Summoner's Deck | Re-Branding and Re-Launching Our Online Shop Journey

Hello and Welcome!

Thank you for joining us if you've come this far - as you've likely noticed from our various social accounts - ChocoboJoeTCG has re-branded into Summoner's Deck!

In case you missed it in the video - I initially started out using my gamertag as a name to operate under as I started learning the ropes and began studying the TCG markets. I treated it as a sort of trial run while deciding whether or not this was really an endeavor I wanted to pursue.

It's been around 8 months now since I started making content and building up a small business around trading cards. While not on as grand a scope as someone who's been doing this for years, I've had a few ups and downs and got some perspective on the market and the place I want to have in it. I can say with confidence that I'll continue investing my time, energy, and efforts into seeing the business grow. It's also just fun to be managing things and seeing the successes and failures that come along with the growth.

With all of that in mind, I decided that my gamertag would no longer work as a name for the business itself - it's personal to me and will continue to be my social tag, but it's too ambiguous to use as a business name. After a good deal of brainstorming (and some terrible ideas), I came up with Summoner's Deck - the idea being that, if I randomly saw the name on a banner, I would assume that the store sold trading cards, games, and collectibles. 

Additionally, I've started designing and 3D printing products to sell alongside the the trading cards. The majority of cards will be sold on TCGPlayer and eBay with 3D Prints and featured cards here on the website - links will help direct traffic to the other sites while Summoner's Deck gets situated.

Along with changing the name and color palette, I'm working on theme music to use consistently, rather than using random tracks off the internet (and paying a sound library for it every month - keeping expenses down has to be a priority!). I'm a hobby musician so I'll finally get to put those instruments to good use. 

I haven't been posting to Instagram lately and the few posts I've made have already begun to shift over to covering the business itself rather than focusing on opening packs. It was a good way to kick things off (and, let's be honest, ripping packs is fun and addicting!) but ultimately it wasn't a great way to gain sales. I'll need to begin kicking out new content sooner or later to help communicate changes and get some feedback on how the directional pivots are being received.

So, I'm shifting over to a long-term view and looking for ways to continue to grow the business. This blog is a part of it. I may begin posting news and market updates on a separate page.