I've been having [admittedly fanciful] notions of starting up a manga/comic shop/cafe type thing in the not-so-near future. Fanciful because a) I know nothing about business, let alone retail, b) I'm a poor college student and completely lacking in capital, and c)... I don't have anything fully fleshed out, logistics-wise. Because of the ignorance of retail, and I don't have much interest in getting a business degree.

Back to square one.

But, despite knowing nothing of the market (and considering its quite a specialized one), I like researching. Then again, the only thing I can actually understand on the business end is the acquisition of inventory, probably because that's what I have [limited] experience in. (Go semi-legally buying things from wholesale importers with out a resale license. *grin*) I can't understand markets, don't know the timeframes for getting different business licenses or registering, taxes are beyond me (though I think I'd get the hang of that easier than the rest)...

In any case, I know goods acquisition. I can deal with selling things once I have a storefront, and I can learn bookkeeping. But how I adore the idea of buying inventory... I've been on ebay, looking at lots, calculating what I could resell the comics individually for, and I want to get started collecting this stuff /now/. I wont be able to set up shop for /years/ now, and by then I'll probably have another job idea in mind, or have given this up as a lost cause, but... six hundred+ comics for fifty dollars. I frickin' want.

That's my problem. I'm a collector. Look at my external harddrive: filled with things I've collected but have never gotten around to watching/reading. My bookshelves: antique books I've drooled over and bought, books that could possibly be used for future reference but rarely cracked open. I'm pretty sure that my fanfiction folder is the only thing I have that I /know/ I've read them all, and that only because I saved them after I read the story. *shakes head*

Ok, so the first step is acknowledgement of the problem, right?

But I still want to buy the damn comics. Gah.

Now, there are two roots that I can identify to my problem. One, I'm obsessed with collecting and hording books. (See above listing of packrat tendencies.) Two, I like making a profit off of buying stuff I like cheap, and selling some/most of it marked up. *thinks* I think the comic book lot browsing falls under the second, but the doujinshi browsing is the first.

...

Why am I psychoanalyzing myself again? Oh, right, I was tempted to spend money on something I don't have room for. Yeah. How much does storage space cost nowadays? And is it a really idiotic move to start collecting inventory now for a store that won't be in existence for at least another few years?