Munich Startup: Who are you and what do you do?
Armin Hierstetter: Retroplace.com, that's Christian Corre, 43, and me, Armin Hierstetter, 50. We founded Retroplace – your marketplace for video and computer games – in 2018. On Retroplace, every user can buy and sell games, accessories, strategy guides, soundtracks, etc. – whether brand new or 50 years old.
We also offer ambitious gamers and collectors free collection management and one of the world's best game databases with around 140,000 games for more than 150 consoles and computers.
Christian came up with the idea (who, incidentally, owned one of Munich's hottest video game stores, "Nippondreams," for over a decade). But since he has zero programming skills, he asked me if I wanted to join in. I was. The beginning of a wonderful friendship... but we're digressing...
“On Retroplace you can list your game in less than a minute”
Munich Startup: What problem does your startup solve?
Christian Corre: You would think it would be different, but: Before us, there was no dedicated marketplace for video games. Worldwide. We are the first and so far only marketplace exclusively for video games.
We wanted to create a marketplace, the kind I missed before. That's why we also added collection management on top. And the awesome database.
Munich Startup: Marketplace for video games? Really? That's a great idea. Did Amazon and eBay somehow go bankrupt or something?
Armin Hierstetter: Ha ha. Very funny... But seriously: Amazon charges a 15 percent commission plus €0.81 for each item sold. That's easily a total of 25 percent commission or more – especially for cheaper used games! "Far too expensive!" we thought. There's definitely a cheaper and better way to do this. We charge 7 percent, with no additional fees or other hidden costs.
Also, listing items on eBay and Amazon is extremely cumbersome and takes forever. On Retroplace, you can list your game in less than a minute. And that's not just a joke; it works exactly like that.
Christian Corre: We're just as proud of our collection management: We were the first website ever to integrate a barcode scanner as a web app, allowing users to quickly scan their games into their collection. Simply on the website. With your phone. Without having to download an app. We're still pioneers in this area today.
“We know we have by far the best product out there”
Munich Startup: What have been your three biggest challenges so far?
Armin Hierstetter: To make the platform "insanely great," we needed a database with virtually every game ever released. Only if Retroplace knows all the games can it save the owner the work of entering all the details of the game when selling it. It took over a year to research all of this, but the effort was worth it: Retroplace has one of the best and most complete video game databases in the world, which is constantly being updated with new releases. Many users also help us correct errors in data records and create new releases. The community works brilliantly!
Christian Corre: Getting known is, of course, a huge challenge for a platform like ours. Especially when you don't have a large marketing budget due to a lack of investors. We know that we have by far the best product out there, but we also have to make sure that we get this message across. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. Despite the unbroken retro hype, we haven't really been able to convince the press, for example, to write anything about us, even though we're really sexy. Okay, Armin, less so. But Retroplace as Startup is pretty hot...
Armin Hierstetter: It's not just the retro wave we're riding. You can sell anything on Retroplace these days, including brand-new games, new accessories, and so on. But we did think that we'd find more of a welcome response from editorial staff. It only worked out occasionally with trade magazines – it hasn't been a topic for the general press yet. Maybe we're just too small?!
“We are not very well connected”
Munich Startup: Speaking of small: How are things going?
Christian Corre: The marketplace went online in mid-2018, and as of today, Retroplace handles approximately 1,000 orders per month, with sellers generating a total of approximately €30,000 in sales with us per month.
Armin Hierstetter: And while that sounds nice, the potential is vastly greater! And even then, we're only talking about Germany. Retroplace is already available in five languages (German, English, Italian, French, and Spanish), but we're currently focusing on the German market. There's still a lot of potential!
Munich Startup: How do you rate Munich as a startup location?
Armin Hierstetter: So without a beer garden – that would be tough…
Christian Corre: Where we still have little involvement and aren't well connected is the Munich startup scene. We're neglecting secondhand experiences, both good and bad. Yet there are truly many good opportunities for exchange. We need to improve...
Munich Startup: N64 or first Playstation?
Armin Hierstetter: What a stupid question: PlayStation of course!
Christian Corre: What an idiotic question: N64 of course!
