Hi Michael,

Thanks for these examples.... They're really good. :)

> Guy A: Would buy a sample product from
> overseas. He would then go around and
> generate sales - based on the sample. When
> he had sold enough for a container load, he
> would buy the container load. He only bought
> contain loads of goods he had already
> pre-sold.

This is great - a very simple technique, yet the "down side" is very small - just the cost of a sample. And the "up side" is potentially very large - large scale sales!

Wow.... It makes you want to go into importing. :)

> Joe Karbo: Found a buyer for surplus items
> BEFORE buying the surplus items.

Yes, a good technique. :)

> Firm B: Instead of buying land and building
> a new building, they contact a developer.
> The agreement was, the developer would buy
> the land and build the building and Firm B
> would lease it back. Firm B didn't have to
> outlay huge sums of money, or borrow money,
> to build a building. And the developer had
> an instant and assured tenant for their
> commercial building BEFORE they spent a
> single penny.

Sounds like a good win/win solution!

> Cossman (correct me if I am wrong) sold
> railway parts without buying in stock. They
> took the orders and then had others supply
> what they needed. In effect, he was a
> commission salesman.

Yes, I think that's right too. While he was working, his company "pre-sold" these items to overseas companies, then went about fulfilling the order.

Joe Cossman did the same thing with soap, in his first deal when he struck out on his own. It was after WWII, and in his spare time at home, he was sending away letters, trying to get buyers for soap. He managed to get a very big buyer who sent him a letter of credit, then he worked like crazy to fulfil the order! (And made a ton of money for the time in the process.)

> Any Business that uses commission salemen
> and saleswomen. They do not have to pay
> unless a sale is made. Thus, the money they
> pay to the saleman comes out of the profits
> of the product.

> The commission salesman does not have to buy
> stock or hold stock. They sell stock they
> don't own.

Yes, commissioned sales can be win/win for both the business and the salespeople. :)

Thanks Michael - excellent examples (and very mind-stimulating too)!

I really like the idea of "pre-selling".... I'm going to have to do more of that in my own biz.

- Dien