Check Out Ariel Tincher’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariel Tincher.

Hi Ariel, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My family has run a small business since 1970. My father and Grandfather started out as a corner grocery store. They got their first pawn license in the early 1980s and that slowly built to be their main business. By the early 1990s they were only a pawnshop. The corner grocery store business model was no longer viable.
Peoples interests and buying habits are constantly evolving and we have to keep up. Dealing in Pokemon cards fits with our business perfectly. Pokemon cards a small, high value items that people love to buy and sell. It started very small for us, just half of a display case. We now have 9 full showcases of single cards and several shelves of sealed products.
Starting this part of our business has forced us to do new things we never would have attempted before. My brother Michael (he’s the one with the beard) and I started a YouTube channel, Tedspokepawn. We both have had to develop a screen presence for our videos and live events. Michael was instrumental in getting us a Japanese Pokemon vendor. We import Japanese Pokemon since English printed pokemon is harder to get in stock in the current market.
I was fortunate to get us an account with an official distributor for English language products. Having sealed product as well as single cards go hand in hand with serving the pokemon collector community.
The response that we have had in starting this business is beyond our initial expectations and goals. Pokemon has brought in customers who would never had set foot in our shop otherwise. It is now a major contributor to our monthly retail sales.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not. Our biggest obstacle was convincing our two older brothers that this could work. We have a very large storefront, approximately. 8000 square feet of retail space. The corner we chose was dead space at the time. It had a very limited selection of car audio and other odds and ends.
Once it began to take off and show its potential the next obstacle was and still is keeping up with demand. Pokemon products are in very high demand and it is probably one of the most competitive markets out there. In order to set ourselves apart from the competition and attract more customers we know we have to do some things differently.
On all our new products releases we sell at the suggested retail price set by Pokemon. As an example an elite trainer box on release has a MSRP of $50, even though on the open market and other shops may sell them for $100 or more. The. explosion of interest and money coming into the market has pushed prices way up. We have built trust and gained many new customers this way.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
It’s more of a question of what don’t I do. I built a brand new website from scratch, tedspokepawn.com, just for this Pokémon part of our business. I learned how to edit videos for our social media accounts. I specialize in evaluating the coins, high end purses/ handbags, as well as the pokemon cards that come into the shop as well as getting them price and out for sale.
I am proud that my brothers and I have been able to keep this business thriving and growing through some very tough economic head winds the past few years. It is not easy owning and running your own business. There is no substitute for hard work.
What sets me and us all apart is the willingness to do the hard work and also to try and learn new things and new skill sets.

How do you think about luck?
We were fortunate to get into Pokemon cards when we did. Timing is always a big factor in “luck”. Any “bad” luck is really just a signal for you to look at what happened and see how to better approach the problem.

Pricing:

• Any new release products we sell at MSRP. Anything after that I have to pay well above MSRP to even get it in, so it has to be more market based.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tedspokepawn.com
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TedsPokePawn