What Can 2 Lamps at a Garage Sale Teach You about Online Marketing?

I’ve had these two lamps for years. In another time in my life, they framed the couch in my family room. Their uniqueness generated many comments from visitors, and served as a decorating focal point.

I really liked the lamps, but when I moved into my current home, I didn’t have a place for them. So they have sat unused in my garage for a couple of years, and as with all things that go unused for more than a year, the time had come to say good bye and put them in a garage sale.

Garage sales are fascinating, if only from the standpoint of seeing them as live versions of what happens when you build a marketing and sales funnel online. You put up signs around the neighborhood with teaser offers (landing pages) to literally drive traffic to your sales page (your driveway) where ideally, you make many sales over the course of the day or the weekend.

Often you have upsells at your garage sale (exercise equipment, for example) as well as downsells (kids clothing, trinkets, etc.). Most likely you have a few odds and ends that will take that special buyer, and you consider yourself lucky if that special buyer happens to show up.

Generally speaking, garage sales are their own niche, attracting a certain type of buyer. Typical garage salers are both male and female, young and old, thrifty, carry a small pouch or ziplock bag with cash, expect to negotiate, and are always looking for a killer deal. Where I live, 60% are Hispanic, 30% are Caucasian, and 10% are Asian. Anywhere from 30-40% of visitors will get out and look (opt in) but walk away with nothing (opt out). 10% will spend more than $10 — 50-60% will spend less than $10.

This is where I was with my lamps. I knew the odds were slim to none that the right buyer would show up, but I wanted them on display with the other items nonetheless. After all, you just never know.

As the hours passed, I got a lot of traffic and made a lot of sales. Many people admired the lamps, and some even expressed an interest, but ultimately turned away upon learning of the $50 price tag.

After two 8 hour days, 80% of my stuff had sold, yet not the lamps. Again, the parallel to online marketing is obvious: matching your offer to your buyer is critical for success. With the information I had about my niche demographic, I knew the lamps really didn’t fit in with what my typical buyer was after.

Even though I didn’t sell my lamps, I’m not crushed. I plan to take them to the an upscale consignment shop nearby where the traffic there is far more likely to not only admire the lamps, but also buy them. Trying to sell those two lamps at my garage sale this weekend reinforced the one marketing principle I and too many marketers don’t invest enough time into fleshing out: Know your buyer. Know your buyer well.

Your business depends on it!

If you believe this story could be valuable to the people you know, please pass it along! I also welcome your comments. 🙂