talkmagic.co.uk

I was recently discussing the subject of selling magic with someone. They were planning on selling magic from a market stall. It would include such items as sponge balls, Invisable deck, professors night mare etc. I have an uncomfortable feeling about doing this, however many people have got there interest in magic from just such a thing.

Am I wrong to feel uncomfortable?

Tricky! If it's done as part of a Magic Event or Dealer Day then the market stall idea is fine - nice and open and easy. If it's just someone selling stuff from a stall then perhaps not so good although I'd doubt they would do much serious business - magic effects are usually only of interest to magicians.

I have seen folks selling tricks at School Christmas Fayres and I thought it a wee bit off - on the one occasion, the guy was a local semi professional magician who's kids were at the school so his presentation was excellent. All night he performed the same 2 tricks then sold them (home made gaffed card tricks - Find The Lady was one) at a reasonable price with all proceeds to the Fayre. By the end of the evening, just about every kid at the school had bought the tricks so they couldn't 'amaze their friends' as everyone else knew how it was done!

I've seen market stalls selling just one effect, card stuff usually, but casual browsers weren't interested so I doubt it was a commercial success.

I was recently discussing the subject of selling magic with someone. They were planning on selling magic from a market stall. It would include such items as sponge balls, Invisable deck, professors night mare etc.

Well I don't like it. But that is purely for selfish reasons. I want the whole world to be ignorant of how any magic is achieved. Especially those effects that I use, and especially the people that I may perform to.

Now, after saying that although I don't want it to happen, I don't think it is necessaily a bad thing. After all how many of us here first got interested in Magic by seeing Dynamic coins demmed on a market stall? or how many of us used to frequent Hamleys to watch the demonstrations of the Stripper/Svengali decks? Certainly my hands are both up.

I personally think that people without much interest in magic seldomly buy a trick just to see how it is done, so really these items are either being sold to eager newbies that may have a continued interest in magic throughout their entire life, or perhaps are sold as presents.

If they are sold as presents, it is unlikely that the participent will do much with them if they aren't themselves eager newbies...

Personally I don't see a problem with this sort of thing. I've seen stalls that are totally devoted to magic and at first I thought, "what are they doing!? They're selling all the secrets!" but after having a proper look at what they were selling it turns out that most of the effects they were selling were things that were self working or involved very minimal slight of hand.

This is because the general public arn't interested in learning the intracacies of the Cros Twist or how to do a bottom palm, they just want to but a trick that they can show to they're friends. Even if the stall was selling Sankey Unleashed or Ammar's Coin Magic, who's going to fork out the money for one item when they could have bought several easy tricks for the same ammount.

I remember when I was younger, buying the Marvin's Magic Cups and Balls set and practising for hours because I thought the turnover move was difficult and it would be spotted instantly, boy was I wrong! In actual fact that routine is practically self working by a magician's, but to a lay-man it seems like a great effect because it involves doing some work to pull it off.

That's why I whole heartedly approve of Marvin's Magic sets and similarly don't find much problem with the stalls that you're talking about. It does however, annoy me slightly to see effects such as the ID or rising card on such stalls because I would rather keep them secret. Although I can't see the appeal of an ID to a lay man. What's the point?!

Both those effects ( rising card & invisable deck ) were mentioned as ones to sell. I also have no probs with stuff that magicians don't generally use professionally, but Invisable deck and rising card are classics. As to the question of not many people buying them, apparently it was done in a similar way some time ago and they were selling up to 100 people a day.

What's the point?!

Exactly! I guess that would be the reaction of most casual market stall browsers along with, 'Hmm, nice - now where's the car polish man?'.

(I'd still prefer it if they kept magic sales for the shop or online stores though!)

i do magic demos at bootsales for gigs and rarely sell an effect unless i intend to replace it with a new one.
most boot-sales i have been to that have a comercial seller don't o so well, the general public arn't that interested in paying for a secret to a trick and most of there bussines is with kids pocket money who rarely get passed the first page of the instructions before they get bored. so have no fear our work is safe its the tv programes that do most of the damage.

I don't agree I think a well presented routine will draw the crowds and if it's only a fiver people will pay it to get something to impress the friends with. However I expect to know for certain shortly, I'll let you know.

comercial seller don't o so well, the general public arn't that interested in paying for a secret to a trick

i did say comercial sellers now didn't i.
if a card trick sells for a fiver then you will get some pocket money kids buying it and maybey a few adults but you won't have them selling like hot cakes at least not in my experience anyway.

i did say comercial sellers now didn't i.
if a card trick sells for a fiver then you will get some pocket money kids buying it and maybey a few adults but you won't have them selling like hot cakes at least not in my experience anyway.

I have to disagree with this. As long as the person demonstrating the magic knows what he is doing (not just in terms of magic but with sales as well) then any trick retailing at less than a tenner will sell like hot cakes.

I am one of the people that Happy Toad was talking about and we have just had our first day on the market. Although we were not retailing invisible decks or any of the more professional effects there were many different tricks that people could buy. The day proved very succesful, people were more than inclined to part with their hard earned money and I believe that this with only get better and better and time goes on.

Many people enquired if the stall was a long term thing (which it is) and I can see people spending more and more money as they get bitten by the magic bug (which I am sure some people will be).

Just thought I would let you know.

Craig

more power to your elbow m8, if its under a tenner them most stuff will sell at a boot sale.
i was refering to the comercial ventures that sell over priced packet tricks and £30 a shot linking ring sets add to the fact that down south every one wants it for nothing then if you wre that type of store you could find yourself out of pocket.

I supose thats were your market research comes in then.