The Art Of The Deal

It’s been yet another one of those weeks where the days seem to blur into each other, and where the highlight was receiving a conference call before 7:30 in the morning from a colleague who had butt-dialled the entire team. Cue several confused voices all worried that something major was going on, but all we could hear in the background was the sound of someone getting ready for work. Because I’m me, I posted a gif in the team chat a while later that said, “When you pocket-dial the entire team…” with a picture of Hugh Laurie from House going, “Oops” (I didn’t say butt-dial in the team chat because I’m a professional, dammit). Later, I noticed that everyone but the culprit had reacted to the gif, so I got suspicious and messaged him:

Me: Did you like the gif I posted?
Colleague: Yes, lol.
Me: You know why I posted it, right?
Colleague: No, why?

At that point, I may or may not have led him to believe that it was a video call, and he was momentarily horrified:

Colleague: What was on screen?!
Me: Well…
Colleague: Seriously? Omg???

I finally put him out of his misery and assured him that it was audio only. I can’t be too judgmental though—I’m the one who answers video calls by putting the phone to my ear, which I’m sure my co-workers appreciate.

At any rate, this week I was looking for cheap jigsaw puzzles and happened to be on Facebook Marketplace. Some of the ads are quite interesting as I’ve discussed before and, based on what I’ve seen, it occurs to me that I could make a fortune at helping people market their crap on there. So here are my four tips to making a great sale:

1) Truth in advertising

If you’re trying to sell something, it’s important that you’re honest with your customers and this advertisement is demonstrably inaccurate. There is no old ass in this painting anywhere—no elderly politician, no giant donkey, no wrinkled butt to be seen. The only ass in the picture belongs to the boar and it looks remarkably youthful. I was expecting something completely different based on the description, as you can well imagine. Also, it’s become de rigeur to set a price of $123 if you have no clue how much something is worth, yet below it says, “Sold at auction for €3000 euros which is like $4600 Canadian”. So the painting is already sold? Is this just someone bragging? Instead of sending the polite auto-message that says “Good afternoon, is this still available?”, I really wanted to send, “WTF is this?” But then I checked the profile picture of the seller, which featured a young couple who looked as though they imbibed frequently on certain mind-altering substances, and suddenly the whole thing made sense in a drug-fuelled fantasy kind of way. Still, the truth is important and this old ass painting has yet to sell.

2) Clarity

While this ad is accurate—there ‘is’ indeed two of them—the question remains: Two of WHAT? And the question remains unanswered in the description below, which simply reiterates, “There is two of them”. Did the person who posted this ad really think the picture speaks for itself? Because the only thing it’s saying to me is “There is two of them.” After that, I’m at a loss. Clarity—because none of us are f*cking mind readers.

3) Don’t get too fancy

I’ve never been to Antigue Dispaly, which I assume is one of the minor islands off the coast of Antigua. And I also don’t know how many styles of cabinets they make there, but I’m assuming at least 16 based on this ad. But is all of that really necessary? Do you really need to dazzle potential customers with your exotic Antigue wood? IT’S A CABINET. No one cares where it comes from, Bob. If it was that rare, you’d be asking a hell of a lot more than $175 so take it down a notch.

4) Be willing to compromise

This ad is a perfect example of someone who truly understands marketing. First, it’s completely accurate and honest. The ad description says “Sold” and it’s a picture of the word “Sold”. Second, it’s very clearly written and easily understandable—nothing convoluted here. Third, it’s not fancy—there’s no swirly font, and it just screams simplicity the way it’s on a piece of lined paper and whatnot. Finally, Debbra knows that her audience appreciates a good buy and has dropped the rather hefty asking price by 50% for a quick sale. This is what it’s all about, people.

I hope you appreciate my sound marketing advice, and with that in mind, I leave you to guess what this ad featuring Sir Turdalot is for (hint—he’s not for sale).

56 thoughts on “The Art Of The Deal”

  1. If I’m going to buy an old ass painting of dogs, they better be playing poker. Maybe they caught the boar with a few aces up his sleeve? And I wonder if the old ass painting is old ass enough to be dispalyed in an antigue cabinet?

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  3. Antigue Dispaly….omg I’m dying over here! 🤣😝😂😆
    I trust your savvy sales advice Suzanne, just like I’d trust you to let the butt dialer know it was them who butt dialed the entire group. I mean how do you not know you butt dialed at all!?!? 🤔

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  4. So funny! A few years ago, a woman posted something strange to the neighborhood Facebook page–some kind of random numbers or something, so people responded–asking what she meant, and she said she had accidentally posted something–while she was getting her yearly pelvic exam, and she was grateful it was not a picture of that exam, so I guess it’s also possible to “butt-dial” Facebook too?

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  6. I might have to get on FB just for the marketplace laughs!  JK!  Thanks for another fun Sunday morning.  Since it’s minus 13 F here in Cheyenne and wind chills to a possible -40F we all need a good hearty laugh to warm us up!

    Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

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  9. For Sale: Crossword puzzle, no clues.
    For Sale: Jigsaw puzzle, edge pieces missing.
    For Sale: Chinese puzzle box, superglued.
    For Sale: The Puzzler’s green leotard, somewhat stretched out in unexpected locations.

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  10. Wish we lived closer to puzzle swap…although the one we did last night has one piece that was retrieved from Walt’s mouth – we left it for last and it fit where it should but no longer bears any hint of picture. You don’t mind that, right?

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  12. Man, am I dumb. I always thought antigue dispaly was a medical condition. It’s a place. Wow. No wonder people looked at me weird when we were talking about it and I said that I thought I had it.

    Learn something new, right? Cheers

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  13. A friend of mine sells candles on Facebook, mostly creepy, weird candles of skulls and Cthulu and demons and D&D dice and other fun stuff. It was very funny to me that she said one was cinnamon scented and filled with happiness and someone asked, “What does happiness smell like?” She replied, “The candle smells like cinnamon. Happiness smells like puppies and sunshine.” I thought, well, that’s accurate, but you’re wrecking your goth cred there.
    I may send her a picture of Sir Turdalot. I can understand why he’s not for sale–obviously his owners wouldn’t want to part with him no matter how accurate his name is–but he could make a great candle. Just don’t ask what the scent is.

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  14. I’m thinking two of us should buy “two of them”, give each half an amulet, and see if they ever reunite to put the amulet together. If they do, then the amulet will reveal their true identity. Maybe a bit convoluted, but it could work.

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  21. Lol! I look forward to your Sunday posts! Thank you for the daffy finds. I’d buy the dog. The costume it’s wearing looks like it’s for the Renaissance festival? Or a stand-in for a Shakespeare festival?
    The painting, if a real painting, looks valuable. Hunting themes were popular in 1700s style – could be German. Hard to tell. Now I’m going to have to check it out! 😆

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  22. Okay it’s by Frans Snyder Flemish Painter 17th century. Student of Brueghel. But I could not locate this particular painting. Very frustrating. Except that Wayfair the online furniture seller comes up with copies for sale for one… nerd out. His real paintings are worth lots of €€€.

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