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| Section Menu | SuperThrift Online | About the Book | The Promotional Campaign | Radio Shorts (mp3) |
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| The deal: too good to be true |
One of the standard common-sense recommendations in self-publishing manuals is to sell excerpts from the book, certainly for the cash but just as importantly, and sometimes moreso, for the mention you'll get of your book in the "about" tail at the end of the article which explains why you're qualified to write and publish it and introduces you to the reader.
I didn't sell any excerpts. I thought I had opportunities briefly with a couple of Canadian householder magazines, but they didn't pan out. What I did manage was a flat exchange - my copy for free ad space and no cash - which was astonishing both for the value I got for my copy and for the incredible lack of response that the publisher got from the copy...and that I got in terms of book sales. It was an incredible flop.
Having a published work and several media spots under my belt made me a recognized authority in my chosen field, a shaky title I had every intention of exploiting to the max. One deal I worked was with the publisher of a local shop'n'swap free classified ad sheet called The Buy & Sell, specifically the Toronto edition, the flagship of this now-nationwide swap'n'shop chain.
In return for a free weekly feature aimed directly at their readership, I asked for a blurb or advertising space. I had hoped for the blurbs listed below to be tagged onto the end of the articles I wrote, (which were all finished in a lazy day and a half) and if possible to have them stock my book in their offices.
I was also prepared to give them a no-charge endorsement in return for their selling my book. I even wrote exclusive scripts based on my radio series as free promotion for the paper, hoping they'd use me as a radio or TV endorsee.
I didn't quite get that far. Instead, these newcomers to exchange advertising gave me a weekly 4"x7" ad the same size as my column! It was like having $200 a week of advertising for columns that took less than an hour each to prepare.
The ad was never on the same page as the column, though and the campaign was a flop. And while the publisher had hoped it would boost readership, there was no way to be sure anyone was reading the column at all because it was published between the sheet's reader surveys.
The deal lasted all of six weeks before the publisher pulled out. In all that time, I think I sold all of three copies of the book through the mail-order ad, and store sales in Toronto didn't show any kind of positive upsurge.
The publisher - there was no editor, since editorial copy wasn't part of the paper then and still isn't - told me he'd canned the series mainly because it wasn't pulling in book orders for me. I couldn't even convince him to carry the remaining unpublished columns with just a blurb at the end telling readers that the book was at their local bookstore.
As dismal as sales were, it wasn't a good match. Readers weren't mail-order type shoppers; they were in-person shoppers. There was a chance it could have worked, but it would have required him to venture into an area that I don't think he wanted to get into: the same area that television stations enter when they want to share in the profits from those late-night infomercials. I believe that if his telephone clerks could have taken orders for the book, instead of forcing the reader to use a mail coupon or go to a store, we both might have made some worthwhile coin from this arrangement.
It was a terrible arrangement for me - he lost nothing; the space I got would have gone to in-house advertising anyhow - but the opportunity was there. The market was worth spending a full day developing a pitch and the material I'd need to back it up, and there is a host of other markets and magazine classes where this could work quite well with a non-fiction title.
| The ad |
Here's the ad that actually ran in The Buy & Sell. I consider it one of the best pieces of direct-mail copy that I ever created., if not the best. The lack of an actual clipping takes a lot from the appearance, but if you understand direct-mail copy, and the era in which it was written, you'll appreciate how good a job this was.
Under normal circumstances, I would have settled for an exchange of my copy for an ad - or batch of mini-ads - one-sixth this size.
| Other aspects of the pitch |
Blurb for no direct sales: (included at end of each feature)
Steve Winter is a writer, broadcaster and author of The Ultimate Shopper: How to Save Maximum Money with Minimum Hassle on Almost Everything You Buy (Living Skill Books, $9.95), available at better bookstores everywhere. He also conducts free consumer workshops in the Toronto area; call 555-5555 for details.
Blurb for direct sales: (included at end of each feature)
The Ultimate Shopper: How to Save Maximum Money with Minimum Hassle by Steve Winter is a guide to effortless savings on everything from supermarket shopping to home entertainment and secondhand goods, moneyback guaranteed to save you at least $500 in the next year. Order yours by calling the Buy & Sell at 555-5555 or pick up your copy at our offices.
Radio script idea; intended for Friday broadcast
Hi, this is Steve Winter, author of THE ULTIMATE SHOPPER, with a few tips on buying secondhand.
First of all, when you're reading the classifieds, get to know how phone numbers relate to certain areas of the city. You might not want to travel from Malton to West Hill just on a lark, and you'll save yourself a phone call.
Second, try to do most of your negotiating over the phone. If the seller says he's firm, don't make a trip to see the item assuming you can talk him down another 30 percent.
Third, if you want the biggest selection and the best, I mean the BEST bargains in the secondhand marketplace, pick up a copy of the Buy & Sell. Whether you're in the market for a car, a guitar or a stand-up bar, you'll find more selection in the Buy & Sell than in every other paper in Metro combined. And every classified ad includes a price, so half your work is already done.
Look for the Buy & Sell at your newsstand every Friday, and remember, the sooner you buy it, the better your chances of picking up the best bargains.
You might feel strange about paying just to read advertising, but two hundred thousand readers every week know how much that small investment saves them, because the Buy & Sell's best bargains just won't show up in other papers.
I've been buying through the Buy & Sell for years, and they're not paying me to tell you that it's Metro's best secondhand marketplace.
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Radio script idea; intended for Monday broadcast
Hi, this is Steve Winter, author of THE ULTIMATE SHOPPER, with a few tips on selling secondhand.
First of all, no matter what the advertised price might be, always leave yourself room for negotiation. Secondhand buyers are used to being able to negotiate, and you don't want to seem too determined to get a firm price.
Second, give the buyer as much information as you can over the phone. That way, if he's not interested, you'll save both of you the trouble of setting an appointment to see the article.
Third, if you want to reach buyers and not browsers, advertise in the Buy and Sell. I firmly believe it's the best classified marketplace in Toronto, both for buyers AND sellers. You'll find the biggest collection of secondhand goods in Toronto, and you can get two full weeks of bold advertising for what it might cost you for a single day in one of the daily newspapers.
And nobody reads the classifieds as carefully as the 200,000 readers who pay just to read your ad.
If you'd like to learn more about the Buy & Sell's classified marketplace, call 555-5555 (today/right now). You cannot reach any better audience than you'll find in the Buy & Sell, and they're not paying me to say that. Call now and tell 'em Steve sent you. They'll probably reply "Steve Who?"
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THE FEATURES
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SECONDHAND BUYING -----------------------------------
We are due for a boom in secondhand buying and selling the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Great Depression. I predict that by the end of the century practically everyone will be comfortable with the notion of buying secondhand goods, and it will replace "keeping up with the Joneses" as a new form of one-upmanship.
There are two factors at play here. The first is the rapid growth of technological development. Let's face it. No one can possibly keep up with the state-of-the-art in everything, and it's probably foolish to try. The less affluent among us will probably have to choose between buying the economy model of the latest thing or what was last year's state-of-the-art. The latter is becoming an increasingly popular choice, and it offers a genuine opportunity to get better quality and longer life at a lower cost, even when comparing the used item with a similarly-featured new item.
The reason for this is manufacturing quality pure and simple. Last year's state-of-the-art was probably made by a well-known firm with a strong reputation for quality and durability. This year they're making something brand new, while lesser-known manufacturers known more for low price than durability are only now incorporating last year's technology.
Which would you rather buy? Last year's Premium Whatsis, or this year's Budget Import Thingee? In most cases, knowledgeable consumers will choose the previously-owned Premium model.
The second factor is one we're all beginning to feel. Our standard of living is falling, and there's no end in sight to the slide. We're all going to have to learn how to get by on a little bit less, and that's going to be a painful transition.
The alternative is buying goods secondhand which we once bought new as a matter of course. A large number of people who have already seen their standard of living drop are learning the skills needed to buy secondhand, and in many cases these skills can help them maintain the same standard of living on a lower real income.
In any case, I believe the trend toward secondhand buying is already established, and the sooner we learn to take advantage of this trend, the better off we'll all be.
--30--
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CURBERS -------
Curbers are the true entrepreneurs of the secondhand selling game. Buy'n'swap newspapers offering free ads tend to dislike their activities unless they're purchasing paid advertising, and their prices tend to be slightly higher than you'll pay from most private sellers.
But a great many people find it handy to have the numbers of a few curbers tucked away in their phone books. In a pinch they can be a real blessing.
The term "curber" essentially describes someone who buys old cars and resells them perhaps after fixing them up, and makes a profit. Most people who buy used cars from private sellers have run across a curber.
The problem with curbers is that they usually sell things they haven't used for any length of time. They don't always know an item's faults, and more disreputable ones wouldn't reveal its defects even if they did know.
Curbers come in all shapes and sizes. I personally know curbers who deal in musical instruments, golf clubs, Volkswagen Beetle's, construction supplies (a handy source if you ever need a two-by-four on a Sunday afternoon), stereo equipment, photographic gear and computers. I've bought from a few, but I find their true value to me is as a "deep throat".
If I happen to need a particularly hard-to-find item, I usually call my curber before anyone else. Chances are he won't have it, but more often than not he knows someone who does and will gladly reveal the name and number for a small finder's fee, which is only fair.
And as a semi-regular customer, I have no qualms about calling my curber for maintenance information on something I own. He's usually glad to give it if I don't mind listening to him rhyme off everything he happens to have in stock at the time.
I may be the exception, though. Most of the people I know who regularly buy secondhand hate curbers with a passion.
If you'd rather avoid curbers althogether, there is one faultless giveaway that the person you're talking to is in fact a curber. If you're not interested in the item you originally called about, a good curber will always try to sell you something else.
--30--
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DEAR READER: YOU'RE PART OF A TREND -----------------------------------
Those heavy-duty Yonge-Eglinton market researchers tend to have a pretty good handle on our likes and dislikes. But they're missing out on a major trend, and frankly, they don't care because there's no money in it for them.
You and I, readers of the Buy & Sell, are part of that trend. And while we probably don't wear more than our share of hand-painted Queen St. t-shirts or possess an above-average number of valueless Ph.D.'s, we can fairly announce our trendiness long before Statistics Canada, probably the only group that cares about us, writes us up in some 500 page Commission report.
The trend is toward secondhand buying and selling. It's a trend that's going to continue, and it will play a major part in all our lives before the end of the century. No, I can't back this statement up with proof. But I can back it up with other trends.
Trend No. 1: Our standard of living is declining, with no end in sight. Make no mistake, this is a hard fact of life. Fewer and fewer of us can afford all the little luxuries we'd like, and secondhand buying is just about the only way most of us can afford even the most basic luxuries.
Trend No. 2: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. And because there are always so many people moving up the income ladder, people who must have the status symbols of their jobs and incomes, they're always buying the New Improved Model. But they too feel the pinch of a declining standard of living, and more and more of these people are choosing to sell their used goods privately rather than take the pittance they often get when trading up. This helps create an increasing supply of goods for the secondhand market.
Trend No. 3: It's no longer fashionable to brag about how much you paid for something. You'll get more invitations to parties today with your story about the $25 garage sale piano you "stole" than you will for being the new owner of an $8,000 Heintzman. Then again, that might not be the case if you offered to bring your Heintzman to the party.
Trend No. 4: Technology is improving far too quickly for any but the most affluent to keep up. Still, we all like to keep up to date on one or two of our major hobbies, and in order to do so we must constantly upgrade. This provides more product for the secondhand marketplace, product which those less fanatic about our hobby will be happy to gobble up.
The trends mesh like a good marriage. And they're there to be exploited by all of us. But we frequently neglect the fact that just as we require skills at the supermarket, we need skills in the secondhand marketplace as well.
Over the next few weeks, I'll try to give you a few hints on how to pick your way through this minefield with as little wallet damage as possible. After all, the real heart of trendiness is not so much what you do, but how you do it.
--30--
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SECOND-HAND AFFLUENCE ---------------------
Expert secondhand shoppers always live in fear of the Dreaded Tax Audit. And with good reason. Revenue Canada is always suspicious of people who look like they're living better than they can afford. When you reach the point where you can recognize a truly great bargain and jump on it before everyone else even knows what day it is, you quickly find yourself much more comfortable than that jealous couple down the street think you deserve. And that's suspicious. Enter the tax people.
The first stumbling block is purely mental. You have to get comfortable with the idea of owning something that was once touched, fondled and maintained by a stranger.
And yet this is probably the last thing on our minds when we buy a used car. We'll plop our behinds and stick our fingers and hands in the same places as the former owner without batting an eyelash. We'll entrust our very lives to the care of the previous owner's attention to maintenance. Come to think of it, I'm a little sorry I even brought it up!
Others balk at secondhand buying because they don't see it as time- efficient, what with all those phone calls and travelling to see one-of-a- kind items they might not even like. And yet these people will spend hours in the malls and down on Yonge Street hunting for the best buy on that Danish Modern bookmark storage rack. The simple fact is that the smarter you are as a shopper, the more you save and the less time you need to do it, and that applies as much to secondhand shopping as it does to the retail marketplace.
These people don't consider secondhand shopping to be cost-effective either, which must be cause for no end of amusement to the chap who drove 45 miles to 'steal' their two-year-old Nakimutsu stereo system for a measly $300. Insecurity and paranoia can be enormous advantages in the corporate climb, and the skills learned at work spill over into home life. The rising elite don't trust sellers of secondhand goods, they don't trust their own judgement until they've thoroughly researched the options and created a committee paper on their prospective purchase, and they are sore afraid of the humiliation of having made a bad deal.
What they don't realize is that the same skills which make one a good retail shopper also make a good secondhand shopper. Shoddy new goods could have half the life of quality used goods and sell for twice the price, and an informed shopper knows the difference. There's not much difference between new and like-new except price and a few tiny blemishes to which you'll add your own soon enough, because everything looks slightly used once it's been in your home for a few months.
So let those jealous folk call the tax people on you. You may be too poor to buy anything but secondhand goods, but hey, where I come from it's only the affluent who ever get to brag about a tax audit.
--30--
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SECONDHAND RULES OF THUMB -------------------------
There are no real hard and fast rules in secondhand shopping. But for smart secondhand shopping, it helps to have a few solid guidelines or rules of thumb. Here are the guidelines I set for myself.
My first rule of thumb is one which is very hard to follow, human nature being the unpredictable thing that it is. This rule states that I never pay more for anything than I can get for it later by reselling it, and if I do have to take a loss, I make it the smallest loss possible.
It sounds obvious, but if you ever bought a $100 manual typewriter and tried to sell it later for what you paid, especially with the low prices on brand-new electronic typewriters and used IBM Selectrics going for under $100, you know exactly what I mean. For this reason I try to buy for substantially less than I figure I'll get on resale, and more often than not, if I'm patient I'll find the deal I'm after.
The second rule stems from the first. I've never been greedy (well, let's say instead that I've never been exceptionally greedy), but I always have a long list of things that I want. This list is kept in written form, and beside each item is a price which I figure would be a steal. When I find an item on that list at less than "steal" price, I buy, whether I need it at the moment or not. Frequently this item will need a companion piece to work properly, just as a computer needs a monitor and a CD player needs an amplifier. But the money I save buying this first component often allows me to set a slightly higher budget for the companion piece. And I find a surprisingly large number of items on my want list at prices far below even my "steal" price.
The third rule is another which many people will find hard to live with. If I want something this week and I see a price that I'll not likely see again on something else I want less, I buy the super-bargain over the thing I want most. Chances are good that this less-needed item would have been upgraded to a necessity in due time anyway, and once again the savings made here allows me more flexibility on higher-priority items. This extra flexibility can either mean that I'm able to buy a better quality of item than I'd previously budgetted, or it could mean that I can set my "steal" price higher so I don't have to wait as long to own it.
My fourth rule is a risky one, but it works for me more often than not. If I have a definite need for something and I don't see a great buy on it right away, I won't buy an okay bargain just to be on the safe side. I'll wait until the very last moment, and if I haven't found something by then, I'll settle for what's available at the time. Sometimes I wind up paying too much for a certain article, but more often than not I'll find it in the meantime for much less than I expected to pay, and there are few better feelings than knowing you paid less than you expected to pay.
The fifth rule is that I never make appointments to buy on Fridays unless the item I'm after is extremely cheap or rare enough that I know I have to grab it immediately or lose the deal to someone else. All too often I've bought on Friday and seen the same item on Saturday morning at a garage sale for a third what I paid.
The sixth rule is that if I buy on impulse and it turns out to be a bad purchase, all evidence of this bad decision is destroyed immediately and my secretary disavows all knowledge of my actions. After all, I've got a certain image to uphold. (I swear it; I never bought a 1974 Dodge with a broken transmission. Or a Foster tape deck with the left channel gone. Or a VIC-20 computer with a bad video connector. Or ten cases of expired vitamin C. Or....)
--30--
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I'D RATHER BE GARAGE SAILING ----------------------------
Several years ago, you'd find my friends and I wasting our Saturdays inventing pollution control devices, finding cures for cancer and generally getting into all kinds of other trouble. But in recent years we've discovered a nobler, more rewarding pursuit: the Quest for the Perfect Garage Sale.
The garage sale is the Holy Grail of bargain hunting, as any serious garage saler will tell you. Finding wanted items at garage sale prices provides a thrill of surprise and a sense of gamesmanship you simply don't get with any other kind of shopping. And they're much better for the nerves than the Mall Crawl.
Expert garage salers know that once you learn the ropes, you can find just about anything you want at a garage sale if you look long enough and in the right places. (Yes, in case you were wondering, I have actually seen the odd garage change hands too.) As a semi-professional musician, I'm always looking for oddball instruments and old electronics. I've picked up a functional violin for two bucks and a five-piece drum kit with cymbals for $40. (Unfortunately I was forced to sell both later at my own garage sale. Such is unemployment.
It's the odd sale that features such items, but on any Saturday when I can get out the door early in the morning, I aolmost never return without some truly superior buys on items I don't really need.
And that's the whimsical beauty of garage sailing. Without question, if it can be bought cheaply, it will never be bought more cheaply than at a garage sale. And it's truly amazing how often you'll come across items you were just that close to buying brand-new. So what if the day's selection is mostly junk you don't need? At garage sale prices, who cares>
The reasons for this are twofold. First, the seller has only one or two days to sell his junk, not weeks or months as a secondhand dealer might. If he wants to move it, he'd better set a pretty attractive price. If he doesn't, he'll be forced to clean it, trip over it and curse at it until it's time for next year's sale, at which time I'll be there early because I know he'll practically be willing to pay me to take it off his hands.
Second, most people who hold garage sales are innocents in the world of retailing. Most of them just don't know how to set prices. They'll ask far too much for Grandma's lace tablecloth and practically give away little Jimmy's rare Matchbox coronation coach. They often set prices emotionally, not logically, and for the early riser, it's bonanza time.
One caveat is due here. This hobby is really best suited to the compulsive hoarder. Nothing can spoil a Saturday more for some people than having to stare at table after table of people's hand-me-downs.
--30--
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PLANNING A PERFECT SATURDAY ---------------------------
Garage sailing is a lot like fishing. You've got to know where the big ones are usually found, you've got to get there early, and you've got to plan ahead.
The big ones, in this case the big bargains, are usually found in the suburbs. Being a High Park resident I've got nothing against the inner city, but it's only natural that the more affluent suburban neighborhoods will yield better-quality junk and better deals, because these people are generally as concerned about creating space in the basement for the new sauna as they are with how much money they make from their sale. All too often inner city residents hold impromptu garage sales as a means of paying the month's bills. Most of the goods at these sales are items they'd rather not part with, and they tend to set rather high prices in hopes of being compensated for their emotional loss.
Getting there early means much, much more than arriving within the first couple of hours of the advertised start time. Unless the advertising for the sale specifically says "no early birds", it pays off in spades, hoes, endtables and velvet paintings to get there fifteen minutes or so before the official opening time. That's when the junk dealers and garage sale addicts get there, and they're the ones who take home most of the bargains.
The best way to make sure you get to as many sales ahead of time as possible is to plan ahead. Some people actually map out their garage sale excursion, and it's a job that takes no more than ten minutes and could save you fifty bucks if it helps you snare just one hot deal.
Almost all garage sale ads list start times and addresses. Taking the Buy & Sell and one or both Saturday papers, circle each garage sale in your area according to its start time. You might circle the 9:00 to 9:30 starts with a blue pen, 9:30 to 10:00 in black, 10:00 to 10:30 in red, and the rest in pencil. Now you go back over the sales you've circled and number them from one to four for each time period according to how close the sale is to the previous one. You probably won't hit more than three sales in any half- hour period, but keep in mind that you'll be arriving before the advertised start time. One sale might not be set up yet, so it's good to have that fourth possible sale in reserve.
You'll also run across the occasional unadvertised sale. These will be right along your route, so they shouldn't take more than five minutes apiece. You'll also see the odd ad highlighting something you're really anxious to buy. In that case there might also be a number you can call to reserve the item until you arrive.
Keep in mind that sales near your home which you've already checked in the morning can hold real gems later in the day. Items not sold by noon or 2:00 are frequently sold at ridiculously low prices to anyone who expresses an interest, so you might want to make a second quick trip to nearby sales later in the afternoon.
--30--
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GARAGE SALE STRATEGY PART 1 ---------------------------
Although there's no question that if anything can be bought cheaply it will be cheapest at a garage sale, there are a few elementary strategies which can help you get even more value from this bargain hunter's bonanza.
For starters, it's my belief that no matter how low a price may be to begin with, there's no harm in trying to drive it lower. And you can do this more often than you might think, although you shouldn't try to do it all the time.
At some sales you find low-value goods extremely cheap while more expensive goods are overpriced. A little elementary psychology can work wonders if you're interested in one of the costlier items.
All you do is find a low-value item you want and pay full price for it before negotiating on the more expensive item. This tells the seller that you have a certain understanding of value, but in your infinite wisdom you see where he might have made a slight error in pricing the more expensive item. Chances are he'll second-guess himself and drop his price...unless, of course, his wisdom happens to be more infinite than yours. Sorry to say it, but at garage sales it's the seller, not the buyer, who's always right.
One thing you must never do is be the first to offer a bid on an item without a price tag. If you bid first, no matter how low that bid might be, you'll never know if the seller was expecting to get less. If you ask the price and the seller comes back with the "what's it worth to you?" line, protect yourself by making a bid that's about half of what you'd be willing to pay. In more cases than you might think, he'll agree to your bid. If not, chances are excellent that his comeback bid will be lower than it would have been if you had bid higher.
After he's given you his selling price, and he'll usually say he has to get at least that much for the item, he'll probably expect you to split the difference. Don't! As long as you're not going over your budget, split the difference by a little more than half, and you'll still be under your expected price.
You'll probably get this price. You see, a strange figure like that, not splitting the difference exactly but not coming up only slightly either, could catch the seller off guard. If it does, he'll have no choice but to give you your price or refuse to drop his price, and he probably knows that if he stands firm, he'll lose a sale.
If he won't budge on his figure, you can't turn and walk away and expect him to suddenly agree to your price the ay some retailers and junk shop owners will. After all, you'll be one of his first customers that day. If you expressed such an interest, he probably thinks he'll have no trouble selling it later to someone else.
(Next week: more garage sale strategy)
--30--
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GARAGE SALE STRATEGY PART 2 ---------------------------
Last week we were discussing how to handle a seller who won't budge on his price even after you've given the impression that negotiations are over.
At this point you still have a couple of options. You can apologize (that's right, apologize) for haggling with him, tell him what you really think the item is worth and play on his emotions. He might take pity on you and let it go.
If you still don't get the deal you want, you can always write your name and phone number the item you want and your bid on a slip of paperand leave it with the seller. If it hasn't been sold by the end of the day, he'll probably be happy to call you and have it taken off his hands. One thing this ploy will do for you is effectively prevent the seller from cheating you by selling the item to someone else for less than you bid on it.
If you happen to strike an especially rich vein of useful items, you'll frequently be in for an additional discount. It's not uncommon to ask how much the seller wants for six items you've selected and get a price 40 percent less than the sum total. Think of it as the seller's way of thanking you for helping him clean out his garage.
Whenever you make a secondhand purchase of anything electrical, electronic or mechanical, you have a right to know whether the item is in good working order before you pay for it. But it's often up to you to exercise this right. The seller might have an extension cord running from his home to the garage or yard, but if not, you'll have to ask to have one set up or for the opportunity to test the item in his home. Just be sure you have permission before entering the home of someone holding a yard sale.
Occasionally you'll find things such as auto parts, stereo components, kitchen appliances or computer software or accessories that can't be tested without other equipment. If the seller does not have facilities for testing the item, you're on shaky ground. If the item is dirt cheap, you can always take a flyer on it, and more often than not you'll come out ahead.
But if you're not quite sure whether to buy, your only real protection is a special receipt from the seller which says in so many words that the seller advertised the goods in perfect working order at the time of the sale, the goods were not tested and the seller assumes responsibility for refunding the purchase price if the item does not live up to his claims.
A lot of sellers will give you funny looks for asking for such a receipt, but if you can't get it, it's an excellent reason not to buy. The seller may not be hiding anything, but if he is, your request for a receipt will be his signal to back down from the deal, and you should let him. Sure, there's always small claims court, but if you've never been through this process, take some friendly advice: you don't need the hassle.
--30--
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GARAGE SALE STRATEGY PART 3 ---------------------------
Last week we briefly touched on the subject of receipts. Very few garage sale buyers get receipts for any but the biggest purchases, and quite often that's a mistake. If you buy anything at a garage sale for more than $20, it won't hurt to get a purchase receipt listing the item, date of sale and the seller's name and address.
Aside from being good legal protection in case a relative of the seller finds out that a family heirloom has been sold for peanuts and demands its return, it's also useful in case you need to call the previous owner to find out why the brown thing on the second control panel won't come unstuck, or to see if the wozzle which was supposed to come with the item has turned up since the sale. And if you ever have to use the item for business purposes, it's a usable receipt for your tax accountant.
One point of courtesy deserves mention here. No matter how irritated the seller might get with your attempts to dicker, never resort to insults. Remember, you're a guest on his property. You never know when you'll run into someone with a fuse that's ready to blow, someone who could strike and injure you, even though it might be the last thing he wants to do. As a guest on his premises, you'll have a very hard time getting any legal satisfaction for this, because it's all too easy for him to claim that he was being threatened and was only protecting his property. Fortunately, these situations are rare, but the possibility is real enough to warrant caution if you plan on garage sailing on a day when you hate the world.
There is one detail often overlooked by garage sailers that can literally make or break your haggling success, and that's your appearance. As one expert garage sailer once said to me, "If you want to catch a bargain, sit in the driveway and look like a haggle."
What he meant was if you want to be taken seriously when you dicker, you should look like someone who has very little cash, someone who needs to dicker. Retail salespeople are trained never to judge a person's ability to pay by the way they dress, but people who hold garage sales are not trained salespeople. Whether the seller realizes it or not, dressing in cheap clothing tells the seller, at least subconsciously, that you're someone who could use a break. And if it seems necessary to get your price, you can always plead poverty and play on his emotions.
Finally, let's deal with flea markets, which are often little more than modified garage sales. They are frequently used by apartment and condominium dwellers who are restricted by agreements not to hold such events, and naturally they'll offer a surprising number of bargains if you arrive early enough in the day. Unfortunately, many of the Sunday flea markets are used by people who held their own garage sales and are hoping to dump their leftovers. Sometimes they charge more for their goods on Sunday at the flea market than they did on Saturday at their yard sale to compensate for the table costs and travel expenses.
In most cases, individual flea markets are consistent from week to week, so if the one near you is overpriced this week, you can expect it to be just as pricey next week.
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PLANNING YOUR OWN GARAGE SALE -----------------------------
Over the past few weeks, I've shown you how to take advantage of the fact that most garage sellers are novices to the world of retailing. Now it's time to talk about holding your own garage sale and hopefully scoop up some of the profits you've managed to get from the great deals you made at other people's sales.
I assume that you attend a few garage sales from time to time and hava a handle on what many common items fetch. If not, it will pay you big dividends in more sales, more money from those sales, and less work, to spend an hour or two on the Saturday previous to your sale checking out a few nearby garage sales. If impulsive spending habits make this a frightening prospect, leave your home with an empty wallet and a friend to help keep you from spending. The information you get will prevent you from cutting your own throat with ridiculously low prices and save you effort on items you need too high a price for to make them worth displaying.
You should begin selecting items for your sale on the Sunday before your sale. A quick ten-minute tour of your home should allow you to get most of the likely sale items together and pinpoint others to be added later. Pack these items in cartons or stack them in a corner. There's no need to waste an hour or two at this point hunting through your closet for every item you want to sell. You'll bump into them in the course of the week anyway, and it will be more time-consuming to gather them together now than it will to take care of them as they appear to you.
As you sift through these items, make very sure that you want to sell them. All too often people dump precious treasures for peanuts and regret it later.
Many people spend far too much time and money on garage sale advertising. The only real advertising you need is the smallest available classified in the Saturday paper's garage sale section listing the address, start time and two or three types of items or specific big-ticket items, and an ad in the Buy & Sell. Place both ads the previous week so that they're out of the way, and make sure they're scheduled for publication on the appropriate dates.
For neighborhood advertising, you really only need nine signs. Forget about the twenty or thirty many people will use, posting them on every streetcorner. They are an eyesore, and so much of a pain to put up that many people don't bother to take them down, adding to the ugliness they create. The joke's on them, though, because police find that garage sale signs make excellent roadmaps for burglars. A word to the wise should suffice.
You really only need two signs each on the main streets to the north, south, east and west of you. Place one on each side of the street so they can be seen by motorists travelling in both directions. If you're in a neighborhood of winding streets, you might need two or three more signs pointing people in the right direction. Be sure to get permission if these signs need to be placed on private property. If you're nestled deep in a residential area far from any main drag, you'll need to place a couple of signs on the main drag as well as neighborhood markers.
Each sign should have GARAGE SALE in thick, bold, block letters, and the date and address in as large a lettering as your sheet can hold. I recommend black lettering on neon posterboard or 11"x17" neon bond paper for maximum impact. I find 8-1/2"x11" signs too small for many motorists to notice.
Finally, forget any ideas you may have had about selling bathing suits, underwear or lingerie, or any home cooking. It doesn't matter how many people love your baking or how much you can get for it. Not only is it illegal, but all someone has to do is suspect that the case of salmonella they caught came from one of your muffins and you might lose ten times your sale's take in a lawyer's fees. If you must have refreshments, stick to storebought food and an urn of coffee, but since most people won't hang around your sale for more than five minutes, it won't do much to boost sales.
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SCHEDULING A PROFITABLE SATURDAY PART 1 ---------------------------------------
The day of your garage sale has arrived. Nothing has been set up, nothing has been priced. It's a half-hour before the advertised start of the sale and people are banging on your door before you've had a chance to set up your first table. Congratulations! Your strategy is working perfectly.
Most of your early customers will be hardcore garage sale hobbyists and junk/antique dealers. They're ruthless negotiators with a serious eye for bargains. If you've underpriced anything, you'll know it within the first hour. In order to protect yourself, give these people access only to your least-wanted items, and these are the items you should put on display first. If the experts want to see everything you have, let them wait.
Deal with the professional garage sailers as ruthlessly as they deal with you. When they ask you what an unpriced item is worth, don't tell them what you'd planned to charge. Instead ask what it's worth to them. As often as not they'll give you a ridiculously low figure. If you can multiply that figure by two, add a bit more and come out with what you think is a fair price, that's the figure you should offer in return, and you should hold absolutely firm at that price. If the buyer doesn't want it at that price, that's too bad for him. You'll have plenty more opportunity to sell it as the day progresses.
I can't understate the importance of gaining the upper hand on these pro's by picking a strange figure and giving the impression that it took you a while to arrive at it. If you exactly double the offer, the buyer will see you as a rank amateur. These pro's aren't interested in your goods anyway; the hobbyists are more concerned about the challenge of getting a bargain and the junk dealers look at your offerings in terms of how much profit they can make reselling them. There's a satisfaction from offering a genuine bargain to someone who really needs what you're selling that will add a very pleasant dimension to your sale if the pro's don't steal it from you.
Hopefully you planned well enough to post your signs on Thursday night or earlier to give your neighbors advance notice of your sale. You'll lose business if you wait until Saturday and have your husband, wife or one of the kids post signs while you set things up.
Generally speaking, you don't do yourself any favors by attaching prices to any of your merchandise. However, you might want to set up tables for fifty-cents-and-under items, fifty-cent and one-dollar items. People like to have a general idea of prices, but unless you plan to knock prices down on unsold items as the day progresses, let people ask. You'll cut your own throat on low-value items by marking them.
It's different with more expensive items. Keep figures in mind that you'd like to get for those items. If your strategy is sound, you won't often be forced into giving an asking price; instead you'll be getting offers from buyers. But if you do get cornered, try to quote a price somewhat higher than you'd like to get. Sometimes you'll be pleasantly surprised by a seller who won't argue. Other times you'll leave yourself room for comfortable negotiation.
It's always a good idea to have a roll of quarters and ten to tenty one-dollar bills for making change. If you can, wear a sweater or jacket with pockets to store your cash. It's easier than digging through your pants or purse and you're much less likely to have your pocket picked than you are to have your cashbox stolen by a fleet-footed thief.
Keep an extension cord handy for testing electrical items. If you have to take customers into your home to test these items, you have one less pair of eyes watching the sale. If this is your first garage sale, keep your eyes open and you might be surprised by how many people try to shoplift.
Don't be too picky about keeping a ledger on everything you sell. If you are selling items for someone else, ask if they'd mind if you simply kept a running total of which items of theirs you sold. If they trust you, they shouldn't mind, and it will reduce your workload considerably. You don't need a record anyway; you'll be taking losses on virtually everything you bought new, so none of your sales are taxable. But do keep a few sheets of paper or a receipt book handy in case someone needs a proof of purchase.
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SCHEDULING A PROFITABLE SATURDAY PART 2 ---------------------------------------
It's noon and things are pretty much going as expected. All of the prize items are gone, with the exception of some items for which you're demanding a fair price and a few others which would only appeal to a select few people. You're basically left with a table or two of genuine junk, a box of books, a crate of old LP records, three cartons of kitchenware and knick-knacks and an old chair or two.
Unfortunately, most of the junk left over by noon simply won't sell unless you're willing to take some drastic measures. You must decide whether you'd rather take the rest of the afternoon and make perhaps another twenty bucks or box up the rest and have a local charity pick it up.
If you choose the former, your best move will be to mark down prices on all your leftovers, leaving the old prices visible so that shoppers know you've marked them down. Make these new prices as low as you can bear to go.
Once you're down to less than 30 items and a box or two of real junk, you'll probably be better off shutting down the sale and enjoying the rest of the afternoon than sticking around for another two or three hours for a few dollars extra. Most people advertise sales open until 4:00 or 5:00 and sell next to nothing after noon. On the other hand, some people shut down before noon, forgetting that a lot of people rise late on Saturdays, and they usually lose sales as a result. Staying open past 2:00 is a waste unless you have a huge amount of unsold merchandise or nothing better to do.
If you're holding your first garage sale and it also happens to be a multi-household sale, around noon you should be prepared for a small amount iof unpleasantness. Chances are good particularly in urban areas that someone will be short a few items and want to know where the money is. It's likely that the items were shoplifted; it happens more often than you might suspect. But you might have a difficult time convincing your neighbor of that. If you trust each other, try to discuss the possibility of shrinkage before the sale and work out an arrangement for dealing with it. Ideally, your neighbor should have someone there to watch and take cash for his own merchandise, and you as host shouldn't be held responsible for shrinkage. You're just as likely to suffer the same losses.
In all cases, unless all families involved are on very friendly terms, I advise against multi-household garage sales for just this reason. It's easier, and in fact more attractive to shoppers, to have each family hold their own sale and instead of a yard sale, call it a street sale. But if this isn't possible, at the very least you'll need an agreement that everyone takes responsibility for their own property and if possible their own cash.
Another problem with multi-household sales is that someone always seems to wind up costing someone else money. If one family sets their prices lower than everyone else's, it cuts into the business done by the other families by giving shoppers the impression, often unconsciously, that everyone else involved should offer prices competitive with the lowest-priced family's. In addition, equally-shared advertising expenses might not look so equal when one household appears to be doing twice the business of the others. These are largely unavoidable situations, and the best you can really do is alert all participants ahead of time to the potential for difficulty.
Once the sale is through and you've tallied the day's receipts, be sure to tear down all signs so burglars don't have a roadmap to your home. And be sure to remove all price stickers from any items you're saving for next year's garage sale. There is nothing messier than year-old masking tape adhesive on a coffee mug.
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