a shop over here.

the only plus side in my opinion to having a shop open here, is to check out what certain guns are like in the flesh.
but once some skirmish site gets going, im sure people will let you have a look at their stuff.

my one annoyance personally is having to import consumables. it would be nice if we could get a retailer somewhere, i dunno, even a fishing shop to stock bbs.