A Look At The Future of Retail, Now.
The Retail ‘Apocalypse’ Is Actually A Good Thing. Retailers Must Either Evolve or Die.
Fighting On: A Working Specialty Retail Model
Retail stores are closing in record numbers. Online sales keep driving higher. Centenarian Companies that were once thought to be unbreakable have went broke. Many large retailers, that were already in an over-competitively cut-throat market, could not withstand the onslaught of the internet taking away sales. They simply were not ready. OR, were the management teams too old and out of touch to understand the internet was where retail was headed?
Either way, the casualties have been steep and quick. It still seems as though the physical retail landscape is not changing nor adapting fast enough. There seems to be a general consensus of denial among retailers, convinced that the largest challenge they face is that pesky old internet.
The internet is no longer a huge threat. Retailers have their game-on for internet sales. Having just survived the frenzy of playing catch up, and actually catching up with utilization of the internet, they may erroneously think they can breathe a sigh of relief. Little do they know the battle they think they have won, has not even started yet.
As a small business owner in the sector of specialty retail, I have been enamored and nearly obsessed with cryptocurrency since Bitcoin. It seems to fill a void, and yet, not quite fill a void. It also seems to have massively practical application and not such practical application. Although this is what makes cryptocurrency so adaptable to its circumstance, it is also the reason it faces quite a challenge to gaining mass adoption.
Although it’s all the rage to take cryptocurrency and build “new technology” with it, I believe it has a much larger purpose. The blockchains are definitely technology driving vehicles and the actual technology at the same time. Cryptocurrency can be a little bit of both, or all of one and none of the other or vice versa.
I see cryptocurrency having a fairly obvious path laid out through retail sectors. When retailers decide it’s time to start adopting cryptocurrency, it will seem almost immediate. Retailers make the world go round. Cryptocurrency mass adoption is not a question of “if”, it is a question of “when”.
So this brings me to a business model that I have developed which merges specialty retail with cryptocurrency. All of the information contained within the working model, has been written as a White Paper. I am going to share it here.
I have written from that point of my small business experience from my company, B.A. Toys. Therefore, I do not see any reason to change the company name to “generic company A” as to keep things real and not lose any meanings. I have to give you the background, to bring you up to speed as on the new adaptation of an old situation. Let’s get started.
(OH… and please read through Act I to get our back-story. As I believe in full disclosure, the remainder of this document from this point is IV ACTS.)
ACT I: HOW B.A. Toys® STARTED
A 2010 USA Bootstrap Startup
One Small Retailers Story
Twenty Dollar Start
ACT I, Scene 1
B.A. Toys set a brisk pace of expansion. From 0 to $300,000 USD annual revenue in 5 years’ time. Before we go into that though, here’s the real story of how B.A. Toys started. This story has never been shared online, until now. The owner of B.A. Toys is a private person and not one for attention. The story, though long, is followed up by our philosophies, methods, and realistic future feature developments to our already working platform, rather than over-the-top technological theories.
Ever heard one of those cliche stories about businesses starting from a hobby? That’s literally how B.A. Toys came into existence. In 2009, Jeremy Buse was laid off from his regular construction job as a heavy equipment operator due to the 2009 housing bubble in the USA. In the aftermath of the housing bubble crash, he faced losing his job, main residence and two other houses. After going nearly a year with no work, he was reduced to near nothing. In 2010, with the construction job market being in shambles and nothing on the horizon, he decided to try selling some of his collectibles online.
After selling several collectibles on eBay, he decided that his lifelong hobby of collecting toys, figures, sports cards, you-name-it, would be a catalyst for him to start a toy website and at least give it a try. After thinking about it, nervously, for TWO whole days(lol), he decided he would have a go at it. He would try to bootstrap a startup and pray that it might meet even marginal success. He paid $19.99 for Badasstoysforbadassboys.com web-hosting and proceeded “trying” to learn how to code and publish a website, himself.
Bootstrap
(definition) is a situation in which an entrepreneur starts a company with little capital. An individual is said to be bootstrapping when he or she attempts to found and build a company from personal finances or from the operating revenues of the new company.
It requires strict budgeting and management accountability. It teaches one how to succeed creatively, stretching resources, networks and money as far as you can. Bootstrapping can rarely be taught; It is a particularly powerful and priceless skill set, one that is severely lacking from cryptocurrency projects.
“Trying” to learn to code resulted in a lot of internet searches and daily calls to technical support. Although he felt he was being more of a nuisance to technical support than he cared to be, support insisted that he keep at it, and call back as much as necessary(free, included with the web-hosting plan). It was during one of these calls that he received the first impressionable piece of advice regarding website coding self-effort versus just surrendering to a website development contractor:
“Learn to code. Even if you don’t learn ‘correct coding standards’, learning to code even small parts of your website will be far superior than contracting someone to do it for you immediately. If you hire someone when you don’t have a clue, how will you know if they have one?”
— Elliot, Technical Support
Having limited resources at the time, and no choice but to agree with such a statement, he kept moving forward and calling support almost daily. Granted, there is always something to learn about coding, better ways, new methods, etc… he learned enough to get the job done to make it work. It was soon confirmed that Elliot was, indeed… correct.
Fast-forward to Now:
To this day B.A. Toys has not hired out any coding work for our website. Although it is obvious in this regard, we have used our site proudly; Showing how much progress can be made with hard work and determination, rather than just a huge budget.
Having our own experience, we now understand our own needs, what we need in a developer & what should be realistically accomplished in a timely manner.
In an attempt to push B.A. Toys along, a credit card was used to start buying Toys R’ Us Exclusive Toys and reselling them both on the B.A. Toys® site and 3rd party marketplaces. Sales were slow to start, but steady. As Christmas approached, selling became easier. While searching Walmart and making a “wish list” of lines to expand into, he stumbled upon and became enamored with a relatively new release: Mega Bloks’ Halo(video game) Construction Sets (like Lego). While tracking down the rest of the newly released collection, at Toys R Us, he found a “must-have” set.
Halo Mega Bloks: Covenant Invasion Toys R Us Exclusive Set cost $49.99 in the store and was immediately going for $149.99 online due to high demand, and limited production supply. Exclusive in this sense means an item restricted or limited in production and sales to a specific store (this set specific to Toys R’ Us). It was additionally learned that Target, Walmart and Toys R’ Us each had exclusive Halo Mega Bloks sets in addition to a rather large line of general sets. From this point on, the owner of B.A. Toys was HOOKED on Halo Mega Bloks. This caused persistent emails and phone calls to Mega Bloks EVERY WEEK for about 2 months, in pursuit of a direct wholesale account with Mega Brands.
B.A. Toys wanted a shot at Halo Mega Bloks.
A MEGA Opportunity
ACT I, Scene 2
Early in 2011, after several conversations with Mega Brands(Bloks), it was decided that B.A. Toys would be able to start receiving a small amount of product from Mega Brands (thanks D!). We tried going for the gusto on the first order and ordered THIRTY Sets of 96837. This was a daunting and nerve-racking task for us, we had never ordered THIRTY of anything before! Our first shipment DIRECTLY from Mega Brands was in the Spring of 2011. The very first item B.A. Toys received was the Halo Mega Bloks Battlescape Set 96837.
Did you know? The very first Mega Bloks set B.A. Toys received in 2011, the Halo Battlescape 96837, had a suggested retail price of $49.99. That same set today, UNOPENED, is worth OVER $200!
After tedious, hard work to develop content and some marketing plans, B.A. Toys had secured enough rapport with Mega Bloks to be able to fill pre-orders of the new releases by the Fall of 2011. By the end of 2011, if you searched for Halo Mega Bloks on GOOGLE, BadassToysforbadassboys.com was often the #1 RESULT(except for when we were/are still censored out of search results due to language filters to this day, lol). Although B.A. Toys is no longer #1 for those search terms, we still have some powerful Google Page Ranking when we want to.
Fast-forward to Now:
B.A. Toys main website address will be updated to a censored “G” version in 2019.
As the passion for video-game-themed toys, action figures & collectibles grew, it allowed B.A. Toys to grow and expand. In the Fall of 2011, we took over what was, at the time, an unbelievably large(for us) 30x15 office space!(LOL). Within weeks we added two small adjacent offices for warehousing our products, so they were conveniently all under the same roof. Christmas of 2011 was a raging success and we outgrew the small conglomeration of offices within a matter of months.
At the onset of 2012 we moved over to a recently vacated storefront at the front of the same building(what timing!). The new space was an impressive 1800 square feet, with welcomed additional space. By this time our rapport was even better with Mega Bloks. Due to the reviews and promotional marketing we were orchestrating, they began allowing us to unveil some of their brand-new items by posting the confidential product images and information, as we were directed, on our pre-orders.
Throughout 2012 we took pre-orders for new rounds(Spring, Summer and Fall) of Halo Mega Bloks releases. We were successful in receiving our products and having them to our customers often before large retailers even had them on the shelves. In some instances, we were WEEKS ahead of items hitting mass retail. Occasionally, we would have a delay on a product here or there, but that is the nature of receiving new shipments of product from manufacturers. We could not have received better service or treatment from Mega Brands.
The second week of December 2012, B.A. Toys received a surprise shipment from Mega Brands of SPRING 2013 Halo Mega Bloks items. They arrived just in time for Christmas 2012. Spoiler: It became tradition. From that point on, we would receive pre-releases of official products, for the following Spring, just in time for the preceding Christmas. Mega Brands was letting us promotionally unveil their Spring lineup 3–4 months early.
One year, we received these pre-release items with only one day remaining to the shipping deadline for Christmas arrival. Since it was tradition, many parents had already pre-ordered our nameless pre-release bundle. It merely gave the price and simply stated that placing a pre-release bundle order would require they take us at our word, “Should there be any way possible for us to fill pre-release orders in time for Christmas, we will make every effort to do so.” We worked 24 hours that day in order to pull-through for all the kids that were “hoping” for another early release Christmas present from Mega Brands & B.A. Toys®.
One more spoiler: Eventually, Mattel becomes the Grinch.
In 2013, we were given the privilege of disclosing set names and images GLOBALLY for the Halo Mega Bloks new releases (as well as a few others like Call of Duty, Minions, Power Rangers, Assassin’s Creed & more…). B.A. Toys worked hard at product awareness to show our appreciation of the opportunities Mega Brands was bestowing.
For quite some time, it was a symbiotic masterpiece.
Did You Really Just Make Us A target, Target?
ACT I: Scene 3
In early 2013, we made the leap to the big time, an actual indoor shopping mall in Janesville, Wisconsin. This new location was a corner storefront of approximately 2800 square feet, with glass running the length of both walls to the corner. It is still featured on our BadassToysforBadassBoys Facebook page to this day. As our online orders grew, our new retail mall setting filled in a few gaps of slower times for online toy sales throughout the year. Across the street was Toys R Us and down the street was Target. The rounds were soon made by each to comparison shop, pricing. We made a few acquaintances at the Toys R Us store. We were often able to stock new items, from many different manufacturers, weeks ahead of the competition, as we did not have large distribution channels. A few Toys R Us employees would stop in to see what was coming out soon. Since our distribution was directly to our store, when B.A. Toys received a freight shipment, it could be available on the shelf and online, that very day.
In 2013, big box store Target was noticing our rise and decided to take action. Target started pretending online that they were B.A. Toys to try and snipe our Mega Bloks sales. To this day, it is both off-putting and flattering to know that a behemoth like Target, spent money to try and pretend that BA Toys was just a “search term” leading to them.
TARGET: Did you know?
In 2018 we received our Registered Trademark, B.A. Toys®,
Serial Number 87717855 — Registration Number 5523958.
Further imposter ads…expensive!
In 2014 we moved back to Illinois to a 2600 square foot retail storefront on a main street that saw 16,000 cars go by per day. This was a B.A. Toys lesson that was expensive; Just because the car count is high, does NOT mean the location is worth it. There were SO MANY cars going by, it was extremely hard to get in and out of our parking lot. In hindsight, it is a lesson for everyone, high traffic equals high rent but DOES NOT EQUAL more sales! Thankfully our online revenue helped to power us through it.
Sometime in 2014, Mega Bloks was acquired by Mattel.
They were to take over Mega’s operations in 2015.
In 2015, our account was passed on to Mattel, as a key account. We continued with Mattel, but it was not the same. Mattel apparently felt that they did not need marketing assistance from B.A. Toys, and changed our prioritized structure. Although Mega Brands had shared with them just how much we helped build the Halo Mega Bloks line, it fell on deaf ears.
It was at this point that a decision was made. B.A. Toys would take a hiatus from the frenzy of public sales & marketing. This allowed time to step back and just observe the current state of affairs in retail. It also allowed for deeper examination of our goals and philosophies. The bulk of the remaining inventory was structured for warehousing, so it could continue appreciating collector value. It was the perfect place to pause, reassess and focus on our evolving business model.
Did you know? In the U.S.A. The State of Illinois has sought comment on a guidance document it has released on whether a money transmitter license is needed to engage in selling decentralized digital currencies.
The document says the department does not require such a license since virtual currencies have not been adopted by governments as currency.
ACT II: ADAPTATION (or NATURAL SELECTION?)
“Accidentally Genius”
Act II, Scene 1
Retail is a ROUGH business. Everyone wants to have the lowest price
and move their inventory FAST, FAST, FAST.
Companies like Walmart, Amazon and Target live or die on volume. MASSIVE VOLUME. Huge corporations have the advantage of being able to
through huge credit lines. The big box stores main supposed “success” indicator is an increase in revenue, year-over-year. It does not matter as much if their profits take a hit. Everyone wants to see more revenue, more revenue, more revenue. It does not necessarily mean they are operating in a better capacity NOR in a smarter fashion. It simply means they have the resources to buy and sell anything that might make a dime.
The stock market rewards increased year-over-year revenue, even if profits are down. This is favorably looked upon as “cost of growth”. We look at it, as bullshit. With rare exception, it is simply a death-spiral, like chopping down trees in the Amazon.
The Big players are so worried about beating each other up, they seem to have lost vision as to where they want to go. Toys R Us is now a casualty to massive credit accounts in the 2017 tunnel-visioned battle, as will be K-Mart, Sears, & JC Penney’s- all because they lost their way and failed to Evolve. Those businesses and so many others have died or are in the process of doing so.
Some very large companies are now also seeing stagnating growth; It is the vicious cycle of business when merely focused on revenue. Unsupported and forced hyper-growth, at the sacrifice of profits, becomes a broken crutch which allows stagnation to become a swift business killer. It is akin to getting stuck in the mud of the Amazon. You can sit there and spin your wheels, but eventually your vehicle is junk. So goes the adage: Being a “jack of all trades” makes you a master of none.
B.A. Toys tried to compete with this same “standard business approach”. We tried to sell everything at a discount and match sale prices using the “fake it ’til you make it” mentality. Near the end of year 2/start of year 3 is when we realized that we were working MUCH harder, for much LESS profit. We had to figure out a way to survive in a cut-throat retail market on lower volumes.
Around this same time, we noticed many customers looking for older, discontinued items in product lines that we carried. Some of the items they wanted, we had already sold out of. Others, we had knowingly stashed away as collectibles. As the older, collectible stock started working its way back onto our website and sales floor in a featured, collectible manner, and directly into our sales numbers, we could see a drastic difference.
It quickly became apparent, that moving product out the door, rapid-fire, until you were out of stock- was not necessarily the best business practice in a specialty shop. Nearly all the items we had intentionally saved from years 1 and 2, were suddenly worth MORE than retail, usually double at minimum. Saving collectible items was not even discussed. It was simply done out of instinct as the owner had been a collector his entire life.
This “accidentally genius” salvation, stemming from instinctual habit, required analyzation. It was soon time for B.A. Toys to choose a path:
· Would we blaze our own trail going against the “standard business practice” model to meet a certain demand we were witnessing in a narrow market, in an attempt to Evolve?
OR
· Would we continue with the “standard business practice” model, try harder and still likely struggle?
B.A. Toys® chose to Evolve.
We also chose to not only believe, but OWN the fact
we were NOT Walmart, NOT Amazon, and NOT Target.
We had seen enough older, collectible stock being sold at higher profits, to modify the golden rule of retail as it applied to OUR company. We aggressively adjusted orders on items we believed had collector potential and started stocking up on those items. Heavily. We needed to HODL toys.
In combination, we sold deeply discounted pre-orders of those same items to help move more product. With laser focus, we stayed on top of orders with manufacturers, always trying to secure and deliver our picks, before anyone else. Once the products arrived, we immediately shipped out the pre-orders. We then sold whatever remaining portion of the shipment(s) which was required to pay the bill(s) and stay open. We would price these new in-stock releases at competitive market rates based on demand and availability. Once a shipment invoice was paid in full, any remaining units went into the warehouse. If it was only six units, so be it. This allowed us to pack away paid-in-full items just like pack-rats.
Six units at a time may not sound like much but when you carry hundreds of line/brand specific items and are sometimes left with 6, other times 15, or even 40 (yes 40) paid-in-full items, this adds up to a tremendous amount of product over time, quickly.
After our commitment, passage of time and adjustment to the new mode of operation, it seemed completely natural. We soon realized we only need worry about what we thought was cool for the kids, the collectors or the Big Bang Theory types (our favorite kind of collectors). B.A. Toys was no longer concerned about what the big retailers were doing. B.A. Toys was doing our own thing. As time went on, we did our own thing better and better.
We even implemented our own style of inventory management, one that would likely make big financiers, in big business, sick to their stomach.
“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”
–Wayne Gretzy, Hockey Star
Strategic Forecasting VS. Clearance Sales
ACT II, Scene 2
Forecasting: Strategic Inventory Management
(definition) Traditionally viewed by manufacturers as a way to become lean and reduce costs, inventory management could be a new competitive weapon in the battle for customers.
B.A. Toys Forecast SIM
(definition) A system in which inventory management, duration and storage costs increase overall long-term costs, but result in overall sales revenue increasing at substantial multiples, while customer acquisition costs plummet. It is a specialty store’s best defense and competitive weapon against big box stores and the often-prohibitive costs of acquiring new customers.
Strategic Forecasting is NOT EASY for beginners, or anyone. Luckily, we have had plenty of practice and an instinctual ability. Our custom-made model of acquiring inventory for the sole purpose of being one of the last to sell it, means we outlast competition with day-to-day sales to cover our bottom line. Once competitors are out of stock, they are ZERO threat to us and our remaining inventory becomes more valuable at substantial multiples. Additionally, once competitors are out of stock of specialty products, the scavenger hunt online becomes easier and leads to us more often.
B.A. Toys® rarely had clearance sales. Clearance sales are only used to move product in which you mistakenly ordered too much. We may have had THREE such clearance sales in 5 years+ and they were regarding only one or two products at a time. Occasionally items that we believed would be hot and in demand were exactly the opposite and we saw no need to commit long term space to products that fizzled at launch. Toys were our cryptocurrency. We did not need to be right ALL of the time, because when we were right, we were REALLY right. We now professionally HODL TOYS.
Additionally, the only main sales we ever had were at Christmas, or if we wanted to drastically raise volumes of a certain line. In this case we would use a sale such as Free Shipping, Buy One Get One 40% off, flat discounts, etc…
Customers would ask from time to time if we ever put anything on sale, or held regular sales throughout the year. We often replied “No, not really. It’s just FOR sale. If you come back in a month and it’s still here, it will probably be more…” Then we would all laugh, the customer included, because we all knew it to be true due to the market of collectibles.
Fast-forward to Now:
It will be delightful to spend a large portion of our marketing budget for actual discount sales on items purchased with Toyken rather than with marketing firms. This will show the power of Toyken to users, gain B.A. Toys great exposure, and help raise Toyken demand quickly.
Collectibles, the REAL ONES, appreciate in value. They naturally rise the older they get. Products can go through an immediate deflationary period upon release, in which competitors offer discounts to move as much product as possible. Once this cycle has completed, the appreciating value cycle kicks in; This cycle is RARELY, IF EVER, SEEN by big box stores. To have an appreciating product model in business sounds rudimentary but is less achieved in business than a person would think. Mass retail will often refuse to raise the price of items, so they do not risk losing association with “lower prices” and “great prices”. This is where specialty retailers shine. We will cover both ends of the spectrum with competitively low pricing upon product release, and then also the benefits of long-term product availability.
With B.A. Toys’ owner being a picky collector himself, it was hard to sell products at a loss knowing what they would someday be worth. So, we didn’t. We started waiting until the big box stores ran out of stuff. It takes a while to find a rhythm, but fortunately manufacturers only make so many toys and then that particular production run is over. Things become collectible and much more valuable when they are scarce and in demand. Other than just our bottom line, there was one other way we could tell that our master plan was working:
Customer reactions.
Just Take My Money… TAKE MY MONEY!
ACT II, Scene 3
When you are a store-owner and customers walk-in and immediately say “Just take my money”, there is no better compliment. It means you are doing something VERY right. That would happen A LOT in our store. Not daily, but more often than you would think. It was common occurrence among the younger generation to just say “JUST TAKE MY MONEY” and plop cash down on the counter for something that was often, 3, 4, 5 or 6 times suggested retail price because it’s discontinued, hard-to-find and in demand OR an item that big box stores do not carry, making them MORE obscure and even HOTTER.
It is a tedious process when someone is scouring the internet looking for a toy that is no longer made. If they happen to find such a toy at B.A. Toys in our store or on our site- they BUY IT. They are happily B.A. Toys’ customers due to our long-term collectible stock availability and very competitive “current” market pricing.
After exhaustive searching, customers often expect discontinued toys & collectibles to be more expensive. Although we could charge whatever we want, we always offer a fair collector market price. The atmosphere in the store, and likely during online shopping as well, is often that of determination, anticipation, and then elation.
Something happens when customers know that a retailer takes as much pride in stocking & selling an item, as they do in buying it. It’s a totally different experience. When a customer enters our collector shop or shops our website, it is quickly apparent that we appreciate the collectibles we have. Patrons do what is necessary to be the new custodians of our collectibles. They understand that our specialty shop, at times, even has seller’s remorse in regard to many collectibles. This makes buyers more aggressive. They would often offer substantial money for items just on display, which we had no intention of selling yet.
Many collectibles are a status symbol. Collectibles, at all price levels say, “I have discretionary income and I am proud to be collecting these items.” It is this type of customer mindset that is SEVERELY LACKING from the cryptocurrency economies.
We anticipate such interactions will mirror over to Toyken. Toyken will represent a total buying experience, emotions included: determination, anticipation and elation. Our strict inventory selection policies, the PRIDE we take in stocking awesome toys & collectibles, and the support of our loyal customers and fans will now be able to be expressed using Toyken.
Since the number of Toyken is fixed and Toyken
is scheduled annually, as transaction volumes grow the demand for Toyken will grow. Additionally, we see a potential for additional increase in the demand of Toyken, solely based upon the principles of what makes toys & collectibles so valuable.
As Toyken will be used for attaining toys & collectibles,
it is very possible that Toyken, itself, could become collectable.
Did you know?
In the U.S.A., Idaho has provided guidance “that a license is not required if an entity or individual is selling its own inventory. We have viewed this to apply to miners and to those entities/individuals who own virtual currency and wish to sell their own inventory.”
ACT III: OBSERVANT IMPLEMENTATION
Toys & Cryptocurrency ARE FAMILY.
Act III, Scene 1
If cryptocurrency is a store of value,
what better pairing is there, than an APPRECIATING ASSET?
Toys, sports cards, classic automobiles, Hollywood memorabilia, authentic movie props, movie posters, celebrity autographs & more have some serious demand, yet these types of products ALL SEEM TO BE LACKING from the current cryptocurrency equation.
Collector toys have blazed a trail for cryptocurrency throughout the years. They are nearly identical. Look back at the toy market, as far as you’d like to go. Do you notice anything strikingly similar when comparing toys and crytpocurrency?
“Toys & collectibles are the physical versions of cryptocurrency;
They always have been.”
— Jeremy Buse, B.A. Toys®
Toys are one of the original vehicles used, by manufacturers, to hook people into giving up their money. Such in demand items were TRULY the first form of an alternate currency. Even in the earliest economies and trades, toys & collectibles have always held a currency-like, hypnotic, trade power.
It is understood that all economies are based on trade. To go deeper, you must analyze what TYPES of trades. Today, money only has value because others will accept it, in trade, for THINGS. All throughout history, toys and/or collectibles would often substitute for money. SPECIALTY THINGS often hold a higher bartering power. The real potential in cryptocurrency is achieving this same status and power of a physical trade, but in a virtual way. You cannot do this, by ignoring physical items as part of your model. Virtual uses are covered 100 times over. We need more real-use cases.
Additionally, few will get excited or jump through hoops to buy a pair of socks or some groceries with cryptocurrency. Those are not specialty items. Conquering specialty markets first, leads to easier mass adoption. Look at technology. Technology progress has deep roots within the toy sector- video games. Video games have led to massive technological advancement. Have video games achieved mass adoption? In the 70’s, video games were a HIGHLY specialized sector, with very FEW participants. We aren’t selling other sectors short, just pointing out: Do not be so quick to sacrifice the very platforms that gave crypto life. Cryptocurrency msass adoption is tertiary, not secondary.
Do not confuse the novelty of cryptocurrency with blockchain; Although they are often synonymous, they “can” be separable, contrary to what some may claim. One is a thing, one is a process. In some other circumstances, they cannot be separated as one is reliant upon the other. They can also become both, thing and process, simultaneously. If you unlock the utility within whatever structure you pursue, you have a winner.
This is why, the demand of appreciating physical assets cannot be beaten for stimulating mass adoption. Although this may sound like an overly simplistic expression of common-sense principle, it is appalling how often this principle has gone ignored as of late. It is why so many people have heard about the guy that bought a Lambo, with bitcoin. The demand utility cannot, and should not, be separated from cryptocurrency ideology.
“You cannot generate demand by simply creating a new entity.
The utility of demand cannot, and must not, be separated from that which you create.”
— Jeremy Buse, B.A. Toys®
Collectors strategically overpay for hot collectibles, trade them with other collectors, give them as gifts, barter, buy and sell them on speculation — you name it. If you unlock the utility of demand components, including the traits of value, emotions and experiences which demand represents throughout time, cryptocurrency can, and should, be the digital manifestation of emotions and values representational of the BUYING EXPERIENCE.
Throughout history, demand items have instilled a component to economies that is necessary to this day. Demand “itself” has been imprinted with these traits and stored throughout time into items that appreciate in value. Going for mass market adoption instantly is a great dream, but not realistic. Mass adoption always comes faster when history repeats itself. Are not all economies functioning in this same way, deeply dependent upon supply and demand?
“Thousands of cryptocurrencies have been rushed to build the WHAT.
They seem to have forgotten about the WHY.”
— Jeremy Buse, B.A. Toys®
Physical assets are DESPERATELY NEEDED to force cryptocurrency into the hands of the masses. B.A. Toys® will do our part to raise cryptocurrency awareness and promote the use of Toyken. We know that we won’t change the whole world. We truly believe, however, that we can unlock utilization in the collectibles market. As is the case with most things B.A. Toys® has done, just the fact that we are publishing our business plan will likely cause a cascading effect. B.A. Toys® “Not-A-White Paper” might not receive accolades for being well written, but it will force many in the crypto world to re-think and re-examine efforts. B.A. Toys® believes our plan will receive the credit it is due someday, no matter how small that credit might be.
B.A. Toys Toyken Offering has merit, and rest-assured, it is not a fly-by-night attempt to lunge head-first into the cryptocurrency world, but a methodical thoughtful process that has played out over a number of years. B.A. Toys will be making appropriate upgrades & developments to our already working platform in our attempt to make our company, Toyken & necessary Toykenomics an even larger success.
Toyken will encompass particular demand components,
that seem to be currently lacking from nearly ALL cryptocurrency projects.
Let’s Be Real.
Many Cryptocurrency Projects Fail… Because They Should.
Act III, Scene 2
Most cryptocurrency projects lack the crucial component
of even the most basic demand.
Current crypto projects seem to create currencies first. Some don’t bother with a platform. They recruit “the best team ever” so everyone will think their project is SO legit. They just launch their only product, THE cryptocurrency, on an exchange -without even a customer. They build their actual business, last, when it should be built FIRST.
Many say, “But that’s why they all have such amazing teams!”
But, Do they? Do they ALL, REALLY, have amazing teams?
We understand how important it “seems” that a team be absolutely educated to the nines.
When you have nothing else to give, you have to give the illusion that you have something, …RIGHT?
An “amazing team” has somehow became an “automatic qualification”, but was mostly first-used by the earliest & biggest scams in crypto.
More weight should be given to those that HAVE DONE, rather than to “amazing teams” that HAVE NOT.
Additionally, look at how many “best-team-ever projects” have failed. IN BIG & EXPENSIVE WAYS.
The amount of money, many projects have burned through, recruiting “the best team ever”,is laughable.
You are to coins & tokens, not actual money.
IF YOU BUY YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS,
IT WILL BE FLEETING.
YOU WILL END UP ONLY RENTING IT.
It shouldn’t take 40 MILLION DOLLARS, to launch an “idea” project. If it does, you are starting off way too big. You will be prone to overspending constantly. Why? When you don’t work for, and are suddenly handed, 40 million dollars, you won’t know how to spend it. You didn’t learn the hard-way. It is why lottery winners go broke. You have no idea what is important and what can wait. You will not be able to stretch your budget in times of trouble, nor be able to adjust it, if you face hurdles along the way. You’ll just want more money.
Why are projects repeatedly doing this? More importantly, why is the crypto Community allowing it to happen? Are worthwhile projects so few and far between that hype is being allowed to overtake rationality? Or has it become too hard to identify good projects, because the majority of projects LACK DEMAND. You can’t do shit without demand. If you haven’t built your business FIRST, you have ZERO demand. ZILCH. ZIP. NADA. Unlocking the utility in your business, fosters demand.
Many have put the cart before the horse and created their end-game strategy, first. There is no demand, ZERO, for most of the projects that have been created. The only demand most projects glimpse is solely due to being listed on exchanges. Lacking the basic component of demand cannot be overstated enough.
Since we have covered basic demand, let’s look a little deeper. We have not even touched, yet, on the powerful underlying trait of addiction.
Retail’s Best Kept Secret:
Addictive Emotions Underlying Demand
ACT III, Scene 3
“If you have even the slightest influence of addiction underlying demand, you go from a market sector competitor, to a market sector leader.”
— Jeremy Buse, B.A. Toys®
Have you ever considered the amount of addiction that is involved with shopping? If you believe addiction underlying demand is an over-the-top observation, think again.
The process of shopping & buying has a certain degree of addiction to it. Although the addiction component is not as intense as a hedonistic addiction, nurturant addiction is present none-the-less. There are obviously varying degrees of addiction, but at the root of all demand, there is an undeniable slight tinge of addiction at the very least. It is why subscription-based services exist. It is why memberships exist. It is why automatic order (Dash) buttons exist.
Whether one’s buying experience provides convenience, time savings, cost savings, emotional gratification, or what have you, everyone feels the benefits of shopping, down to the most basic of necessities. If we didn’t, we would not shop. We would simply grow and raise our own food and be content with making our own entertainment. That, however, is not the case. Shopping is expected to top 27 TRILLION DOLLARS (USD) globally in 2020. That is a lot of addictive demand.
Toy shopping is expected to approach 100 BILLION DOLLARS (USD) globally in 2020. B.A. Toys ships globally, we always have. We are consistently better at it than most. Our largest segments of international orders come from Australia and Europe. We have our eye on an even larger chunk of those market sectors.
B.A. Toys’ core customers are fans of: video games, action figures, construction sets, sci-fi, comic book heroes, superhero films, anime & high-end collectibles in general. There are certainly more categories, but each of our customers will hit one of those categories, many will hit multiple.
Although B.A. Toys® has extensive criteria for carrying lines & products, let’s familiarize you with just a few to convey a general sense of our product screening. The “Emphasis on Demand Products with Underlying Addictive Traits”, results in higher demand & collectability,
General
Product & Line Selection
Safety
Quality
Mass Appeal
Limited Productions
High-end Collectibles
Limited Sales Channels
Authentic, Licensed if applicable
Emphasis on Demand Products with Addictive Underlying Traits
(& Example)
Anime (It’s a Lifestyle)
Exploration (Science)
Building (Mega Bloks & Lego)
Binge Watchers (Doctor Who)
Video Game themes (Destiny)
Character specific (Spiderman)
Brand/License specific (Disney/Marvel)
For additional perspective about demand with underlying traits of addiction, simply think about: Gamers, Trekkies, Whovians, Bronies, Crypto Traders, etc… & consider the addictive traits of each. Such traits grant sustained demand & higher collectability profiles.
We will not go into further detail about addiction fortifying demand, due to trade secrets and the fact that our documentation is already long enough. Simply know that it exists and can be DEEPLY studied.
Many projects that have built their actual business, LAST, must speculate how a customer interaction MIGHT go. From our years of experience, we can tell you how a typical interaction WILL go.
B.A. Toys Typical Customer Interaction
Act III, Scene 4
Imagine a customer entering our store, or inquiring through live chat on our website. Toyken has just been unleashed on hundreds of collectible products that have been discontinued…
Customer, “I cannot believe you have that action figure in stock, I must have it! I don’t see a price; How much is it?”
B.A. Toys, “It’s priced. It’s likely just not a standard price you are yet use to seeing. It is collector priced at 8000 Toyken.”
Customer, “Oh, I see that now…. What’s Toyken?”
B.A. Toys, “Toyken is our cryptocurrency for collectibles. Using it automatically makes you a member of B.A. Toys’ Toy Power. Toy Power & Toyken both offer some great benefits.”
Customer, “Interesting. Well, I know what that action figure is worth, how about I just give you 100 bucks for it?” (demand)
B.A. Toys, “Sorry, but a special item such as that deserves its recognition. We cannot take cash for it, we will only accept Toyken. If you’re an active collector & trader, Toyken can also document the custodial chain of your item, which is of great benefit for resale value.”
Customer, “Hmmm… that sounds awesome. Well, I’ll take some Toyken then…(?)”
B.A. Toys, “Great, but you have to get it online, we cannot sell it directly. It’s easy. Here, let’s put the item on hold for you and show you how to get Toyken from the Waves Decentralized Exchange…”
Customer: “Okay let’s do it. I’ve been looking everywhere for that figure, I definitely want it! Plus, I’ve been meaning to figure out this crypto stuff.”
B.A. Toys, “We will be happy to educate you…”
…Sold!
More actually happens here, than just a sale. There is an entire chain of events:
· Toyken acquisition
· Toyken volume increase
· NEW user of cryptocurrency
· New Toy Power Member, powered by Toyken
· A customer that now KNOWS the power of Toyken.
· Documentation of item including historical market value
· Record of custodial changes(ownership) and more through a future version of ToyTrax(future release powered by Toyken, small Toyken fee to update custodial chain)
Our customer will subconsciously place this transaction into an elevated status within their mind and now equate the benefits and power of Toyken with collectibles.
Additionally, the customer will also subconsciously begin associating Toyken with, most importantly, the addictive emotions of : anticipation, elation and exhilaration.
Remember, once B.A. Toys requires Toyken for a specific item, we will NEVER AGAIN sell said item for cash. Before you know it, Toyken is not only used to secure collectibles, Toyken IS collectable.
Chalk up another total buying experience at B.A. Toys!
Did you know?
In the U.S.A., the state of Ohio is working on a plan to accept Bitcoin for tax payments. They want to be the state that “leads the way”.
Here is where I shall end this look at cryptocurrency in retail. I believe it is a fascinating topic of how cryptocurrency will someday permeate every corner of our life. That, however, is a topic for another day. I encourage you to search for more on cryptocurrency in the retail sector, or look for other articles on B.A. Toys, myself or the infamous “Toyken”.
Do you have an experience with or have you implemented cryptocurrency use within your business? If so,please reach out and let me know!
