Ah, nostalgia for hard times.
Even now, we feel the need to soften it a bit, adding color to the stark black and white photo's of the era.
I've been wondering if we have so much material in this world, from high end to thrift shops, that we could survive off this stuff for years, selling it to each other, using it, trading it.
I recently bought some used DVD's; and I've been selling them for 5.00. Of course, my store is absolutely packed with material, and I've found myself working on the backstock a bit more, going down and looking through all the boxes of toys and finding some I thought I was sold out of, looking through the back issues and finding sets and singles that I know people have been looking for.
I didn't have time for this before, I was too busy in front of the store.
I probably should get over my aversion to buying used material off the street, because if I'm open to getting deals, there probably has never been a better time. Of course, there is the constant ethical problem of buying at a price that makes it beneficial for me, and yet not feeling like I'm taking advantage of the customer.
I've noticed, lately, that people will sometimes signal that they really just want to unload something, and won't take offense at any offer, and that's when it works best.
I'll explore that option a little more, basically try to ascertain if the customer is realistic.
Realistic isn't some pre-conceived notion of value, or a price guide value, or a value they think they can get on e-bay, or anything to do with what they originally paid. For me, a realistic value is the idea of getting 'something', even if it's just a fraction, rather than nothing at all.
Otherwise, a quick no is better.
Besides, I think my store has been positioned well with inventory to always have something that customers want. I don't really need anymore material unless I get it at such a low price that it makes sense to push aside something I've already paid for.
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."
There is a strange satisfaction out of butchering that buffalo, using the horns and the hide and the meat and the fat and every little part of the beast. Instead of shooting the herds by their thousands and letting them rot on the plains.
Even now, we feel the need to soften it a bit, adding color to the stark black and white photo's of the era.
I've been wondering if we have so much material in this world, from high end to thrift shops, that we could survive off this stuff for years, selling it to each other, using it, trading it.
I recently bought some used DVD's; and I've been selling them for 5.00. Of course, my store is absolutely packed with material, and I've found myself working on the backstock a bit more, going down and looking through all the boxes of toys and finding some I thought I was sold out of, looking through the back issues and finding sets and singles that I know people have been looking for.
I didn't have time for this before, I was too busy in front of the store.
I probably should get over my aversion to buying used material off the street, because if I'm open to getting deals, there probably has never been a better time. Of course, there is the constant ethical problem of buying at a price that makes it beneficial for me, and yet not feeling like I'm taking advantage of the customer.
I've noticed, lately, that people will sometimes signal that they really just want to unload something, and won't take offense at any offer, and that's when it works best.
I'll explore that option a little more, basically try to ascertain if the customer is realistic.
Realistic isn't some pre-conceived notion of value, or a price guide value, or a value they think they can get on e-bay, or anything to do with what they originally paid. For me, a realistic value is the idea of getting 'something', even if it's just a fraction, rather than nothing at all.
Otherwise, a quick no is better.
Besides, I think my store has been positioned well with inventory to always have something that customers want. I don't really need anymore material unless I get it at such a low price that it makes sense to push aside something I've already paid for.
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."
There is a strange satisfaction out of butchering that buffalo, using the horns and the hide and the meat and the fat and every little part of the beast. Instead of shooting the herds by their thousands and letting them rot on the plains.