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Look at it this way…

July 22, 2007 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

TGtbT.com wants you to ask "How much will it MAKE me?"I love quotes, don’t you? Can’t find the source of this one, but it’s worth a little mulling over:

A poor man asks, “How much will it COST me?”
A rich man asks, “How much will it MAKE me?”

That’s a vivid way of pointing out thatsome purchases are simply expenses and quickly used up, pointless, useless or gone, while other purchases are investments. Think about what you’ve bought for your business recently.

A shopkeeper I know was really proud of the incredibly low price she paid for an entire wall of shelving she bought at a going-out-of-business store. And it was cheap! Trouble was, she wanted to display shoes and the shelving was very deep. So what she got was a square-footage hog that hid, in its shadowy depths, the very merchandise she wanted to show & sell. She was so overwhelmed by how little it cost her, that she didn’t stop to think if it would make her anything (and in fact, it cost her in lost sales and wasted space.) No bargain, was it?

Another example: I just got a message left on my phone by an outraged man, who asked me how I dare sell TGtbT The Manual for $76.95.”That’s ridiculous when I want to start a store that saves people money, that you charge so much!” He was so overwhelmed that an operations manual cost more than a paperback novel, that he never stopped to think how much that investment could make him. The value of a business purchase is in its usefulness to the task at hand. In his case, learning to open, operate, and make profitable a resale shop.

So, next time you’re thinking of a purchase for your business, take a breath and think: Have I considered how much this purchase can make me, or am I simply looking at the price? Is it a bargain simply because it’s cheap…or will it help me accomplish something that is worth many times the price I have to pay? We all know, as resalers, that something useless is not a bargain at any price (well, until we resell it in our shops to another person to whom it’s a treasure! LOL)

Posted in Shopkeeping talk | 6 Comments »

We we we all the way home….

July 21, 2007 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

we-we-we all the way home: they NEED to know what's in it for themWe talked about WIIFM a little while back. Well, recently, I ran across two most grievous examples on resale shop web sites of WII-FM not being on your playlist.

First example: At [name deleted], we have our own unique sense of style. We know what sells in our store. Please respect our right to accept items accordingly.

Well, kiss my grits, is my reaction to the attitude expressed in those few words. No way I am going to subject myself to that mentality. In fact, I wouldn’t even shop there.

Example from another site, this time in a FAQ: How does [name deleted] decide what to sell my clothing for? Answer: …we are aware of what is currently popular with our customers. We know the market and what is in demand and what is not.

Huh? Now, maybe I’m just sensitive, but doesn’t that smack of Don’t make me get out the flying monkeys ? As in, shut up and obey?

It’s NOT all about “we.” It’s about ME. Simple, simple rewordings of these would make the client feel more welcomed, more willing to participate…and less ready to do battle.

Or they could continue to we we we all the way home…or into bankruptcy court.

Further reading on we-we-we statements

Posted in Shopkeeping talk | Tagged , | 4 Comments »

You never know who’s watching…

July 19, 2007 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

Last night we went to dinner to a restaurant we’ve never gone to before, here in Sarasota Florida where we’ve lived for 10 years. We’re having a merry time, and all of a sudden, a stranger from another table comes over. She says, “Excuse me, are you from Ohio?” I nod. “Columbus?” Yes. “One More Time?” Oh my goodness, she has recognized me from a dozen years ago, when she shopped in the consignment shop I founded in Grandview Heights, One More Time.

Boy, that’s fun, on your 60th birthday to be recognized from 12 years earlier (hey, I must not be lookin’ too bad!)…until she said “I thought I knew that voice!”

Same thing happened years ago, when my shop (and I) were much younger. I was in a children’s play, an annual fund raiser for Children’s Hospital, and I was a dragon. Green union suit, tail, green makeup, false eyelashes, and I even breathed fire. So there I am, dressed up like a foolish dragon, doing my newly-learned trick of breathing fire, when a young audience member, who I guess really got into the story, yelled “Kate!” Some 8-year-old recognized me by my voice too!

Lesson learned. Lower my voice…and wear makeup, preferable not green, next time I go out. You never know when someone’s watching listening!

Posted in Slices of (my) life | 1 Comment »

Soon, there will be only half as many…

July 17, 2007 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

Whistling ducksMy whistling ducks out my office window are losing their reflections day by day.

No, they aren’t becoming vampires. The pond is drying up. The drought here is getting really dangerous for all Floridians.

The whistling ducks (which look like a cross between a duck and a sleek goose, with their long legs and their “Roman nose” beaks) and the regular ducks sit in the shade of the live oak on the bank of the disappearing pond and stare out at the lowering water level, which means less fish, which means less food. The herons and egrets stand in the middle of the pond amongst the lily pads, and their knees don’t even get wet.

Once in a while a wood stork struts by, looking disgruntled. (But then again, wood storks always look disgruntled.) And the one mamma duck with babies is losing them at the rate of one every day or two… not their reflections but her real babies, the little bright-eyed ducklings who scurry across the lily pads chasing bugs.

The dragonflies are out in full force though. Eating lunch today, I saw a grass stem with six small green dragonflies lined up facing exactly the same way, and a much bigger, pink dragonfly on the tip of the stem, facing the opposite way.

We wish it would rain.

Posted in Slices of (my) life | 1 Comment »

Happy birthday, emoticon, baby! ;-)

July 15, 2007 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

Who knew? Emoticons have a birthday, and it’s September 19.

The little smiley face 🙂 and its cousins turn 25 this year. (You’re not supposed to call them smiley faces though. Apparently that word is copyrighted. That’s why they have the robot-like name, Emoticons.)

Yes, it was back in 1982 when Continue Reading »

Posted in Slices of (my) life | 1 Comment »

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