How to Make $13 Profit on a Single T-shirt Sale

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How to Make $13 Profit on a Single T-shirt Sale

By David Jackson
OK, I belong to numerous discussion groups, and I've asked some folks, but nobody had ever tried this idea. The band I'm in has a simple ash gray T-shirt. We have I believe $5.50 in the shirt and we sell them for $10. Not a bad deal. However, its a tough economy, and sales have been slumping. I put a plan into action that worked so well, I can't help but feel the next time I try it, I will fail miserably (just to even things out). So what is it?

First I went to Office Max, and purchased a giant role of raffle tickets. These are simple tickets that come in pairs of two, with a distinct number for each pair. In between the first and the second set, while my band was on break, I sold raffle tickets for $1 ea. What was I raffling off? My $5.5 T-shirt (my goal was to sell 10 tickets to get my usual profit). Here was my line:

With a T-shirt draped over my arm I began, "Hey how's it going? Anybody here feeling lucky?"

-This got people's attention, some joked and thought I said "Do you think you're going to get lucky..." I continued...

"I have raffle tickets that will get you in the running for a T-shirt So for only a buck, you could win a shirt that normal sells for $10."
-Not much of a sales pitch, but I had a room full of people to get to. Here are some of the responses I got.

"Sure I hate these singles, give me THREE."
"Sure for a buck? Why not (then each of their friends followed along).Do I have to be present to win? (Yes, but the drawing is in about 10-15 minutes).

It was one person's birthday SO I GAVE HIM A TICKET. Then his friends all purchased one.

Just before break, all the members went over and signed the shirt with a permanent marker, and then we selected a ticket out of a hat. Luckily the person who won, was the size of the shirt we signed (note for next time, wait till the winner is there, and maybe have them wear it while we sign it (could be a cheap thrill, or a sexual harassment suit - woo hoo!). We sold 18 tickets in about 10 minutes. It made people WAIT AROUND to see if they won, and we made $13 in profit on ONE shirt. My plan was if I sold 20, I'd raffle of two. At this point I am taking the profit realizing I will try this some night and possible only sell three tickets. I guess we'll see. Here are some final notes:

I almost sold a shirt for 10 when someone was looking at it.

BE SURE TO ASK THE CLUB OWNER IF THIS IS OK. As always explain this in a fashion so they see how THEY will benefit (people stick around while we are on break).

I'm sure this would work with just about any item (CD's, etc.),

I was the only person in my band participating. Just think if everybody was pimping tickets?

It cost me a whole $7 for the role of tickets that should last a long long time. TRY IT the hardest part was getting the nerve to walk up to strangers and say, "Are you feeling lucky?."

This could probably work with any kind of merchandise. Give it a shot.

It's FREE to join the Musician's Cyber Cooler and receive marketing tips, updates on cool Internet sites, and trade experiences with other musicians. Just visit http://www.jammindave.com/currentissue for a look at the latest issue. Dave is the author of "Get Your Band Out of the Basement (And Keep Them Out of the Asylum)" and "Look Before Leaping into Cyber Space."

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