Seller Spotlight | The Gamesmen
From market stall to marketplace: How The Gamesmen have embraced the digital age with eBay
The story of The Gamesmen begins with a Nintendo Donkey Kong Game & Watch. Hooked on the console for hours at end, Angelo Cusumano Snr and his business partner figured that if they were, others would be too. From here their business idea was born and in 1982 they began operating out of market stalls in Sydney and Canberra selling Game & Watch consoles and tabletop games. As the business grew they opened their first storefront on Bonds Road in Riverwood before moving to their current Forest Road Penshurst location.
From Humble Beginnings
Continuing their father’s legacy, brothers, Daniel and Chris Cusumano and sister Deanna Cusumano have led The Gamesmen through changing times and into a digital age. It was 2011 when they first came onto eBay as a business - taking their own photos, writing their own descriptions, manually managing their own inventory. Soon there was demand for hundreds of orders and with their own site growing simultaneously the business underwent an integration process across their channels. Nine years later, The Gamesmen is thriving both on and offline, selling an incredible 250 000 items in 2019.
So why eBay?
Daniel attributes the choice to the genuine sense of partnership; there’s no need to compete against the house - the more you sell, the better it is for everyone involved. With 20 years in Australia eBay is trusted and secure. He explains that although the fees may initially seem expensive, when you weigh them up against the cost of building your own site along with marketing and advertising costs, running an eBay store is surprisingly cheap.
“I think it’s a great starting platform; if you have a good business model eBay will help with the traffic they get every year, or even every day, and assist with moving volumes and setting up online processes needed. If you can’t make it work on eBay I highly doubt you can make it work on any other site.”
From Seller to Seller
His advice to sellers hoping to scale their business on eBay is to be invested in the product and take the time to research and understand the competition. A competitive price doesn’t need to be the lowest price and if your range is strong, your price is competitive, and your delivery is fast there is no reason not to be successful on the platform.