When you sell Magic Cards, you are never at a loss for an interesting experience. Sometimes 2-3 per show. Yesterday, a couple of women came by, one of whom, about 60, had previously bought the cards. She wanted the other woman, maybe 40, to see the tricks. Hu Hum, I thot, another free show.

I did the pitch, with the older lady interrupting it maaaany times, saying, “Now watch this! This guy is really good! Watch what he does! Didja see that?”

“Yeah Yeah,” I thought, “let me get finished here so I can go make some money!” But, wonder of wonders, when I was finished, the younger lady said, “I’ll take 2 decks.” Wow!

I did my usual, “Hey, ya buy three decks, I’ll give you the 4th one free.” (No matter how many they want, 2 or more, I always raise it 1 and give them the next one free). The younger one said, “I’ll take it. But I wanna see your cards.”

“Sorree…You can look at your cards when you buy them. My cards are mine!”

Older lady said, “That’s exactly what you said when I bought mine.” Then to the younger one, “But I guarantee they are the same cards.”

Of course, they were not gonna be the same cards because she bought MM and I was now selling Loftus.

“But you gotta mix them up after you buy them, “ said the older.

“No, not this deck.” I said. “These are already mixed up. All ya gotta do is read the instructions and use ‘em. And here’s a slip with a you-tube demo showing exactly how to do the tricks—up close!”

“Why didn’t I get one of those?” asked the older.

“Didn’t have ‘em then. But here. Now you got one too.”

“OK, I’ll take the 4 but now I really wanna see your deck. I don’t understand how you made ‘em all 9s.”

“Simple,” I said. Remember, the 9 is shorter?”

“Yes.”

“Well, remember, when you turn the deck around, they’re all 9s?”

“Yes. But I still don’t understand how you turn regular cards into all 9s? I don’t even know how you made the 9 go thru the box and land on the table?”

Here was a lady who was truly mystified. I didn’t know whether to pat myself on the back for being soooo good—or bop her up side the head for being sooo dense!

The older lady finally said, “Honey, **** the deck is 9s. In mine, **** the deck is queen of clubs. It’s really pretty simple.”

“**** the deck is 9s? So how does he turn them into all regular cards? Why doesn’t **** of them come up 9s?”

Outside of actually taking the deck apart and showing her the deck, I saw no other way. I handed her the deck. She spread it out, looking at the cards. “I see that **** are 9s—but that still doesn’t explain how they come up ALL 9s or all different cards?”

OK, one last try. “The 9s are shorter so when you riffle the cards, you only touch the taller cards. You never touch the 9s. So depending on which way you riffle them, you either see the 9s or the other way, the different cards.”

As she paid me the $24, she shook her head and said to the other woman, “Well, I’m buying them, but they better work.”

As they walked away, the older lady said, “Honey, they work, don’t worry.”

I had really been on the verge of just saying, “Hey, don’t worry—don’t buy ‘em!” But, fortunately, I didn’t have to go that far

What is the secret of handling people who want to buy, but who flatly don’t understand the cards?

Jon

Hey, this is why God made instructions --- and also why you need to have good instructions to go with your Svengali Decks!

When someone comes back and says "I can't make the cards all the same," the first thing I say is "Did you read the instructions?" About half the time, the people (especially the kids) say "No," so I tell 'em to go read the instructions!

If they say "Yes," I ask what part of the instructions they didn't understand. And so on. Most of the time, they have just shuffled the deck incorrectly and disturbed the proper order of the cards. So I will take a minute to put the deck back in order, and then quickly show them how to settle the key cards by gently tapping the deck, and then how to shuffle correctly.

And sometimes, as in Jon's case, you can talk yourself blue in the face and it won't matter. So you just take the money and move on. As somebody once said, "You can't please all of the people all the time." SETH

At the top of the Loftus instructions it says, DO NOT SHUFFLE THE DECK! DO NOT TAMPER WITH THE DECK UNTIL READING THE INSTRUCTIONS! (Great Chinese translation into English!)

I had a problem with kids walking off with the Loftus instruction sheet when I did the pitch like Don does, so I have printed both sides of the Loftus instructions on one side of a page and put that page into a page protector. After they buy the cards I show them the instructions. I have altered the Loftus page so that there is a notice in big red/yellow print at the top that says, "DO NOT PLAY OR SHUFFLE THESE CARDS UNTIL YOU READ BOTH SIDES OF THESE INSTRUCTION!"

After they have paid for the cards, I have them read that paragraph. That usually answers any kid's questions, at least until they are home. But in this instance, I hadn't even gotten to the instructions because she hadn't paid me yet.

I hesitate to say she was stupid because I think she wasn't. She, like a few others, just didn't get it. I'm sure that her friend will show her and everything will be hotsyt-totsy. It will probably hit her like a lightning bolt, like it did me, when my wife 'got it' but I didn't.

Jon

You put the cards in their hands and show them how to riffle them ... watch Don Driver's video, that part alone is worth the price.

They don't really care "how" they work as much as they just want to know that they *DO* work ... which is exactly what she had said: "Well, I’m buying them but they better work".

I find the keyword "mechanical" useful ... as in ... it's a mechanical trick deck. It creates the impression that they don't need to know "how" they work, anymore than they need to know how a VCR works - it just does.

-JoeJoe

I agree with JoeJoe, "mechanical" is a good description and it's also accurate. In the same vein, I say that "the cards do all the work for you," which is at least 75% true anyway -- you still need to know how to handle the deck properly and how to do a decent DL.

Don's bit about riffling them in the spec's hand is also a great convincer. It also helps tighten up the tip, because they all move in closer to see what in the world the kid is doing. SETH

Mechanical! What a good word. "Ya don't have to know how it works, it just does." "The deck does all the tricks." I guess I was so frustrated attempting to show her how it worked, I forgot the basics. "KISS!"

Jon

"This is so easy any 7 year old can work it with 10 years practice...(smile)

LMAO

-JoeJoe



I removed all double lifts from my pitch ... solves a lot of problems. Seriously, it really does.

Shortens the pitch too - I did this based on Don Driver's talking about the Depression era (which is also worth the price of the DVD all by itself); the less money people have the more time they have ... I figure I wanted my pitch as short as possible, to appeal to the people with the most money.

-JoeJoe

That's most amazing. I'm guessing it works for you, otherwise you would put it back in. I can't imagine a Svengali pitch without a D.L.. When someone asked me what the one most important thing is in a Svengali pitch, without having to think about it I say, "That's a no brainer..., the D.L.."

I only use one DL, right at the top of the pitch, per Don's script. It gets the pitch off to a very good start, because the magic happens fast and it happens right in (actually under) the spec's hand.

I have seen other pitches that use numerous DL's. To me, that is just tempting fate and also completely unnecessary. But again, your particular mileage may vary.

To me, the most important moves in the pitch are the opening DL and the closing spread of the key cards, which never fails to cause jaws to drop. If those those two segments are executed well, you can't miss. SETH

I use 2 DLs, as per Don's script--opening and near the end when I ask the person to give me a # between 1 and 10. I count down and put the cards on the table, then show him the wrong card. Frankly, don't see how I could do it without the DL toward the end. Of course, I've read several other pitches but I like Don's. Works for me.

Jon

Jon, you're right, I had forgotten about the "cheater" bit at the end if they don't buy. One more DL there, and well worth it if you need it. SETH

I've been doing it that way for about three years now ... yes, it works very well for me ... I wouldn't dare put it back in, the pitch is so much stronger without it and I never have to teach anyone sleight-of-hand ever - because I do absolutely none. They can't come back and asked how I did such and such a move, because I never did that move.

-JoeJoe