Selling on the N1

**pmbguy** · 13-Dec-13, 02:29 PM

Make no mistake it’s a very clever selling technique, but if somebody says to me it’s free it’s free finish and klaar. I won’t go...wow you screwed me so cleverly, here is R50 for your dishonesty...stuff that. You basically rewarding somebody because they sneaky.

Apart from clever scamming vendors, I support my local “rubbish guy” who takes your car trash in exchange for a fee. He has a sign around his neck that reads “The rubbish man”. He is a very friendly chap and business is rather good for him, lots of people use his services. I also have this old lady that sells sweets and chips near my wife’s work. Almost every day I get chips from her and chat about her family in Umtata. When my daughter is with me she comes up and gives her a free sweetie. Shame a real old loving Gogo. I like chatting to petrol attendants, car guards, tellers etc. Koenjane mvetu/mama wara wara...I like to banter with them.

What really pisses me off is when somebody is mean and stroppy with people they feel are beneath them, just to turn around and be all polite to somebody else who they feel have worth. That’s bullshit, you can tell allot about a person’s character by the way they treat those who are less fortunate than they are.

But by being sneaky and dishonest, like the hat scam guy, you do not deserve my compassion.

**AndyD** · 13-Dec-13, 03:14 PM

I think you're failing to differentiate between being shrewd and cunning and being dishonest. If you follow your theory all the way to its end then all advertising, which is basically convincing people they need a product when really they dont, would also be dishonest and tantamount to fraud.

The rubbish collectors have never sat that well with me, most of them coming from a culture where littering isn't considered a taboo I've always had a picture in my head of them dumping the rubbish behind the nearest bush at the end of the day.

It's kinda interesting how different people see different business models, even very simple ones, in a completely different light.

**pmbguy** · 13-Dec-13, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by AndyD

I think you're failing to differentiate between being shrewd and cunning and being dishonest. If you follow your theory all the way to its end then all advertising, which is basically convincing people they need a product when really they dont, would also be dishonest and tantamount to fraud.

The rubbish collectors have never sat that well with me, most of them coming from a culture where littering isn't considered a taboo I've always had a picture in my head of them dumping the rubbish behind the nearest bush at the end of the day.

It's kinda interesting how different people see different business models, even very simple ones, in a completely different light.

Hi Andy – with respect I think you might have some trouble in differentiating between the two

. Shrewdness and cunning have nothing to do with whether the deal is fundamentally dishonest.These are two separate issues. In other words, just because it is shrewd and cunning does not mean that one can overlook the blatant dishonesty.

If it is advertised as free and the guy never indented to give it away free but only said it’s free to procure a donation, it is dishonest, regardless of how shrewd it may be. The donation is for all intents and purposes the payment for the product. It was never free.

Furthermore, convincing people to buy a product they don’t really need is by no means the same as saying something is free when it is not. So I don’t see how or why you connect my statement to all advertising.

We can also exclude a possible comparison of how shops advertise something for free when you have to buy something else first, because the “hat guy” never had something else you must buy first.

But let me ask you this. In your shop would you advertise something for free only to tell the customer, product in hand, that you seek a donation given that you gave him the product for free? If you won’t do this then why?

My old rubbish guy stands by a set of robots where there are big bins and I have seen him chuck a full bag of rubbish in one of these bins. So I think my old chap is OK. But I must agree with you that there is a large possibility that most of these guys just go dump it next to the road. Indeed, littering is definitely not taboo within their culture

**AndyD** · 13-Dec-13, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by pmbguy

If it is advertised as free and the guy never indented to give it away free but only said it’s free to procure a donation, it is dishonest, regardless of how shrewd it may be. The donation is for all intents and purposes the payment for the product. It was never free.

They don't advertise the flowers as free but they are prepared to walk away without the donation and leave you with the flower if you don't want to give anything. They're basically saying that you must make the price and if you don't want to pay anything the that's also fine, keep it anyway.

**pmbguy** · 13-Dec-13, 08:12 PM

Yeah you right that's not bad at all, the flower thing is fine. I was referring to the hat thing which is totally dishonest. I think you thought I was talking about the flower thing and I thought you were talking about the hat thing.

**AndyD** · 13-Dec-13, 08:16 PM

Ah that explains it, I thought you were calling the flower guy dishonest. The hat guy is obviously a variation of the same principal but he has no intention of giving anything.