I asked Brad Ross a few questions about his new dollar bill and let's just say he was less-than-helpful.

Hi Everyone,

Brad Ross here. I rarely comment on these "gossip" threads as they are a waste of time quite often and a whole bunch of "he said" vs "she said" & assumptions which is exactly what is happening here.

If you were to research my history wit this bill you would find out that up until a few days ago, I was selling Michael's bill. In fact I sold them along with my booklet "Big Bucks for Birthdays" for several years and sold Michael's bills quite well, I might add. It served me VERY well and Michael is a friend and a customer of mine.

I used his copy WITH his permission to SELL HIS BILL. In effort to offer MY bill - which uses the same tricks as Michael's - which he agreed to let me do - and get it out SOON after my convention specials at KIDabra & Magic LIVE... I didn't change the copy of the website as fast as I had hoped to.

I have gotten SO many orders from my one day sale yesterday that we have to order MORE CD's since we can't even keep up with the orders that poured in. I'm serious about that - that is NOT HYPE.

Before releasing this bill I checked with Eric as well as Michael. Nether objected and if either did, I was going to scrap the idea and just use it for my own purpose or make the changes that they requested in order for it to be "okay" by them.

Both Eric (current owner of Ed Harris Mystery Dollar) and Michael Messing said they liked the new bill and I "had their blessing.

Now, I may run the risk of making some folks angry with me, but don't think I'm out of line to say that rather than making assumptions about what a particular situation is - why not send one of the people involved an email and just ask.

You'll learn a whole lot MORE if you speak with the source.

My bill is not a rip off. The testimonials are not rip offs. The testimonials in question were also left over from the original sales page selling Michael's bills. There on the website proving the point that ANY magic dollar bill WILL BOOK YOU SHOWS if you use it correctly - the Ed Harris Bill, The Michael Messing Bill or mine.

I have now changed the copy along with Michael Messing to make sure there isn't conflict and I have added new testimonials from people who ordered over the last few weeks.

I created my version of the bill so I could offer something new to MY audiences. If you don't like my version, please buy the Ed Harris or Michael Messing bill. They are all great. I would not be offended if you choose not to order.

I LOVE my new design and the full color of it AS WELL AS the fact that it costs me 2 cents to reproduce when my black & white previous bills cost me 5+ cents.

The whole idea is to give away something of value. I have ALL 3 versions and use them all for different purposes.

So in conclusion, please guys - if you get nothing else from this rare post I am making - take a few minutes before YOU POST something based on assumption or gossip and just send an email to the "people being talked about" to find out for yourself if you really want to know the truth.

Thanks for your time and I wish you all the success in the world,
best,
BR

It is sad you have to make that statement. Had you said in the sales copy, another bill user - rather than changed the text slightly and tried to attribute an experience to yourself - no one would have reason to raise the issue or doubt your claims. Hopefully in the future you won't hype - but be honest about your (or give credit to other's) actual experiences with products.

Glad to find out you are making the changes.

Hi Brad,
In a forum on the business of magic, participated in by a group of business persons with strong interest in that same subject, a discussion was started on the ad copy of one of your products. These discussions have the purposes of staying informed and keeping up with the latest trends and products, and are bona fide business practices used by professionals in every industry. This forum and this thread are serving that very purpose. Considering the difficulty for any of us to meet in person, I think it is an admirable use of this technology.

To characterize any of us having this discussion as ‘gossips’ and to chastise us for failing to contact you is to completely misunderstand the respectable discussion taking place in an appropriate meeting place, by your past, current and potential customers. Having spent $300 with you myself, I take exception to your labeling.

With regard to failing to contact you, remember this: the entire discussion about your ad copy, including your response, has taken place in a less than a 24-hour period. It was safe to assume you would become aware of it and have an opportunity to contribute, and that is exactly what happened.

In your first paragraph mentioning “gossip . . . waste of time . . . whole bunch of "he said" vs "she said" . . . assumptions which is exactly what is happening here”, I imagine I am not the only person to wonder if what you read is different than what we wrote, and if your crafted response couldn’t have benefited from a day or two longer delay accompanied with re-reading - or to quote you “take a few minutes before YOU POST something based on assumption or gossip”. I’m still looking for the ‘assumptions’ that prompted your bold “exactly what is happening here.” I saw questions being raised.

You address many facets not brought up by anyone here, including how many orders you’ve received, how much you love your new design, and how much the bills cost you to reproduce.

If you had responded to the very specific and legitimate concerns (and that’s all they were) initially posed by demente42, you wouldn’t be reading this post right now.

Here was his and other’s concerns:
(My brother's an orthodontist and he called me up to see if I was the one who taught one of his friends some magic!)
(My brother's a CPA and he called me up to see if I was the one who taught one of his friends some magic!)

My second lead from the "New Brad Ross Funny Money Cartoon Bill" was for a big festival. I booked this show, too.
My second lead from the "New Jumbo Magic Dollar" was for a big festival. I booked this show, too.

I know you get the point of his concerns, and hope that you would see his questions based on his observations as legitimate. Questions you would probably raise had you read them on someone else’s site. Though demente42 used the word ‘testimonial’, he was not referring to your client testimonials that you defended, he was referring to the testimonial of your own personal experiences that matched Michael’s word for word.

Since this is the thrust of the discussion at hand, and because you only address it in your response with this one sentence “I didn't change the copy of the website as fast as I had hoped to.“, the raised questions and concerns still stand as reasonable.

In essence - whether or not this copy was in place before or after your change to your new bills is irrelevant to our discussion. The questions were about whether your experience with your orthodontist brother and your second lead, and the other similarities were coincidental occurrences or crafted. As tacrowl said: “making a "modified" business claim, even when borrowed with permission, is wrong if you didn't actually experience it.”

Please understand, THIS is the discussion that was taking place, and you missed an opportunity to address it. Rather than seeing an opportunity to learn from the thread, you used this opportunity to chastise.

In demente42’s questions, he was trying to make an informed buying decision, and trying to make sure he did the right thing and asked for someone to shed some light on it for him - in a thread already visited by Eric and Michael. Seems an appropriate place to ask, and an admirable reason as well. He was very clear about this in his first posting.

He didn’t accuse you of anything, and neither did Donald, nor myself, nor Michael. But you painted with a broad brush in your choice to call it gossiping while ignoring the actual point of the discussion taking place.

You said if we get nothing else from your rare post we should “just send an email to the "people being talked about" to find out for yourself if you really want to know the truth.”. If that is your most important point, then you missed ours. And you missed that each of those people went to your website, straight to you, to seek the truth.

If you wonder why this is important enough to me and likely to others, to warrant this attention and response to your post, it is because I’ve purchased so many books and products over the years related to this business of marketing and product add-ons. It started with my purchase in 1983 of David Ginn’s Promoting Me and You II, and led to material from, among others - David Dee, Jim Snack, Eric Paul, Michael Bailey, Seth Godin, DJ Ehlert, Jay Levinson, MIllard Grubb, Joel Bauer, and you. I am in a fair position to participate in relevant discussions and to care deeply about the matters being discussed.

These ‘gossip’ threads may be a ‘waste of time’ for you, but they can be a serious resource for professionals seeking like-minded colleague’s opinions before spending hard-earned cash in a time when every cent must count.

How you missed that is beyond me.

I'm not sure if I came across incorrectly in this part of my post, or not. But just in case, I want to clarify that it was not any of Brad Ross's products that I rejected for review. I haven't purchased any of his products, nor have I been given any for review.

All I know of his products is what I have read about online (website, emails and video), or heard about from word of mouth from friends. So, I'm sharing from that point of view.

- Donald

I agree that Brad made a mistake here. It was clear. It's a shame he didn't take responsbility for it. Nobody is perfect and we shouldn't expect that but it's better to face things. That shows character. It was the cover up that got Nixon not the break-in.

Jim

Used Michael bills for years and it worked great. The color ones to me is a face lift and cheaper.

Cheaper to print, you mean? (Brad's template is a lot more than mine.) I am curious as to whether the savings are significant or not. The price for having 20,000 bills printed (10,000) sheets is great but I'm not sure it would be more for black & white printing in the same quantity. If you use Brad's printer, it looks like the price for 5,000 bills (2,500) sheets is pretty comparable to what I paid for black & white ones at my local printer. Of course, Brad's are in color.

Sorry Michael YES . . .cheaper to print.

I would buy from Eric Paul before I would even consider buying from Brad

Well I guess I can't get too upset about what's being discussed. It's interesting that some people use the Magic Café for serious research and advice and others only take 50% of the content as truthful and some of us never use the internet for any information.
The history of magic is full of lies, exaggerations and gossip, just like this website, it's one of the reasons I like magicians so much, but I don't take life too seriously but why call someone a liar. Surely it's just another version of the truth?

I like the two free mints you get with your order of Brad Ross's Mystery Dollar.

I've had some recent dealings with Brad Ross via email. Let's just say that he comes across as the total opposite of what he portrays himself as - a super friendly professional helpful sort of guy. He came across as arrogant, rude and unhelpful in dealing with my enquiries. I gave up in the end.

Yup, same experience here! Too bad....

Anyone else get his "sale" email today? I just laughed at the kind of discounts he was offering.

Hmmmmm.....not sure why you laughed, a discount is a discount. (I trust you read the entire e-mail as he not only gave a dollar rebate, but he had discounted several products as well 10-40%)

I will not comment on Brads' products here, but will say that unlike many in the information marketing business (magic and otherwise) Brad rarely discounts, or bundles many of his products at a lower price.

So...if you have wanted to pick up something now would be the chance at a little cheaper price.

(An example I could also use is that when Axtel gave a 10% discount a few years back I jumped on it as Steve rarely gave discounts, so 10% was just fine with me.)

Blair

"Ed Harris Magic-Art CD for Magicians", anyone have any information as to who has this product now? It seems that Eric Paul has died an Internet death, as all is websites are gone. I guess his Avatar was not a true representation of him, as noted in a post, he as now old and very ill.

Dazzling Magic had some on their site, but the CD is no longer listed. Which of couse means, they cannot get a supply as well.

You have some wrong info, Bill.

Eric Paul passed away from cancer in late December 2009. That's almost 3 years ago now.

This is mentioned on several threads. He owned the rights to his products and Ed Harris products. When he passed away, his estate was not settled in the usual way, and so the rights to those products are now lost. No one can take them over. If they copy them and sell them, then they are violating the copyright on them (which still exists after the author's death).

They are collectables.

- Donald

P.S. Here's one post about it. Here's another thread. Here's another thread, again. Like I said, it's been mentioned on many threads over the past 2 years and 11 months since his passing.

Thank You Donald...

Thanks for the info Donald, I was not on the Café in 2009 much at all, so I missed any kind of announcement.

So it sounds like there is or was no estate for Eric Paul, so who would sue the person that violates the Copyright?

If it was registered in Eric Paul's name, then I would think death cancels the Copyrights. No estate, no heirs, means if anyone could find the disk, and copy them, they could bring them back to market, I would think.