I was just in Bed,Bath & Beyond doing some Christmas shopping & found Squirmles prominently displayed with a running video of Carl doing the demo. They were selling in a 2 pack ( 1 reg. & 1 baby ) for $2.99.

This is the first time I have seen them in this type of store, I also could no longer find them in Wal-Mart!

Just thought you would like to know.

Mark

Carl just got them in Bed Bath and Beyond and they are still in Walmart,the same package as BBB.

Don, is this just during the holiday season or will they have the video display year round? I wouldn't think the typical BBB shopper would fit the age demographic any other time.

I have no idea.

Don

You're probably concerned about the diff in price between yours and theirs. I gotta tell you, I've sold strippers for almost 20 years. Many places sell a very cheap version of mine for $1 or so. I sell mine, 2 for $20. In the time I've sold 'em, I've had many people mention the cheapies.

I keep several pieces of iron pyrites (fool's gold) in my cash box. When someone says something like, "I can get those for $...., I just pull out my fool's gold and say, "Do you know what this is?"

"Nope"

"Fools gold. Looks like real gold but it isn't. Fools lotsa people, tho. That's why it's called 'fools gold'. There are places that sell strippers that LOOK like mine, kinda like 'fool's gold' looks like real gold. But they're NOT mine. That's why they're $.... and mine are 2 for $20. Which kinda gold do YOU want? The real stuff or..." and I drop the piece of fool's gold on the table.

I don't always sell them because some people just use price as excuse for not buying. But I do sell some. I just don't back down when it comes to price.

Good luck.

Jon

Jon
I love that bit about the fools gold! I will be using that one! Thanks!

Carl says he sold 180,000 at BBB last week...pretty good demographic - it's gotta be the video!

./sam

I have been to BBB a lot recently.
The next to the last last visit I saw the display with the video running and the Squirmles in the display ready to sell.
The last visit which was maybe 3 days ago, I saw the video running but the display filled with other items, not a Squirmles in sight.
Hopefully this means they sold out.

BBB does seem like an odd place to be selling the worms.

But you can't argue with those numbers! Just goes to show the appeal and power of this little trick. SETH

That really was my point. Everyone (mostly adults) looking for gifts, perfect stocking stuffer. The real test will be 12/26/10 till Thanksgiving 2011. I guess it really doesn't matter. If he sold 180,000 pieces in one month really doesn't matter how many sell the rest of the year.

Jon - Do you use the 2 Card Monte give away along with the Stripper deck? May get less complaints about seeing for less.

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I've sold WIRE strippers for almost 20 years. I also sell Svengali decks for $7 and do give away the TCM. I really have no competition with the decks, except for a couple of gun shows when David Walker was there. At that time I was selling them for $5 and he at $7. But his guy, Brian, said I was no competition for them, so they didn't say anything about it to me. Made me feel very important!

Jon

Another thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the times the mark is buying you and the pitch which makes the product and especially price not as relevant.

Example #1: At the California state fair there were Chinesse people undercutting us on the splat balls by more then half, people who saw us and saw them would come back and by from us. Sometimes we had to give them a deal but they didn't mind paying more to get them from us.

Example #2: At a recent gun show in Salt Lake their was another person selling the Floating Card and a magic "package". Her price was 1/3 of mine and people would still by my package over hers. (And it wasn't her technique, (she was very good) it was her sales skills.)

One more strange thing to factor into this: if something is priced too low, people will think it's "cheap," not good quality, and they won't buy it. Push the price up a little for the very same item, and all of a sudden, it's a good buy. Go figure!!

In my experience, the trick is to price something low enough to be a good impulse buy, but high enough that people perceive it to be worthwhile. People want a bargain, but they also want a good value for their money.

At least in these parts, I have found this means pricing my items for at least $5 but not more than $10, and preferably somewhere in between. So the Magic Worms are $6 each or two for $10, and the Svengali Decks are $8. The coin slides are still $5. Next season I may try for $9 on the decks, we'll see.

Fortunately, I have never had to deal with price-cutting, competition, or complaints that Wal-mart sells the same worm for 69 cents. (Besides, my Magic Worms can do lots more tricks and much neater tricks than the Wal-mart worms, because they come with much better instructions. I know this is true, because I wrote them myself.)

I also agree that a good pitch and a good demeanor is just as important as a good price, probably even more so. If you act like the worm or the Svengali Deck is the coolest magic trick in the world, the folks in the tip will think so, too. SETH

Good info guys.
Will, do you demo splats on a ceramic tile on ground? I was considering a vertical display. Set up an easle with a white board. The board has a paint tray that will catch the splat as it oozes down the wall. Less bending down involved and more visible. What do you think?

Just got this from Ali Baba.com. http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/319......101231vv

I've forgotten if these are the good ones or the not so good ones. Either way, 66 cents plus free shipping seems pretty good.

Jon

Hey Jon -- This worm looks pretty much like the ones you can get from D. Robbins in New Jersey, click HERE to view. Not sure if they are pre-tied or not. As with most of these worms, you probably should make up a supplementary instruction sheet to prevent walkbacks, as the instructions on the package are very rudimentary and not sufficient, in my opinion.

Robbins' price is comparable to Ali Baba's. While shipping isn't free, it's probably under $20 and you are doing business with an American company located in the USA. So you would have easy access to it if something should go wrong with the order (as opposed to chasing somebody all over China). Just my two cents! SETH