Feel free to share tips on how to get people to buy more of what you are selling! I'll start with some basics -

1. People are very lazy! Make the process of buying from you as easy as possible!

2. Don't feel shy to directly ask people to buy stuff from you! (I learnt this lesson the hard way!)

3. Presentation Matters.

When my rife and our purchased our retail business, the previous owner sold the gourmet teas in Ziploc bags. She sold one ounce of tea at a time at highly inflated prices. The customers however purchased the tea because it is much better than anything you could buy in the store in both quality and variety of flavors.

The first thing we did was re-evaluate the prices. We found we could sell 4 ounces of the tea for a lower price than it was previous for less cost while maintaining a 60% margin. It was still in the ziploc bags but we sealed them so they were tamper resistant. Even with this, sales increased over 30%.

Next we decided to improve the packaging. Since tea is a dried botanical it breaks down in light. While the flavor might be there in a diminished form, it wasn't the best quality we could give. We decided on brush aluminum tins that would hold between 3 and 4 ounces depending on the tea's bulk. These were finished with a custom printed label that I make on my SOHO computer and print on an HP 5510 ink jet. They were finished with shrinkbands. When we introduced the new packaging, we had to increas our prices but the overall margin dropped to 55% in order to balance cost with the value the customer was getting. I knew if my price was too high, they would stop buying because customers are a fickle creature. However, sales increased another 30% with the new packaging.

This allow us to give a better quality product and the customer doesn't have to worry about whether it was exposed or not. Also opens up a lot of new presentation options. With the bags, we put the teas in baskets and on shelves at festivals and events. People had to look through and find what they wanted flea market style. Now with the Tins, I am building display feeders that hold six tins of each variety. The customer simply removes the bottom tin and the others fall down in place. This is complimented with a pyramid like display. Not only does this increase visibility but it decreases on site setup.

Another thing -

People Don't want cheap stuff, they want bargains! Your job is to display the value of your product and show that your price is a bargain for what you are offering!

I love it!

Wayne Luke has it right and Pulse put the right words on it. They want a bargain.

Some months ago I read The Call of the Mall. That was exactly the authors statement.

I recall that the statement was made about cosmetics. Now and then a store will offer a free bag with a purchase of 25 dollars. What they are doing is NOT giving away a bag, rather, they are discounting the cosmetics and the customer is buying the bag. But when it is women and their cosmetics, there are some things that cannot be said.

Malls are loaded with subtle things. Great book.

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Ed Shuck