The Ultimate Shopper Promotional Kit: Opportunities Made CCNA Free Feature Articles How Canada's worst-selling title of 1988 got media coverage in 100-plus markets in 3 months Last updated 07/05

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I grew up, literally, in community media. I was working part-time as a janitor at a local newspaper by age nine, and was writing features and columns by age 14. By age 17 I could rhyme off the names of more than a hundred Canadian community publishers and radio station managers, the call letters and names of their newspapers, and their home towns and very often their circulation/broadcast ranges as well.

I was certain enough that I could make a feature giveaway pay off in mail order and bookstore sales that I created a ten-week series of features and offered it free in a circular included with the member newspapers' monthly mailbag.

Guess again. I didn't get a single request for the feature series.

These examples will give you an idea of how I aproached this specialty market, of the average size of syndicated features designed for community newspapers, and how to present useful material without overstating your case or appearing to be just another book pusher.

No blurb was created for this campaign because I never actually got the column published anywhere.

On the whole, Canadians think they're pretty sharp shoppers. Considering that no one ever really teaches us how to shop, I'd say that was true. But are we really that good? Here are a few facts to mull over, and I'll let you decide for yourself.

While it's true that the stores and chains offering the best prices do a brisk business, a great many stores and chains offering the same selections at higher prices continue to be fairly prosperous.

But you don't buy from those shops, am I right? Fair enough, but if you don't, a lot of others are.

A study done for some advertisers in the US revealed that a whopping 70 percent of our supermarket purchases are impulse purchases. To make matters worse, that figure rises with every additional minute the consumer spends in the store.

But you're Canadian, and you don't waver from your shopping list, am I right? Fair enough. But are Canadian retail marketing techniques that much different from American? Don't we have pretty much the same products sold in the same way? And don't you stray from your shopping list perhaps a little more than you'd like to let on?

As I already mentioned, we aren't really trained to be good consumers. I've been able to prove almost without fail that practically every shopper, myself included, can make pretty substantial gains in purchasing power with little or no effort just by learning a few simple techniques.

But you're an expert in every area you need to be expert in, am I right? Fair enough. But if you were never properly trained for the marketplace, how do you know you're getting your best deal nine times out of ten as an expert would? If you have no standard against which you can compare yourself, you can't know.

As a group, I find Canadians a pretty complacent group of shoppers. If you choose to believe you're as good as you can get, I won't argue with you. Perhaps you are. I'm not. I've just never found anyone better.

On the other hand, if you're willing to believe that there may yet be a thing or two you can learn about beating retailers at their own game, I'm willing to make a deal with you.

In the weeks to come, I'll be covering a wide variety of subjects in this space. I may not be able to show you something new every week, but I guarantee that if you stay with me, over the next year I can show you enough new ideas, ideas you can use now and use effortlessly, to add an extra $500 to your spending power.

But you don't need extra money. Fair enough. Would you mind sending what you don't need to me?

--30--

Over the next several weeks I'll be dealing primarily with supermarket shopping, because for most of us it is the single biggest drain on our disposable income, and also an area where even the best shoppers can still make substantial gains in purchasing power.

Nothing is more basic to the supermarket than shopping lists. But is a list even necessary? I know a number of truly expert shoppers who almost never use a list, and I haven't used one in years. Whether you truly need a shopping list depends first on your particular shopping style and second on how frequently and for how many people you shop.

Careful shoppers as a rule may not need to use a shopping list once a routine is established and one's memory is up to the task, and in my case I'm convinced that it would actually cost me money to follow one. With a few exceptions, I'm not terribly choosy about what goes into my pantry as long as it's tasty and relatively inexpensive. I don't buy beef and potato chips unless they're on special; I can be just as happy with fish and cookies.

Choosier shoppers tend to know what they need every week and what constitutes an exceptional price on their staples. As long as they're alert to what's in short supply, they really don't need to use a list either.

Impulse shoppers, on the other hand, cost themselves plenty if they don't use a list and stick to it, as the statistics mentioned above demonstrate in spades. And there may even be additional precautions needed by some people.

Impulse shoppers tend to be hardcore browsers as well. Most of us know where to find most of our staples at the one, two or three markets where we usually shop, and there's no good reason for wandering the aisles "just to make sure". In fact, "making sure" in this way can be very expensive insurance against a faulty memory.

And finally, it's only common sense that people shopping for more than two or less than once a week are going to require lists. Let's face it - human memories aren't the best places to store long lists accurately.

What I'm really saying here is that there's no need to feel bad if you don't use a shopping list or don't think you need one. As we'll see next time, the accepted ideas of what makes a good shopper aren't always in agreement with the facts.

--30--

Picture in your mind the ultimate shopper, the master of the marketplace. See those knuckles worn red from clipping coupons? The eyes strained and bloodshot from browsing through catalogs? The spare calculator battery in the wallet? The blank stare brought about through hours of planning and pavement-pounding? Not a pretty sight, but everyone knows that these are the costs of being a good consumer.

This past summer I had the pleasure of travelling through six provinces, talking with consumers and consumer reporters, finding out what they believed made them good shoppers. And it turns out that this pathetic description doesn't even come close to the true picture of the great consumer.

To put it as plainly as possible, truly capable shoppers know exactly what they want, how much they're prepared to pay for it, and are well-versed in strategy and tactics designed to help them get their price - and here's the shocker - usually with as little time and effort as the average impulse shopper, and often even less!

While this was a revelation in itself, I was even more interested to discover that this is not an artform. It's not even a difficult skill. This ability can be acquired by just about anyone without a lot of work.

But there is one very important prerequisite we need before we can even begin thinking about improving our shopping skills. Above all else, we must find a way to make shopping enjoyable. And it's not that hard to have fun with it when you realize that you're getting better deals than most people on practically everything you buy.

When you get right down to it, enjoyment of the task at hand is critical if we want to improve at anything. Artists who hate painting don't create better works, and athletes who don't like their chosen sport don't tent to remain paid professionals for very long.

Enjoyment is critical because it sharpens our senses to what is available to us. If we're attentive, we spot bargains that much more often, and the little kick we get from finding a great deal keeps us more alert to future opportunities to get that same kick.

So if you're an unhappy shopper who hates even the thought of cash registers and background muzak, lighten up! It's only a game, and your wallet smiles only as much and as often as you do. It's not how much you have to spend, but what you do with what you've got.

--30--

ZFor the uninitiated, a loss leader is a super-special designed to bring customers through the doors. It is not expected to be profitable to the store which offers it unless the customer buys other items with higher markups.

Supermarket loss leaders typically include door-crasher prices on eggs, bread, meat, juices and in-season fresh food. They're usually available to individual customers only in limited supply and seldom if ever offered two weeks in a row.

Loss leaders tend to be offered by the store or chain and featured at the top of newspaper advertisements or on the front page of the weekly specials flyer. Super-specials, on the other hand, make a small profit for the grocer, and it's the manufacturer, packer or wholesaler who takes the biggest share of any loss in profits. If loss leaders are the marquee stars, super-specials are the supporting cast.

Not all of them make the front page of the flyer, though. Depending on the chain doing the advertising, a few to a lot of these super-specials can be buried amid the "ordinary" deals elsewhere in the flyer. Best of all, super- specials aren't usually limited in quantity, meaning you can probably stock up with as much as you can afford at the offered price.

Most consumers never notice that loss leaders and super-specials tend to be offered on a cycle. The average cycle length tends to be about six weeks, which means that every month and a half or so almost all of your regular staples will be offered either by the store or the manufacturer/packer/ wholesaler at a truly great price.

The cycle itself may be irregular, or it may be longer or shorter depending on the item, but six weeks is a good average length. I call this period the bargain cycle, and riding one regularly can work wonders for your financial fitness.

You see, if we take this bargain cycle business one step further, it becomes clear that if one were able to buy most of one's groceries at loss leader or super-special prices, and buy enough of them to last until the next super-special, one would almost never have to pay the regular shelf price or - heaven forbid! - convenience store prices.

It can be done, and the overall savings to be had are truly remarkable. But first we need to know exactly what constitutes a great price, and next time I'll tell you exactly how this is done.

--30--

Last time we discussed super-special prices and how they tend to be offered on a semi-regular basis by supermarkets and other types of retailers. We also learned that buying staples in quantities large enough to last until the next super-special is advertised can result in sizeable savings on your grocery bill.

But the supermarkets don't exactly tell us which of their offers are true super-specials and which are no more than fair-to-middling bargains offered to fill up the weekly flyer.

It takes a bit of homework to get a true picture of what might be the lowest price you can expect to pay for all of your staples, but it's a one- time chore that pays enormous dividends.

First you need six to eight weeks' worth of supermarket flyers, but only for those stores where you shop. Using flyers from other stores may give you a false impression of what's actually available to you. I use the six week rule because I've discovered that's the average length of the bargain cycle.

Next you need to make a list of every staple you buy on a regular basis. For our purposes, you can limit this list to items you purchase on average once a month or more.

Now you begin browsing through the flyers looking for the items on your list. When you see a pretty good price, pencil it in next to the name of the item on your list. Repeat this for every item you can find in the first flyer. It doesn't matter if the price seems high to you; pencil it in anyway. By the time you're done, this might help you get a feel for the range of prices offered on individual items and types of items.

As you browse the second flyer you're bound to find lower prices on some items. Simply stroke out the higher price and write the new, lower price next to it. Repeat this process for all six to eight weeks' worth of flyers, and when you're done you should have a master list which represents the best available prices on nearly everything you buy. You might even be surprised to see how many of your staples were offered on super-special, and perhaps a bit disappointed to see how many of those super-specials you missed.

Next time we'll learn how to put this list to work and discover how much money it can actually be worth to us.

--30--

Last time we learned how to determine your best price for all your staples by checking the supermarket flyers for a six-week period, which is about how frequently you'll find most of your staples on super-special. Now we'll put this information to work.

Simply put, if you see one of your staples offered at a price that compares favorably with the best price marked on your master list, buy either six weeks' worth, as much as you can store or afford, or as much as you think will stay fresh. If it's truly a staple, you'll wind up buying more soon, so why not get as much as you can when the price is right?

If you're short on storage, limit your big purchases to those items which cost most per pound and you'll maximize your savings.

If you're short on cash, set yourself the largest weekly grocery budget you can afford for the first few weeks and buy only the best of the super- specials in these six-week quantities. Alternatively, you can shorten the cycle to four weeks and still come out ahead.

If you're afraid you'll become gluttonous if you start buying your favorite foods in large quantities, try it once just to make sure. If it becomes a problem, limit your bulk purchases to only those items which present no temptation to you.

Most people do this to a certain extent already, but by taking this simple technique to its logical extreme as I've demonstrated, the overall impact on your budget could be remarkable.

The formula for figuring out overall saving is rather complex, but even if you're a smart shopper you should be able to save an average of 10 percent on a week's worth of groceries. Single people who eat out frequently can easily save 25 percent on their total food bill. And while the overall investment is higher when shopping for a family, the potential dollar savings are proportionately higher too.

It's simple advice, sure. But not many shoppers follow it, and the rewards for riding the bargain cycle are considerable indeed.

--30--

Many people won't buy classified advertising. They feel it's not worth the expense to pay someone to help them sell something on which they're already losing money.

There are two simple ways to make sure that your classified advertising never costs more than it's worth to you in putting money in your pocket.. Which rule you follow depends upon whether you're a trade-in type of person or someone who always sells their secondhand goods privately.

If you're used to trading in your old TV, refrigerator or used car, you can hold out a lot longer than the other kind of person because you're not getting quite as much for your old stuff. Your best strategy might be to pick the price you want to get for your item and hold fast at that price.

You'll probably get at least a few calls from people offering a lot less. Don't let these people go without getting their phone numbers! If you can't sell it at your price, you'll eventually want to call the person who gave you the closest offer. Chances are if your price was reasonable at the time you placed the ad that you'll get that price, although you might have to wait for the right buyer to come along, but it never hurts to have a second plan of action, which is what you'll have if you keep phone numbers of people wanting to give you lower offers.

On the other hand, there may be someone out there who is willing to offer you an amount close to your asking price but not quite the full amount. In such a case it might be wise to wait a few days before letting the person have it at that price. The caller might turn out to be the first of several, and one of the later callers may be willing to pay full price. The bottom line is that maybe three times in four, you can put this person on hold for a few days without losing a sure sale, and if you don't sell, it will often be more advantageous to take the slightly lower price than to pay for a reprinting of your classified ad.

If you're the type who always sells privately because it's been successful for you in the past, it may be worth your while to examine the possibility that it's been too successful. If you live in a small center and find you almost always sell your advertised items the same week the ad runs, you might be asking too little for your goods. You may wish to try advertising "Dutch auction"-style. Start advertising at a price you think is so high that no one would pay it, particularly if you've had a lot of people tell you how cheaply you sell things. Drop the price by ten percent per week if you're advertising in a weekly newspaper, or by ten percent every third day if you're advertising in a daily. Hold out until you get your price, unless of course someone offers you ten percent less than your current price and your reduced-price ad starts the next day.

These strategies should insure that you sell your goods well before advertising costs eat away a big chunk of what you had hoped to get for your goods. But even that problem can be eased by adding a third element to your ads. If you pay for a certain number of words or lines as a bare minimum, make the ad pay for itself by listing several items in the same ad. Your main item may not sell, but if you can unload one of the smaller items quickly at a good price, it helps to pay for the ad and extends the length of time you can advertise before you must lower your asking price.

--30--

Writing a classified ad is a piece of cake. String a few words together, get your telephone number right and that's all there is to it, right? To borrow a phrase, it ain't necessarily so. As in everything, there is always some subtle psychology going on in a classified ad. And as in psychology, all you really need are a few simple tricks up your sleeve if you want to get the most from your ad.

Richard Appel, author of "The Used Car Believer's Book", points this out when he speaks about writing an ad for your used car, and the same ideas apply to almost all forms of classified ad writing.

We both agree, for instance, that if you have something in good working order, you cut your own throat by advertising recent repairs. In the mind of your potential buyer, recent repairs might mean recent damage, and they may question what else will need repair in the coming weeks.

It's not always a good idea to point out what you feel are the best features of the item you're selling, either. You might think "1985 hatchback, new tires" is an okay ad, but the reader may get the impression that the tires are the only good thing about the car. You'll be farther ahead saying "1985 hatchback, fair condition". It doesn't sound flattering, but when buyers call, they'll be expecting the worst. If you were to mention at that time that the car had new tires, it might help spark the caller's interest considerably. These points can be applied to most types of merchandise you may be selling.

There's really only one rule of thumb for how long your ad should be. If the item is in fair to good condition, make it short and sweet if you're paying by the word or line. If the item is in poor shape, say that and nothing else. The price will be accordingly low, attracting lots of callers, and you can brief them on the item's merits and drawbacks as they call. If the item is in premium condition or fetches a premium price, write a longer ad to give the item fuller play. The more information you give in the ad, the better your chances of attracting a buyer who might otherwise dismiss your item as too expensive.

One word you must never, ever use in a classified ad is "negotiable". Let people call and ask. Putting "negotiable" into a classified ad is like telling the world you know you're not going to get your price. You don't know whether there may be someone willing to pay you full price, but this person will usually try to make a better deal if they think you'll negotiate, and I've had circumstances where I later learned people walked away from items I was selling, even though they were prepared to pay my full asking price, because they thought they could do better and didn't.

Should the price be included in your ad? Well, in many cases you are required to advertise your price, particularly in publications offering no-cost classifieds to private citizens, but if a price is not required, whether you should include it depends on how fast you want to sell it and how big a bargain it is for your buyer. If it's dirt cheap and you want a fast sale, list the price. If it's expensive, leave the price out and let callers ask. Callers will know how much they want to pay. And if you don't want to deal with unnecessary phone calls, be sure to put the price in and say "NOT negotiable".

--30--

"Swap" classifieds are becoming increasingly popular these days. Many publications even have separate classifications for trades, barter and exchanges. They seem like a terrific idea if they work.

And "if" is the big question, because the sad truth is that I have only ever met one person who successfully used swap ads. The reason for this is actually quite obvious. When you're selling something, you're asking in return for something everyone else has: money. When you seek to swap, you're probably looking for something fairly specific, and that severely limits your number of trading partners.

Another reason swap ads don't work very well is because your readership is limited. Anyone truly interested in what you're trying to trade will read the for-sale classifications for that type of merchandise. Most people avoid the swap/barter/exchange sections because they don't have anything to swap!

If you really do want to trade your 1975 Bonehead Flatback truck for a Mindbender stereo system, you'll probably be better off trying to sell the truck and using the money to buy the stereo system from someone else. In other words, avoid the swap sections unless that's the only thing you want to do, and instead place your ad in the appropriate for-sale classification. If you still want to swap, list a price and add a line saying "trade for item X" or "trades considered".

There's an additional angle to swaps which many sellers never consider, and this angle can work so well that I add "trades considered" to many of my own classifieds.

Just think what could happen if someone wanted your truck and offered you one or more items for it in trade which you knew were worth considerably more than your asking price. Well, it's not your Mindbender stereo, but it does represent something you could sell for more than the value of your stereo and leave you with some extra pocket money. If you didn't have "trades considered" in your ad, the caller might have been too shy to offer.

If you swap wisely, you'll usually do better than you expected. It's foolish to swap for something about which you know very little, but if you're offered in trade something a friend has been talking about buying, it might be worth checking with that friend to see if they might like to be in on the deal. Three-way deals like these aren't that common, but they come around often enough to make it worth your while to be ready for them, and it doesn't often cost a lot to have those two magic words "trades considered" added to your classified.

--30--

Classified advertising can be a real adventure if you're not careful. Placing a classified is like being a field mouse trying to get from the fence to the barn. It can be an enjoyable stroll...but watch out for those birds of prey. Perhaps a short course in field identification is in order.

Perhaps the most common species is the Common Swooper. Heaven help you if you priced your goods too low. The day...no, make that the HOUR your ad hits the newsstands, the swoopers begin to attack. That early call and fast saale seems like a welcome relief until you discover that your phone rings off the hook for days and you're left with that sick feeling that you could have gotten so much more for the item. Expect swoopers to call for days, even weeks after your ad stops running. Warning: there's a little swooper in everyone.

Most people who have had contents sales have met the Fast-Talking Smallbill. It usually attacks a few days after the ad starts running. It wants to see...and buy...everything, but at a rock-bottom price. It often insults you for selling goods in poor shape, whether they actually are or not, and claims to know to the penny exactly how much everything is worth, which is never very much. Domesticated Smallbills can be a blessing if you're just trying to clear the basement, but a wild Smallbill on a feeding frenzy could leave you feeling like a sheared sheep if you're not careful. Warning: wild smallbills won't take no for an answer. Tread carefully.

The Curious Dabbler is more of an irritation than a threat. It never knows what it wants and never seems to read the ads. It merely calls numbers at random,. asks dumb questions about the item, makes appointments to see it and never shows up. Tip: never waste more than 30 seconds with a dabbler.

My favorite bird is the wise old Sharpie. It knows what it wants and how much it will pay to get it. They don't waste time and they're really the only birds who can be counted upon to actually buy from you. Warning: it is often not possible to distinguish a sharpie from a dabbler...until the dabbler fails to show up as promised. For this reason it is often wise never to go out of your way to accommodate a browser.

--30--

There's no middle ground. You love 'em or hate 'em. But whether you find the thought of milling through your neighbor's garbage offensive or, like me, your heart thrills at the thought of all those Saturday morning treasures waiting in the nation's garages and attics, garage sales are a genuine phenomenon that seems to get more popular every year.

Perhaps you're the exception, but I've discovered that most people who dislike garage sales are actually closet status-seekers who would never buy anything previously-owned if it could be had new.

For those of us who do enjoy garage sales, these people are probably best left alone. Persuading someone to become a garage sale fan is like IBM trying to convince Ford to get into computers. Ford doesn't need the business, and IBM doesn't need the extra competition.

I've discovered that it takes a true bargain hunter's mentality to truly enjoy a garage sale. Unless you get a real kick from digging up a 1929 Marconi radio from under a pile of old car parts, discovering a long-lost Frank Sinatra record in mint condition for less than the price of a cup of coffee, or finding genuine collectibles at junk prices, garage sales are not and probably never will be your cup of tea.

But if you're eager to be persuaded how much fun they can be, hold your own sale. Note the anticipation in the eyes of the earlybirds as they mill around your yard a good half-hour before you've finished setting up. Check the excited smiles of shoppers who found that perfect something buried within your cast-offs and walked away with it for parking change. And note how practically everyone who stops by examines your garbage with what appears to be genuine care and interest. If you can't relate to their enthusiasm, you'll probably never develop the bargain hunter's mentality.

And that's just fine with me. I'm always happy to have one less competitor.

--30--

Garage sales are rather unique in the retailing world. They are operated by amateurs and almost never intended to make a real profit for the operator. Fortunately for the wise "garage sailer", this opens the door to a few simple tricks and techniques which can help you get an even better buy than the seller intended to give you.

Pschology plays a big role in garage sale buying. I recommend wearing the clothes one would normally wear to wash the car. It seems that the seedier your appearance, the greater the likelihood that the seller will take pity on you and give you a break. I've never seen anyone negotiate successfully at a garage sale in a three-piece suit.

Precious items such as heirlooms and antiques are often painful for the seller to part with. I find in such cases that it helps to appear genuinely knowledgeableand anxious to own such an item. The seller may simply want to make sure his treasured possession finds a deserving home. This technique must be used with care, however. Enthusiasm can backfire on you and could actually force the seller to raise his price, thinking he's asking too little. And the enthusiastic approach must never be used in any other buying situation.

Many sellers will leave costlier items unlabelled and unpriced. In this situation, never be the first to offer a price. If you're backed into a corner, offer half what you'll actually pay. The seller may laugh at you, but then again he may also accept your offer.

Most sellers try to split the difference when it comes down to serious negotiation. You can turn the tables on this trick by using strange math on the seller. Instead of offering ten, getting a counter-offer of twenty, offering fifteen and settling at seventeen, try to unbalance the seller. When you offer ten and he comes back with twenty, offer thirteen, fourteen or sixteen. It usually works.

--30--

As we learned last time, there's somewhat more to getting the most from your area's garage sales than simply knowing where they are. Sometimes it pays to know that some are better than others and how to spot the best ones.

I've always been a big fan of the multi-household garage sale, and the more households involved, the better. You'll often discover that one family has priced their goods well below those of the other families, and this can be a terrific bargaining chip with the others. Nobody wants to watch as one family's goods disappear while everyone else's sit all day on the lawn, so the other families may bring their prices down to a more competitive level. It's rarely necessary for them to do this, but the high-priced families often feel a certain obligation to do so, and you and I come out ahead.

Hardcore garage sale fanatics tend to spend their Saturday mornings in the more affluent suburbs of larger cities. Garage sales in these parts of town usually feature a better class of goods, because the more affluent tend to replace things with greater frequency and keep their goods in better condition.

Suburban sales often feature better prices too. A surprising number of these sales are held primarily to clean out the basement or carport, and if it brings in a little cash, so much the better. Working-class families are usually more concerned about getting a fair price for what they sell.

Timing plays a big part in successful garage sailing. If you've ever held your own sale, you already know that the best items are usually gone within the first hour. What you may not know is that there is a good chance these items were bought up by curbers, antique dealers and operators of secondhand stores. If you've let your goods go at a price so low that a dealer can buy it and resell it for profit at what is usually a 100 to 500 percent markup, you've given someone one heck of a bargain.

As a general rule, if you want the same shot at the super bargains as the dealers, arrive at the sale fifteen minutes before the advertised start time. You should be able to catch the best bargains the second the seller carts them out for display.

--30--

None of the garage sale strategies we've discussed here will be of any use to you if you don't plan your attack properly. Getting the best garage sale bargains is no easy task when you consider that you're competing with junk dealers, antique shop owners and hardcore garage sale hobbyists who treat Saturday mornings as business days.

Fortunately, ten short minutes of planning on Friday night can help to insure that you have at least as good a shot as at the goods you want as anyone else.

Using the biggest Friday evening paper in your area, the local weekly newspaper and the local buy'n'swap newspaper if there is one, check off every garage sale in the area that looks interesting. Serious enthusiasts will want to scout one of the more affluent neighborhoods. Those of us without transportation may be content to stick fairly close to home.

Next, take several different colors of pencils or felt-tip pens. Mark off each sale starting at 9:00am with a tiny mark of one color, the 9:30 sales with another, the 10:00 sales in another color and so on until all sales you plan to attend have been checked.

Limit yourself to four sales every half-hour. You'll probably only make three, but the fourth comes in handy when a sale has been cancelled or hasn't been set up when you arrive. Number them from one to four in a route if you like, ignoring all other sales marked for that time period which don't look promising or require too much driving. For the next half-hour, look for the closest sale to the fourth one for the previous half-hour and mark that for your first stop.

Finally, plan to arrive at the first 9:00 sale at 8:45. As you may recall, it pays to arrive at the sale while the goods are being carted out the door. Occasionally you'll have to heed "no earlybird" warnings on signs and in classified ads and sometimes people will refuse to sell anything before they're ready, late or not. But if you spot something you want, nothing is stopping you from laying a claim to it.

If you've mapped out everything properly, you should find yourself with the first pick of the crop at six or seven sales every Saturday and you won't miss much at any of the others. You'll be doing as well as anyone who does this as part of their living. And regardless of what interests you, with that kind of advantage over the other shoppers it will be a rare Saturday that you come home without a real prize.

--30--

We are due for a boom in second-hand buying 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 second-hand goods, and it will replace "keeping up with the Joneses" as a new form of consumer 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 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 prices 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 second-hand 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 second-hand, 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 second-hand buying is already established, and the sooner we learn to take advantage of this trend, the better off we'll all be.

--30--

Most amateur shoppers view the secondhand sector of the marketplace with fear and suspicion. They don't seem to have faith in their abilities to distinguish quality goods from merchandise looking for an excuse to fall apart. That's a fair argument. We've all bought something at some time that broke down within minutes, leaving us holding the bag.

On the other hand, the savings to be had when buying secondhand are so big that we should be able to accept the occasional lemon as a fact of life and still know we're coming out well ahead of the game. It also helps to know which goods offer the best odds of being real bargains and how to insure that what we're buying represents good value.

One of the best investments any regular secondhand shopper can make is a set of Consumer Reports Buying Guides dating back from three to ten years. These can be had for a quarter to two dollars each at library sales, thrift shops and especially secondhand bookstores. They provide just about the best reference available for determining the relative merits of a certain model or year of product, as well, as a true indication of what the actual retail value was when new. These guides cover everything from sports equipment to cleaning supplies, home entertainment to furniture.

In addition, these guides also represent the best advice for selecting items in good condition with most of their useful life left. I'm a real nut about buying used electronic gear, and that surprises a lot of people because it sounds as if I settle for obsolescence. What they don't realize is that consumer electronics in the middle price range have been better-built in the past decade than at any time in history, and while they get more sophisticated every year, they also use fewer moving parts and are therefore less failure-prone than similar goods made in years past.

I tend to believe that if something has lasted out its warranty period without a breakdown and is well-maintained, it should last ten times as long without any serious problems, and this applies to cheaper Taiwanese and Korean-made goods as much as the better Japanese and American makes. The third-world electronics lags behind in quality control; they are much more likely to be mechanically weak or failure-prone within the first year or two.

I also prefer to buy secondhand furniture. I can't tell well-made furniture from clapboard when I'm in a shop, but after a couple of years the joints have had a chance to settle, loose seams will have split and the piece will be showing its true quality. Give me the reliability, yes, the reliability of secondhand furniture over new any day.

--30--

In my opinion, the wise secondhand buyer gets a better deal from a private seller than from a secondhand shop at least 90 percent of the time. Exclude furniture and consignment clothing stores and I'd raise that figure to 95 percent.

No, there's no question that the best deals on used clothing, not to mention the best selection, are had from the consignment shops. The quality and variety of garments offered by this fast-growing retail sector can be truly remarkable, and it's a source of bargain-priced clothing no one should overlook. These stores accept only quality garments in excellent condition and discounts range from 60 to 90 percent.

Secondhand furniture stores in the more affluent districts tend to operate in the same fashion, and because furniture is such an individual choice, the secondhand buyer is wiser to have as wide a variety as possible. Because of the number of variables involved, shopping for furniture over the phone from private sellers can be a real headache if you don't know exactly what you want.

With most other items we tend to be more flexible about the make, model year and size we want and therefore less likely to waste a lot of time looking for that "just-so" item from a private seller. We also tend to have a lot less choice of style, color and size with other types of merchandise.

I also find that private sellers tend to charge a lot less for the same item than a secondhand dealer, so even if finding the right item takes a bit of time, the savings should more than make up for it.

The biggest drawback to buying privately is the lack of a warranty. If you buy something advertised in good condition which was obviously faulty, you have an effective, if time-consuming, recourse through small claims court, provided you have the printed ad to back up your claim that the seller misrepresented the goods. All too often it's just not worth the trouble except as a defense of principles.

Regular secondhand buyers should allow for the occasional lemon and still be happy with the knowledge that they probably live more comfortably than than someone who buys everything new.

(For more information on false advertising and small claims court procedures for private sales, see any edition of Phil Edmonston's "Lemon-Aid for Used Cars".)

--30--

Curbers are the true entrepreneurs of the second-hand 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 the 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 second-hand hate curbers with a passion.

If you'd rather avoid curbers altogether, 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--