OUR STORY - 2ND CHANCE TOYZ, INC
2nd Chance Toyz, Inc. is a family owned & operated business located in central Maryland that sells, buys, and trades new, used & vintage toys ranging from Alf to Z-Bots plus everything in between. We started our store as a hobby, but after John suffered a heart attack at 29, we wanted to start a business that we could grow old running together. We couldn't do much about what cutting grass and landscaping had done to his health & body from years of hard work, but we could do something about our future.
After spending time at an outdoor flea market for a few months, in September of 2012 we decided to take a leap of faith and opened a weekend store in an indoor flea market in Baltimore MD - North Point Plaza. While there we were blessed with the support we got from the local residents and regular customers during the 3+ years we spent there. While there we learned so much....we learned a lot about running a retail store, we learned about all sorts of different toys....mainly from our young customers that search online for every bit of information they can find about what they collect, but mainly....we learned how AWESOME toy collectors are!!
We started out by selling everything we could get a hold of, and make a profit. Then, by early 2013 we were ready to focus on our 1st love.....toys. We moved to a more popular area within the market and reconfigured our layout to sell all sorts of toys. Within a few months we had become well known and found that more & more people wanted to sell or trade their collections to us. We also discovered that not only was there tons of collectors and toy lovers in the local area, but that a true toy collector will travel for a rare G1 Transformers weapon to complete their Soundwave. We were also a great source for anyone looking for a last minute gift or to find their kid the latest wrestler that was just released. We also encouraged our customers, especially the young ones, to bring in their toys that they no longer played with, or out grew. They learned that not all toys needed to come new off the shelf for it to be awesome, and some kids were able to bring in used toys & walk out with a new in box toy. We really grew while there including an addition to the family that was expected to arrive on the most appropriate date.....Christmas Day! After spending a year bringing our newborn to work every weekend, we had out grown our spot and decided to open a full time brick & mortar store closer to our home. For the next year we ran 2 locations to make sure we could get our store to the place where we felt confident enough to close our booth at the market. The biggest challenge was figuring out how to leave behind so many awesome people we had formed relationships with. We are lucky enough to have so many awesome customers, that many still travel, even by MTA, to see our stock of vintage toys, dig through our Lego bins or bring us toys & collectibles to sell us to add to our ever changing inventory.
Now, after a 16 year run with our landscaping company, we are ready to focus solely on growing our store. This includes selling items in our eBay store stores.ebay.com/2ndchancetoyz. Currently we only buy or trade by appointment only see: WHAT DO WE BUY/TRADE? Since opening our doors April 3, 2015, the support from the toy community has been overwhelming. We would rather buy your gently used toys than taking up more space in landfills. It's upsetting to hear about the amount of people who throw thousands of dollars a year away on toys that are no longer loved, or video games that have been replaced with the newest edition, yet there's nothing really wrong with it. Instead of filling landfills or leaving them not knowing where they will end up, bring them to us. You may get a few bucks cash or store credit towards something new, either way, everyone wins.
We do have customers from toddler up....we thrive to keep our store family friendly, and non stressful to parents. As parents ourselves we understand little hands. We keep high end or breakables up high. For those small hands, and big ones....we have bins of misc. toys and cars $.50 ea. For the "bigger kids", we have lots of loose toys such as action figures, Transfomers, Star Wars, GI Joe, POPS, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, plus so much more. For our customers convenience we accept - VISA, MC, AMEX & PayPal. We would love for you to stop by, check out our toys, and share info and stories of everyone's favorite toys being sold at a yard sale, or given to a now understandably disliked relative, lol!!! Don't worry....we are here to help you complete your collection, start out a rookie collector or just need a present for someone special. If you want to sell us toys, or trade with us, please setup an appointment to either bring items to the store, or have John stop by to see what you have.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT WE BUY......SEE WHAT DO WE BUY/TRADE?
After spending time at an outdoor flea market for a few months, in September of 2012 we decided to take a leap of faith and opened a weekend store in an indoor flea market in Baltimore MD - North Point Plaza. While there we were blessed with the support we got from the local residents and regular customers during the 3+ years we spent there. While there we learned so much....we learned a lot about running a retail store, we learned about all sorts of different toys....mainly from our young customers that search online for every bit of information they can find about what they collect, but mainly....we learned how AWESOME toy collectors are!!
We started out by selling everything we could get a hold of, and make a profit. Then, by early 2013 we were ready to focus on our 1st love.....toys. We moved to a more popular area within the market and reconfigured our layout to sell all sorts of toys. Within a few months we had become well known and found that more & more people wanted to sell or trade their collections to us. We also discovered that not only was there tons of collectors and toy lovers in the local area, but that a true toy collector will travel for a rare G1 Transformers weapon to complete their Soundwave. We were also a great source for anyone looking for a last minute gift or to find their kid the latest wrestler that was just released. We also encouraged our customers, especially the young ones, to bring in their toys that they no longer played with, or out grew. They learned that not all toys needed to come new off the shelf for it to be awesome, and some kids were able to bring in used toys & walk out with a new in box toy. We really grew while there including an addition to the family that was expected to arrive on the most appropriate date.....Christmas Day! After spending a year bringing our newborn to work every weekend, we had out grown our spot and decided to open a full time brick & mortar store closer to our home. For the next year we ran 2 locations to make sure we could get our store to the place where we felt confident enough to close our booth at the market. The biggest challenge was figuring out how to leave behind so many awesome people we had formed relationships with. We are lucky enough to have so many awesome customers, that many still travel, even by MTA, to see our stock of vintage toys, dig through our Lego bins or bring us toys & collectibles to sell us to add to our ever changing inventory.
Now, after a 16 year run with our landscaping company, we are ready to focus solely on growing our store. This includes selling items in our eBay store stores.ebay.com/2ndchancetoyz. Currently we only buy or trade by appointment only see: WHAT DO WE BUY/TRADE? Since opening our doors April 3, 2015, the support from the toy community has been overwhelming. We would rather buy your gently used toys than taking up more space in landfills. It's upsetting to hear about the amount of people who throw thousands of dollars a year away on toys that are no longer loved, or video games that have been replaced with the newest edition, yet there's nothing really wrong with it. Instead of filling landfills or leaving them not knowing where they will end up, bring them to us. You may get a few bucks cash or store credit towards something new, either way, everyone wins.
We do have customers from toddler up....we thrive to keep our store family friendly, and non stressful to parents. As parents ourselves we understand little hands. We keep high end or breakables up high. For those small hands, and big ones....we have bins of misc. toys and cars $.50 ea. For the "bigger kids", we have lots of loose toys such as action figures, Transfomers, Star Wars, GI Joe, POPS, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, plus so much more. For our customers convenience we accept - VISA, MC, AMEX & PayPal. We would love for you to stop by, check out our toys, and share info and stories of everyone's favorite toys being sold at a yard sale, or given to a now understandably disliked relative, lol!!! Don't worry....we are here to help you complete your collection, start out a rookie collector or just need a present for someone special. If you want to sell us toys, or trade with us, please setup an appointment to either bring items to the store, or have John stop by to see what you have.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT WE BUY......SEE WHAT DO WE BUY/TRADE?