Nobody is saying it can't be done. All I am saying is that in my experience, it takes a lot more money and resources than pitching, and is completely different than pitching. But your mileage may vary, as they say. I posted my math and my reasons, let's see yours. SETH

Lets see yours what?

Mike, you and Matt are absolutely correct in everything you have ever said.I apologize for everything I have ever said about either of you.

Now please move on and both of you please leave me out of any post either of you post from this point on.

I promise to do the same. PEACE !

Don Driver

Don said that it can't be done. Oh, well, I guess you are right, nobody said that it can't be done.

My math and reasons, I bought dozens of each item, and ended up with less of each item, but more money than I started with, meaning profit. So, lets see, stock, plus customers*markup=profits!

Sorry if I sound snippy, but I am in a bad mood lately.


EDIT due to posts during the writing of the above, I took a while to post.


Don, the sarcasm is not necessary. You are just coming off ruder. Had you been nicer from the start, we would not be having this problem. I have said many times before to just leave us alone and be nice. All of a sudden you want change?

-Matt

"Don, the sarcasm is not necessary. You are just coming off ruder. Had you been nicer from the start, we would not be having this problem"

You are 100% right again Matt.I apologize for the second time.

Now please do like I asked and leave me out of your post from now on and I'll do the same.That dosen't seem to hard to understand.

Don Driver

I agree if you agree.

I hate to be rude, but when people get me ticked of, I get REALLY ticked off.

As far as being hard to understand, I had said for us to leave each other alone a LONG time ago.

-Matt

Maybe I can help clear this up. I MUST take Don's side. He has said innumerable times in many places, including on his DVD, "Be a pitchman, not a magician.". Frankly, as I see it, THAT is what he is saying now. And I THINK he is right.

I’m sure there are people out there that make GOOD money doing cards AND being a magician. But for the dummies such as I, who are just starting, attempting to do BOTH before I do ONE well, just doesn’t make sense.

If YOU CAN do both, I say DO IT. I can’t and the reason I bought Don’s DVD was because HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT. Heck, after 30 years, HE SHOULD. I am getting better on the cards each week than the week before (I THINK!) but still don’t want to do the worms, even tho many CAN and DO. Seth does, Don does, I don’t.

If someone can sell OTHER magic and make a profit—DO IT. But frankly, getting into a tiff over semantics does not seem to be the way to conduct this forum.

For experienced people, BE A MAGIC store or whatever you wish.

But THIS dummy will take Don’s advice and…be a pitchman, thank you very much.

Jon

Thanks Jon.

I guess when I said "You won't make any money with the magic shop PEROID!" That was a bit to strong.I should have said "as much" than saying "any" I was wrong saying that.

I meant to say you'll make more pitching one or two items than if you had a magic shop but I didn't.So for that I was wrong.

I'm just to old and to tired to fight with other people here.Its not worth it.

Don

I do both.

I have beginner and intermediate stuff, as well as pitching the Svengali decks.

I am not demoing anything but the cards until someone asks. Usually, other items leave with the cards.

I was not telling anyone to open a portable magic shop, but by having the other stuff does help bring in some additional money.

If someone came by looking for something specific, like S&S or a thumb tip, and you said, 'no, but there is a magic shop that is only an hour and a half away', that person will leave empty handed, that does not look good.

If someone says, 'do have something different' or 'do you have something with coins' or even whispers to you so that no one else hears 'do you have the fake thumb that you stuff things in' that is an easy sale that you do not have to turn away. I have had that happen where the person even says, 'Let me get the cards, too, for my grandson.' BAM two items. By keeping them the minute longer than they would have been there, you just sold two items.

Siblings will want to each get a different item, what if there are 3 siblings, or a group of friends that all want something different?

That is why I have more than just cards and worms. These are all situations that I have dealt with and was ready to handle.

-Matt

Matt,

I'm happy for you and wish you nothing but success in your endeaver. But when people either DO or DON'T buy the cards from me, NO ONE has ever asked for something else in the same line. Not for the year I've sold cards. So I truly see no need for anything else. (Sorry, Don.)

I also sell wire strippers and in the same situation, in 15 years, no one has ever asked for a hammer nor a pair of pliers. They either buy the strippers or they don't. They understand I'm a pitchman, not a hardware store. Maybe if I had pliers or hammers available MAYBE I'd sell some but...I'm a pitchman.

BUT--to me, it's not a "tip", it's a group. It's not a "joint" it's a space. It's not a "pitch" it's a demo. So maybe I have not become a "carny" in addition to being a pitchman. But so what? I'M STILL A PITCHMAN! PERIOD!

Jon

(Sorry, Don.) For what Jon?

In 30 years of pitching Svengali decks I could count on one hand how many times someone ask for something else magic,and that's the truth.Maybe I was working the wrong spots for all thoses years...darn all I did was make good money.How silly of me.

Don

Here we go again.

Matt, if you want to pitch Svengali decks, and you also have the funds and the ability to stock a dozen different (and relatively expensive) other items that you don't even advertise or demo, on the off chance that somebody will ask to buy them, hey, it's a free country, you can do what you like. Who knows, maybe you will be the next Geno Munari or Marshall Brodien.

So have at it and have a good time, I certainly hope you are successful. Since it's obvious you don't need any more advice, don't look for it here. SETH

I am lucky enough to call both Geno and Marshall my friends.They are both very good at merchandising.Trust me,nobody posting here(except maybe you Seth) will ever be as successful as either one of them.(and I include my name in that)

foot note: Marshall signed his book to me "The Magical Life of Marshall Brodien" The inscription says: "To Don Driver...the worlds greatest Svengali pitchman" Than above words "worlds and greatest" is an insert with an arrow that says "SECOND"

Do I treasure that!

Don

Speaking of the devil.Someone just sent me Marshall Brodien's TV add for the TV Magic Cards.Here it is.

http://www.jelmar.com/historical.htm

Lower left hand side...enjoy.

Don

Wow, what memories that brings back! Don, thanks much for sharing that.
Bob.

That really takes me back. Thanks, Don!

I actually worked for Marshall at TV Magic about 35 years ago. He literally knows everybody in show biz. People like Johnny Thompson, Norm Nielsen, Mark Wilson, and even Tuffy Truesdale with "Victor the Wrasslin' Bear" would stop by to visit all the time. I wish I had a camera back then!

He's a GREAT guy. Man, can he tell some stories! He still lives only a few miles away from me.


Scott

Hi all,
I keep hearing/reading references to these "TV Magic Cards" - on here, and Paul Green on his DVDs, for example. I'm assuming they're either strippers or Svengalis - am I close? I'm on an EXTREMELY slow dial-up, and can't afford the luxury of waiting half an hour for that clip to download.
And if they ARE Svengalis, they must have been thrashed to death? How did Don and the other pitchmen cope with that exposure? Did it help boost sales? Did people relate the TV cards to the pitch? Was there a big difference in price? How long did the tv ad run? Was it years? If so - from when till when?

Tks!

DCB

DCB-

they were Svengalis. I imagine that pitchmen probably made out tremendously- imagine having a product that was being advertised heavily on TV, without having to lay out a cent for that advertising. It's almost 40 years later, and I still remember the commercials. I think they probably ran for a year or so, back in the early 70's. Again, my recollection was that the ads ran on local channels moreso than networks. Here in NY, they used to run on WPIX and WNEW, and again if I recall, mostly after school and weekends. They knew their target market!

Don, were you pitching back then?