Number 1: Change the units.

Having been faced with the situation where dealers had complained that $3.00 a pair was too much for them to pay for a pair of killies I decided to use a bit of psycology.

``Hi. You some killies ?''

``Sure, let me look at them...oh, gardneri... how much do you want for them ?''

``Well, if you give me $2 each for them, I'll buy that stack of old British magazines in the corner collecting dust''

``Sure''

(To stick the spikes in a bit further)

``Well, uh, the magazines are labaled $4, can I have them for $3.50''

``Sure''

``And if I buy all the Farlowellas can I get them cheaper ?''

``Sure, you can have them for $3.50; normally they're $4''

``Sure''

Sure was an agreeable fella.

Number 2: Scavange

``Can I have some Bacopa, there''

``We don't have any left''

``But theres some floating on the surface''

``It's no good''

(Looked ok to me)

``Ok'' (Gather up all the bacope on the surface, plus all the "Rotala magenta" and a lone piece of pennywort) ``Can I have these ?''

``Sure. I'll only charge you $1 for that''

It was about $8 worth of plants, all doing well, thank you.

Number 3: Capitalize on their fear.

``Hi. What are those plants there''

``Those are Cryptocoryne balansae'' (No they're not, they're Aponogeton biovinanus)

``Oh. If I by them all can I get them cheaper ?''

``Yeah, they're normally $7, but they're a bit ragged, you can have them for $5''

``How bout $3''

``No way, thats less than my cost''

(Close in for the kill)

``Ok, I'll take them for your cost. They're dying (insert stock lecture about changing fluorescent tubes periodically) and next week they'll be lumps of mush you won't be able to sell''

``Ok, you can have them for $3.50''

``Ok''

(We get up to the checkout counter)

``I only charged you $2.50 each for those. A couple of them were really small''

Richard Sexton, November 1989