One Year of Store Your Products
Tim Traver
Launching Into Uncertainty
When we announced Store Your Products (SYP) at the GAMA Trade Show last year, it was right at the beginning of a global pandemic amidst ambiguity and uncertainty throughout the U.S. and beyond. We had no idea how the pandemic would affect current and future plans for TCGplayer and this newest program, and had concerns about the ongoing economic health of our seller partners. As the country was shutting down, we were doubling down efforts to ensure our marketplace was running strong for our sellers so they could continue selling in our changed world. As the year progressed and in-store interactions became increasingly limited, the Direct/SYP programs proved vital to many sellers, and enabled their businesses to remain open with an additional “low touch” revenue stream.
After a shutdown, we were able to reopen our Fulfillment Center in June 2020, and resume our work assisting sellers by listing their inventory and shipping out orders sold through the SYP program. Our reopening also allowed sellers to ship their products to TCGplayer to be sold through our Direct program. This service, plus the addition of SYP, provided a strong market outlet for our sellers' products and allowed them to focus on adjusting how they managed their store with the new COVID restrictions.
Program Growth
The program grew rapidly, from 10 initial sellers to over 170 today, all shipping cards while adhering to our original shipping guidelines. The initial guidelines helped to increase larger shipments with greater SKU density that ensure sales keep pushing through without a hiccup. Through that success, we were able to adjust those shipping guidelines, welcoming more sellers onto the platform and allowing existing SYP sellers to send smaller shipments that fit their wants and needs.
Pokémon blasted onto the scene in our Direct & SYP program in June 2020. We tested it with both programs and it helped us build Direct inventory as well as ensure Pokémon sellers could utilize the program as intended. We officially launched Pokémon in Direct in August 2020, and introduced Direct to a plethora of new sellers eager to join the TCGplayer seller family. With the rollout, we’ve seen this incredible trading card game open up multiple routes to revenue and growth for our sellers.
Another point of growth for the SYP program is Buylist. SYP sellers were able to take advantage of our touchless sales cycle without a single card being sent back to them, done all through our Fulfillment Center. Using Buylist with SYP empowers sellers to explore multiple routes to profit by keeping their desired inventory local, and their SYP account fueled with Buylist purchases. Many sellers use both to create a powerful selling combination.
The first year of Store Your Products was an exciting one that helped shape the way we interact and enable our sellers, and we will carry that momentum through 2021. The future of the SYP program is exciting and holds many new opportunities for sellers to engage with their inventory, explore new product lines, and to discover multiple pathways to success. A peek behind the scenes includes our Sort service within the SYP program. For a small fee, we will sort, condition and list your unsorted cards that meet our threshold to your SYP account. This has been in beta testing for a while now, as well as a few other surprises, and we can’t wait to share more with you!
The SYP program was built with the seller in mind and the feedback from our sellers is something we always consider. If you have any questions, concerns, feedback, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at sales@tcgplayer.com. If you'd like to hear more about the program, please follow the link below to get in touch with a member of our team today!