Fair Trade

J. Kevin Tumlinson

Recently I was perusing a few web sites on the topic of video and film production. I have a video production company (Hat Digital Media), and I’m always looking around for tips and tricks and the latest news on the industry. Some of the best online publications out there happen to originate from the UK, so on this particular day I was reading about the British film scene. The article was interesting at first, but it quickly turned into a plea for signatures – it was a petition to equipment manufacturers to make pricing equal and fair to all buyers. “I’m all for that!” I thought, and I clicked on the petition link. I was brought to a page that described the purpose of the petition:

“British film makers should be able to buy equipment for the same prices the Americans pay. Americans never pay full price for anything, they demand that everything be sold for close to cost and they refuse to pay more.”

That’s right… we Americans, what a bunch of cheapskates, huh? I mean, heck, how dare we be so demanding? How dare we try to barter and bargain for EVERYTHING? Heck, we even expect things to be FREE sometimes! Obviously, this is a trait that is looked down upon by other nations. Is it our fault that we have bargaining skills?

I was, of course, a little disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to put my name on a petition that might effectively lower the cost of some of the equipment I need. I had been prepared to make a statement against the 80 th percentile – those nefarious fiends who, because of their demand for cheap stuff at the cost of quality, have caused everything I want to be far too expensive (see some of my previous 80 th percentile rants for more details)! Instead, I was finding that I apparently belong to some elite, snobbish group that demands everyone to lower their prices for my benefit.

Hooray for me! That’s exactly what I wanted!

I do expect people to barter and bargain. I demand it! I think that most of the world has been conditioned over a lifetime to think in terms of accepting the price as given. In fact, you never have to settle on the given price. You always have the option to make an offer, and they always have an option to accept or refuse. You’d be surprised how many times they’ll accept.

First of all, you have to talk to the right people. It won’t do you any good to try to bargain with the wage slave who is just doing this job for movie money. Talk to the manager. Despite what most of them will have you believe, they usually have at least some control over pricing. Ask him if he’d be willing to come down on the price a little to get you to purchase this thing. Often, they’ll say no. It happens. But occasionally they’ll say yes. If they come down at all, it’s usually enough to at least cover the tax.

The problem is that we never think about this sort of thing. We forget that when we’re purchasing something – anything – we’re entering into a contract. Whatever you use in trade for something, whether it’s money or a check or a credit card, it’s really just a symbol of your commitment to provide monetary worth in exchange for a physical asset. And that’s the other side – you’re purchasing an asset, not a product.

Think of it like this: Little Billy has a mint condition “Amazing Fantasy” number 15, the first appearance of your hero Spider-man. He isn’t a comic collector, but he knows what it’s worth. Unfortunately, no one is willing to pay him any money for it. And that’s a problem, because you see Billy loves video games, and there’s a brand new video game system out that costs $300. Billy knows that he has something worth much more than $300 – it’s worth thousands! So if only he could sell his comic he could buy the game system plus a few games besides. At this point, Billy’s comic is really worth the game system and a few games. Billy’s comic is an asset.

So along comes big Kevin. Big Kevin really wants Amazing Fantasy number 15, but he doesn’t have thousands of dollars for it. He does have the game system that Billy wants, though, and about twenty games. Big Kevin is willing to give little Billy his game system and games in exchange for the comic. They both figure it’s a fair trade and the two go on to live happy and fulfilled lives. Each had an asset the other wanted, and so they bartered with each other until a deal was made.

I’m cheap. I don’t think I’ve paid full price for anything of any significance in about ten years. If I didn’t get it for free, you can count on the fact that I probably got a bargain. And the reason I get the things I want for less than someone else wants for them is because I’m willing to ask for it. That’s the secret that no one ever gets.

My grandfather passed on a bit of wisdom to me that I’ve lived by ever since. “I never got a thing I didn’t ask for.” He meant it two ways. One, if there was trouble, he most likely did something to bring it on himself. And two, if he got a good deal it was because he had the guts to ask for it. Words to live by!

Americans are pretty good at deal hunting. So good that other nations seem to look down on us. Who cares? While they’re busy griping that we are too demanding, we’ll be getting better deals. I’d call that a fair trade.

J. Kevin Tumlinson is the Publisher and Editor for ViewOnline Magazine at www.viewonline.com. He is a Houston Baptist University graduate with degrees in English and Communications. You can reach him by e-mail at kevin@viewonline.com. He’ll give you five American dollars for your computer.