Tuesday, March 18, 2014

They drive a Land Yacht, but want to negotiate for a cheeseburger

Consumers are funny creatures.  Some will throw bags of money at some things on their wish list, while others will fight tooth and nail to penny pinch on something else. 

The wealthy don't seem to bat an eye:


Bentley Flying Spur....$200,000+.  "Want the dual-color instrument lighting for only $3,500 more?"
  
"Sure, I'm worth it.  Put it on my tab."  

"Want your initials embroidered on your headrest for another $2,500?"

"But of course."



Jimmy Choo shoes...*let's see....material, $35; labor, 1 Third World guy in a sweat shop, 1 hour. $.95; Jimmy Choo label, $3*  "For you Madam, $795."

"These, and some in blue, too, please."

And those on the other end of the economic spectrum seem willing to cough up whatever they're asked, too.



Tract house....."What's that sir?  You want the shutters painted a color other than the gray of the rest of the house?  Oh, gee....let's see, there's the labor to bring in a specialist from East St. Louis, a special order from Le Home Depot for some designer special-tint paint....that'll be $525."

"Well, that's what the Mrs wants, so I guess I can go sell some more blood."

Meanwhile, the customers I seem to attract, who get their ideas off the internet and those decorating magazines at the bookstore....

"So you want to add a tiered media room over your garage, complete with a home theater system, mood lighting, a fully stocked bar and a bath?  Yes, of course, Sir.  And what is your budget?"

"3,500.  And if you play your cards right there's a 20 in it for you, too.  You're welcome."

I must have "stoopid" written on my forehead.  I should go look.

S



16 comments:

  1. That's like doing chores for Grandma when you were a kid and getting a shiny quarter or nickel for it. Ooh, don't spend it all in one place!

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  2. I think you should open a Bentley dealership. You must work for people that made their own money...the big scores come from people who inherited it.

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  3. Scott, how do folks like that find you?

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    1. Like Joe said, my customers are upper middle class self-made people who got their money by working and saving. They don't part with it easily. The less affluent don 't know they're getting ripped off, and those who inherited it don 't care....money doesn't mean much to them. About 70% of my business is repeat customers or their direct referrals.

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  4. I can't tell you how many times I've stared at my forehead in the mirror looking for the word STUPID!

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  5. I have dealt with some of those as well. Let me drop a few thousand dollars on something and then expect a bespoke storage bag for it, but that shouldn't cost more than a few dollars at best

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  6. You just need to learn to say "no." It's easy. Repeat after me: "I would if I could, but I don't want to."

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  7. Thanks for reminding me my main home is a tract house and I know my second house is a cheap town home. I never made to the big time, but never had goals for that anyway.

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    1. Aww come on Tom. K and I are shopping for a cheap townhome. Really. It's all good. :)

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  9. This reminds me of when we wanted to renovate our church's kitchen - we wanted to make it usable as a soup kitchen. It ended up that with the money we had we could afford a new sink :)

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