For more than 30 years, Play It Again Sports in Pacific Beach has struck just the right balance between selling new and used goods serving the sports and recreational needs of the beach communities and beyond.
“It’s about 50-50, we try to balance,” said owner Fred Princen of his new-used retail mix at 1401 Garnet Ave. The store carries literally thousands of individual items including surfboards, skateboards, in-line skates, paddleboards, fitness equipment, golf clubs, snowboards, and bicycles. Play It Again’s inventory offers all the accouterments for seasonal and year-round sports activities of every imaginable type, including relatively new and increasingly popular pickleball. The shop also sells apparel associated with whatever sport or activity customers are interested in.
“The system has always been the same,” pointed out Princen, adding customers have choices when they come in. “People come to trade the old items they’ve outgrown or want to part with,” he said. “We make them three offers based on how much we can sell their item for cash, a trade-in with six-months store credit and consignment, where the item remains the customer’s property until it is sold, and then we do a 50-50 split. I buy back what someone purchases giving the same margin when we buy, 30% to 35% cash back, 40% in trade-in or selling on consignment.”
Princen talked about their biggest-selling item right now in mid-winter. “We are one of the biggest retailers when it comes to snow sports offering something that is good quality at an affordable price,” he said.
One of the biggest challenges Princen has in marketing his store is branding. “People don’t realize how much stuff we have,” he said adding the three Play It Again franchises in San Diego County are individually owned so that “every store is unique.”
Merchandise in Play it Again is compartmentalized and seasonalized, prioritizing those sports and activities that are in season.
Open since 1992, Princen has owned Play It Again for the past nine years. You can be any age to buy in the shop but must be 18 years or older to sell.
In terms of the deals they make with customers, Princen said: “It has to be a balance between the margin we need to make, and how much the person is going to have in return. That’s why we do the three offers.”
Princen noted his shop is good for those starting out in a new sport or activity because it allows them to buy things at a less-expensive entry level to determine whether it is something they wish to pursue further. Or, it can be useful for someone seeking less-expensive non-name brand products of high quality.
Play It Again Sports prides itself on the fairness of the deals it strikes with customers in transactions. “Customers come in and they go, ‘You get all that and at that price?,’ said Princen adding, “So many people say, ‘I didn’t know you handled that.’ Or, ‘You only do used, I’m not sure you have this or that.’”
The successful business model at Play It Again is no secret.
“We get new – or used – that is quality at a price that is affordable with all the choices we have,” said Princen concluding, “We’re the only store around, for example, that you can find that selection of snowboards, or surfboards, at that price.”
PLAY IT AGAIN SPORTS
Where: 1401 Garnet Ave.
Contact: playitagainsportssd.com, 858-490-0222.
