The Beginning of Quest Collectibles

As with life, most good things happen by accident. The same can be said for how Quest Collectibles became a company. It started because I was a collector of old-school “DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®” or “D&D®” games and books and “MAGIC THE GATHERING®” collectible trading cards. My hobby of searching garage and estate sales spawned the idea: “I could turn this into a business.”

Amanda, my fiancé at the time, was enjoying shopping the Saturday garage sales with me. However, it quickly became obvious how much money I was spending on games every weekend. I thought how could I avoid the “proverbial doghouse” with her? Then I came up with a clever plan. I proposed we could buy other collectible items with the intention of selling them on eBay, and that these sales would more than cover my expenses buying D&D and MAGIC items. Her response was a reserved; “Yes.”

It made a lot of sense. We were already buying items for myself; why not at the same time buy items others would want. Execution of our plan began smoothly, however, a problem we did not foresee. All of our purchased items needed storage. More space than we realized. Our two-bedroom, 1,100 square-foot home was not enough for the on-coming tsunami of collectibles toys, comics, books, games, and a plethora of other pop-culture items. At first our treasures were contained within the garage. Soon however, we filled all the space there. Then the spare bedroom was converted into a warehouse with one large industrial-sized rack. That worked for about a month. Then, all the extra bins, tubs, and boxes began over-flowing into the rest of the house. The kitchen, living room, and every nook and cranny we could find was being filled. We reached critical mass, there was no more space!

Then what; what could be done? And soon we formed a shared mantra; “We needed our home back!”

This was in 2017, so we thought like entrepreneurs and decided it was time to manage our business venture correctly. At that time, Amanda was working full-time for a child-care company and that proved not to be a positive, nor healthy work environment. We discussed the options: her continuing to work at a place that treated their employees badly, or to become an entrepreneur. She took the leap of faith and walked away from the path of being a teacher. This was not easy for her, as she had studied for four-years to become a teacher and she loved working with kids. It takes courage to examine oneself and make such a bold decision and to walk away from something she for which she had such a passion.

We invented a name for our business, registered the company, and formulated a business plan. First, we needed an office space! Within a week, a lease for a 750 square-foot office was signed and we could finally move out all the shelves, boxes, totes, and bins. The entire move was completed in just one weekend and at last our house became our home again!

Those first three years of our business are now what we call the “Formative Years.” Every entrepreneur knows of this growing pain. We focused on building the business, and re-investing all of the profits (and owner contributions) back into Quest Collectibles. We needed to build the infra-structure (racks, shelves, computers, printers, tools, specialized gear, and more) and create the processes necessary to allow our venture to grow and gain longevity.

As with other new businesses, we also said that with the conclusion of fiscal 2019; “With the start of a new decade, 2020 will be our year!” We were poised to finally have a profitable year after the first three years of building our business from the ground up. Then the pandemic arrived, and we were sidelined from the usual weekends of buying product at garage and estate sales. It was no longer safe to travel and visit dozens of locations coming into contact with hundreds of people every weekend. With this our story became no different than every small and large business impacted by this pandemic. Times looked bleak at first, but we were determined to survive this crippling economic disaster. We have always tried to run lean and keep our expenses low, and this mind-set allowed us to go into “turtle-mode” and conserve our cash reserves. We feel sad for so many businesses who did not, or will not, re-open their doors. It is heart-breaking to see so many hard-working people, who believed in their dreams only to have them shattered by forces beyond their control. Our thoughts are with you, and we can only hope that you too will find a way to pick yourself up and move past these challenges. Find it within yourself to not to quit. Never give up! Believe in yourself, and you will find that others will too.

Closing Thoughts

This then is Quest Collectible’s tale. You now know the first four chapters of Quest Collectible’s story. It has been a difficult and challenging time, but through it all we have become stronger. We can say with all sincerity and thankfulness to family, friends, and clients who have supported us—it matters, you matter!

As we put 2020 behind us, and enter a new year; Amanda and I would like to say to all:

“This year, 2021, will be the break-out year for Quest Collectibles!”

Thank you for your continued patronage.