Looks like someone has now come out with a Svengali Deck package that includes a deck and a DVD, click HERE to view. Jon-O, you were ahead of the wave on this one!

From the back design, the "Pro Brand" deck appears to be a FUN, Inc. pitch deck. I'm not sure of the provenance of the DVD, but it doesn't seem to be from FUN -- maybe it's a "Magic Makers" special?

The $10 isn't a bad retail price for the package on the Internet, but I'm not sure you could stick with that price for a live Svengali Pitch. I think most folks are getting $8-10 just for the deck alone. SETH

You can get $20 easy for a deck and DVD.I pitched them in a mall here last year for the local magic shop that went into a mall for Christmas.

I was in L.A. about a month ago and we tapped a Svengali teaching DVD for S.S.Adams that will be out soon.I'm not sure what the wholesale will be yet.I'll be sure to let you all know when its ready.

Later,Don

Don
You didn't pitch the magic makers deck and dvd. The cards are not fun inc, they are magic makers brand, and are also made in red and blue decks with different force cards. I have been selling them for $10-12. The suggested retail price is only 14.95. The cards are not as good as fun inc. They are also not set like the loftus brand. Having pitched them all I like fun inc. the best, but for the price and cards already being set I go with loftus. I carry the dvd and deck combo and also offer a comboe with the tappered cards and dvd.

I just helped the guy that owns the shop in Nashville.I only pitched for one week end teaching his help how to get the money.Yes he had the magic makers deck and DVD.

S.S.Adams has the very same deck as Fun Inc. has and now S.S.Adams will have a DVD to go with the deck.Besides I'm on the DVD,what more could you ask for?

S.S.Adams is also going to carry the worm and call it "The magic wooley caterpillar" and a teaching DVD to go with that and once again,yours truely is on that DVD.

Don

Congrats on the dvd spot Don, I can't wait to get my hands on them. Do you think they'll be available before Christmas???

Junior

Its in S.S.Adams hands and I know David is working it.I'll let you know when its done.

How could you have pitched the the combo, it just came out this September?

Did you mean the 30 trick dvd and cards?

Magic Makers had the DVD and the deck last Christmas 2008.They were bought separate and we pitched them together as a package for $20.

Don

You must be meaning the 30 Tricks an Tips DVD.

These new 'Amazing Magic' DVD's just came out and are a much better value for the seller.

The Svengali Deck DVD is a neat idea, but one concern I have would be cost, as in inventory cost to the seller. This might not be a problem if you are a brick-and-mortar shop, but for a Svengali Pitch to stock a gross of DVD's could mean an investment of at least $750+ up front, unless you can make your own homegrown DVD's like Jon-O does. While you might make about $5 from each DVD sale, I don't know if it justifies that sort of investment, especially since you can make the same profit or better from the sale of the deck itself, with a much lower inventory cost.

I guess it boils down to whether the addition of the DVD would produce enough more sales to justify the added investment and risk. I know that I stopped carrying the "101 Tricks" booklet because it just didn't move. I believe most people figured that if the deck came with good instructions (which the Royal Magic deck does), then they didn't need to spend more money on a booklet, even if it had more tricks in it. Of course, I didn't sell the deck and booklet together as a package, I sold each separately. [And to tell the truth, the "101 Tricks" booklet wasn't all that great, it really only contained about 25 tricks, with 50 more ways to reveal the "selected" card, and 26 more duplications or variations of the previous material.]

Of course, Don was selling at a magic shop, where the buyers, who are already interested in magic, might have been more inclined to pick up the combo package. In a straight pitch situation to the general public, I'm not sure the DVD's would have the same attraction. For this reason and the cost factor, I think I'd still rather sell two decks alone at $10 each, than one deck/DVD package at $20. SETH

Greetings,

My DVD 30 Tricks and Tips came out about 2 years ago, the new Amazing Magic with Svengali DVD is a new series with Ben Salinas.

It teaches around 10 tricks , handling etc and is a great value.

Guys we're talking pitching to "LAYMAN"!We don't want a great value we just want the "MARKS" money.Dosen't anybody here but Seth get it ?

Don

My great value comment was talking about actual wholesale cost, it's very low!

Hey Don, you just made my day!!

Unfortunately, I have learned the hard way about inventory cost. As a result, I now have a large carton in my garage, filled with Penny & Dime sets, Ball Vases, Copper/Silver Coins, Nests of Boxes and other goodies (including six dozen Chinese "1864" Svengali Decks that I have been using to start the charcoal in my Weber grill).

So I don't care if it was Houdini's favorite trick or is the best thing since sliced bread; if it wholesales for more than $2, I now walk on by, because I just cannot afford to stock and sell it. This is a Svengali Pitch, not Hocus Pocus or Tannen's. SETH

The good thing about some wholesale companies out there is that they don't require a minimum order amount, so if you wish to experiment with a new product, DVD or what have you it's not tying up money or space to do so.

Well, the problem isn't a minimum order, actually. I usually order samples of things along with my regular stock, in order to look at an item, see if it is doable and then decide which version I want from which company. After I decide, I order a few dozen and see how it goes.

Maybe I wasn't being clear, but in my view, the problem ia that once you go over that $2 wholesale cost, in my experience it's tough to pitch that item for a price that is still appealing for an impulse purchase.

For example, the Dime & Penny set is a GREAT trick (actually a great utility item that can be used to perform many different tricks). But its wholesale cost means I need to sell it (and the accompanying booklet) for $10-12. People thought it was a neat trick, but just were not willing to spend that kind of money for something they perceived as a "little" trick. The fact that it was precision made, basically mechanical and self-working, a classic of coin magic, and so forth just went right over their heads. [If I had the skill and pitch ability of Don Driver, I'm sure the result would have been different!]

Meanwhile, the Magic Worms and the Svengali Decks are jumping off the table with a lot less effort and a lot more profit. So what do I spend my time and effort demoing -- the worms and the decks, of course! No point in fighting City Hall, as they say.

That's why I'd rather sell a few more items that are cheaper, than invest in more expensive ones, where the return is about the same but you have more invested. SETH

"[If I had the skill and pitch ability of Don Driver, I'm sure the result would have been different!]"

I couldn't pitch them either but what more important is I wouldn't want to even try to pitch them.I'm a PITCHMAN and I don't want to open a magic shop at a flea market of fair ground.I have said this many times here.

WHY TRY TO FIX IT IF IT AN'T BROKE!

Don

Did a county fair last weekend. Have a girl selling (wire) strippers and I sold strippers and cards-—mostly cards as there were LOTS of kids. Have been too lazy recently to make the DVDs and have not seen the ones you describe, Seth.

But even tho there were lots of kids, very hard selling cards. I’d get a good group and lots of enthusiasm but “Gotta go ask Dad” or “I ain’t got no money” or “Why don’t you think about it and come back?”

I’m sure that if I had had the worms (AND knew how to demo ‘em), it would have been different. But “If wishes were horses….”.

So…I got my box of JUMBO colored paper clips out of my stash and after the 2-card Monte I’d say, “….and that’s not all. Have you seen the magic paper clips?” And I did the “link the paper clips together with a dollar bill” trick. And gave ‘em the “magic paper clips” as a bonus.

I can’t say it made my biz boom but I must say it did seem to pick it up a little. And the people who came back ALWAYS said, “Now, I get those magic paper clips, right?” Since I'm not doing the DVDs at present, it was good to have the “fall back” position with the clips.

This trick is pretty old and found in several books but I have it in “Magic for Dummies” (very apropos) and “Mark Wilson’s Complete Course in Magic” pages 198-199. Bought the paper clips at Wally World but I’m sure they’re available at most any office supply places. And I always use the big colored ones because they are easier to see AND not everyone has them.

Jon

And one more thing. Remember, the decks from "you-know-where" cost about 70 cents, including shipping. The DVD I make (not including my time) is less than 50 cents. So together they cost less than $1.25 and I sell 'em for $10. I hate to be negative but I think that attempting to get $20 from kids (or kid's PARENTS!) on an impulse sale is gonna be harder than sex with a rattlesnake. Of course, I never thot I'd sell strippers for $20 either, so I'm not always right.

Jon