In 2018, I came up with the idea to start my own business centered around geeks and nerds like me. As Toys R Us died, I wondered where I would go to buy the fun things in life: collectible action figures, stuffed animals, LEGOS, video games, and so on. While it’s true that I was already buying most of that online, I only resorted to sites like Amazon due to the lack of having a Toys R Us nearby. That, and the selection of available items.
I wanted a place where adults could buy toys and games without being judged. Where parents could share their love of LEGOS with their children. I wanted a place that sold the odd stuff you can’t find anywhere else, like Edgar Allen Poe plush dolls, scientific toys, video game themed Monopoly, and so much more. Then I realized I should create the place, and in 2019, Addicted Geeks was born.
I started the business with just basic computer repair since that was something I was already equipped to handle. Unfortunately, people are reluctant to pay a stranger to fix their PC, so I moved on to dropshipping. I opened the website in September of 2020 with a large collection of items dropshipping from overseas. That too didn’t work, with products arriving late (or never at all) and merchandise quality being questionable or outright lies.
I am a firm believer in standing behind what you sell, so I started to build an inventory to ship out from my home, allowing me to check the quality of each product and ensure they are delivered on time. The business has operated this way ever since, with the exception of apparel and a few other items that are from a print-on-demand supplier. Of course I checked the quality of these items before listing them and proudly wear my company’s t-shirts on a regular basis.
Business was slow at first, with most sales being friends or family. It started to pick up in the fall of 2021, one year after I opened the website. In 2022, I had a few good months, even turning a profit over the holiday season, but unexpected expenses hampered my profits for the year. I had hoped to attend a local comic convention as a vendor and only decided not to after calculating the money I would need to invest in equipment, supplies, and table fees from the event organizers. In September 2022, I did attend a local vendor event at the Lebanon Valley Mall, but barely broke even—foot traffic in the mall is nearly non-existent.
This year sales have been way down compared to last year, and the monthly fee for my Shopify store increased 34.5 percent in March. That same comic convention had increased their table fee from $150 to $250—I was hesitant at the lower price, so certainly was not attending at the higher one. There was a summer vendor event in the mall that unfortunately conflicted with my family’s schedule and I could not attend. There is another one at the end of October, but I am just not sure I have it in me anymore, especially for a dying mall that seems to be predominantly frequented by elderly mall walkers.
They always say you have to spend money to make money, which is easy when you have extra funds to throw around. For me, there is no extra money, or at least not until I can find a steady job again. As the months go by, I find myself losing more hope that I can keep my business running. When depression takes over, I simply cannot pretend to be cheerful and continue my regular social media posts for the business. I can only guess that was bringing in the extra sales—I had a sharp decline in revenue after I took a break from all social media in the spring. However, it seems to have no impact this year and sales are down regardless of how many times I post.
There are days that I think about just closing the website and letting my dream die. Truthfully, I would rather get paid to write than run a retail business, but I don’t see that happening. My dream was to have a physical store, and I see no possibility for that in the near future. I wanted to teach people how to use Windows and Microsoft Office; to have a space where people can play board games; to help get more kids—and especially girls—interested in science and the world of geeks.
So far, I have an e-commerce website that has a handful of items I would want to carry in a brick-and-mortar store. You can’t get the good stuff without a physical location, and you can’t get a physical location without a lot of money. So I take it one day at a time, straddling between letting the website operate as it is or shutting it down and giving up.
The world is unkind to those who are of a low-income family.