Toy collector turns hobby into business venture

His love for collectors’ item action figures gave birth to a good business concept of selling  imported products at low prices for the Cebuano market.

Francis Sy has always been fascinated by action figures like Star Wars characters and made it his hobby.

The hobby however became a viable business concept as he noticed some people also enjoyed collecting them.

“I started with a business selling collectors’ items in Manila in 2009 in Greenhills, but the competition with fake items proved very challenging,” Sy said.

Cebu’s fast economic growth gave Sy, who is a Cebuano based in Holy Family Subdivision in barangay Banilad, Cebu City, an opportunity to bring his concept to Cebu.

With Cebuanos now having more disposable income, Sy said a business selling collectors’ items would be a good business venture as more people would buy his products as personal collection or for gifts to their loved ones.

Sy decided to set up a shop in an empty lot just right at the entrance gate of the subdivision he lived in instead of locating in a mall like what he did in Manila.

“I rented the lot and decided to build a small warehouse type shop where I can have an ample space for my stocks,” he said.

With an initial investment of P1 million, Sy then opened Port One in a 100 square meters warehouse shop in Holy Family Subdivision.

Sy’s US-based sister helps him to find good buys that he can sell in the shop.

“She shops for us or we also do it ourselves. We usually shop for those brands with good quality but are still not available here in Cebu. We got them usually on sale which is why we can sell them here at even half the retail price,” Sy said.

From only collectible action figures, Sy now has in his stocks some apparel lines, shoes for men and women, children’s footwear, bags, watches, toys, personal care products, products for the athletes like running shoes and gears.

Sy said that he and his wife, Christine, usually would look at the trends in Cebu and try to find products abroad that go with the trend.

“We have brands like El Hardy, Stacy Adams, Steve Maden, Saucony, Trim Step, Circo, Cherokee apparels, watches’ brands like Geneva and more that are still not available here but are already very popular abroad,” he said.

Sy assures buyers value for their money when they buy from his shop and assured them of his products’ quality and authenticity.

“We have products here for him and her and for the little kids that are perfect for gifts. You can buy items here as low as P300 to P500. Our shoes’ average price is at P2,000. We also have expensive items especially with the toys but they are also priced way lower than their original prices if you buy them from the mall,” said Christine Sy.

“While we want to grow the business and make it more known to other people, we try to go away from locating in a mall because if we do, we may end up selling at more expensive prices which defeats our purpose to give the best value for money items.”

Sy said that every month they stock up new items to keep their inventory updated with the latest products abroad.

The shop opens daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

For their plans, Sy said that they hope to grow the shop and establish a system which they can soon duplicate in another location in Manila.

“This time, I will not be locating in a mall where I have to compete with fake products. We are currently on the look out for a similar location in Manila for our expansion,” Sy said.

They have also started with a couple of consignments now which they hope to help them with the networking and making their shop known by many even through word of mouth.

“We have a handful of constant buyers already who always visit our place to shop. We also accept wholesale purchasing here,” Sy said.