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  • "Gifting" and "gift" items

    In my opinion more important than dedicated "barter" items is the idea of "gift" items.

    These can be for winning favor, for helping in acquiring a "favor", to show your respect for a person, to repay a deed done for you, any number of things.

    What got me thinking about this was right before Christmas. We always look forward to the little "gifts" we get from a couple of suppliers for a couple of our businesses. One sends your average run of the mill corporate gift type items- big bags of popcorn, a nice quart of honey, peanut brittle, etc. Not a single item is high value, but their is a boatload of them that come all at once. Another place- who admittedly we spend very high dollars with yearly- sends an awesome gift basket. I just had to know this year and searched the net and found them online for $300. each. The basket has a multitude of snacks, fine chocolates, nice meats and cheese, etc. Sent them an email thanking them for it- I know it's always nice to get a thank you.

    It will sound silly, but we always look forward to getting those things and we use 90% of them. To be honest, it makes you feel good getting gifts like that. They are saying "we value your business."

    We do the same for one of our businesses where it's possible to do that sort of thing- usually sending $25. and $50. gift cards to places like Applebees, Ruby Tuesdays, etc. On the mail order business it's done in ways like a few extras thrown in with the order- Yes those aren't screwups on our part and yes we can count, LOL. One guy that got 5 more sutures than he ordered thought I simply couldn't count! LOL

    So the purpose of gifts like this in business is to say thanks, to curry favor, to seal a business deal, to give thanks for a "referral" etc.

    How can we use this same concept in the preparedness realm?

    Pretty much the same fashion.

    There is a couple of guys- I won't embarrass them by naming them- that come to the Southeastern campouts that are two of the most giving guys I know. One regularly brings mounds of gear and either does some very lop sided barters for them (with him clearly coming out on the low end of the trade if you look at it solely from a value point of view) or simply gives things away to new folks that need it.

    Whether it's his intention or not, he is piling up large amounts of goodwill with his actions. To some now a days, "goodwill" means nothing except a clothing store- but to the RIGHT PEOPLE goodwill still matters and IS appreciated and honored.

    And I do believe in the "what goes around comes around" concept. Scripture tells us whatever a man sows the same he shall receive. If your putting good stuff out there, it's gonna come back to you.

    So we need to explore this concept versus a "charity" type approach in the survival concept.

    The idea of "charity" pre-supposes a greater than/less than relationship- i.e, I am greater than you cause I can provide this to you who doesn't have it and therefore is less than me.

    That is not where we want to be at.

    We want to look at gifts as a way to curry favor, to expert pressure or power (I'll expand on this later) like a lobbyist would, to develop goodwill and to help build relationships.

    Understand that with this sort of thing, you cannot "expect" to get something back. You WILL normally but you shouldn't expect it. If you give expecting to get something in return, you likely won't.

    So does that mean you give trinkets or worthless crap to be a cheap arse? No most definitely not. The "gift" should have real value and usefulness or it will be quickly discarded or "re-gifted" LOL.

    A proper "gift" should be thought of for the person specifically. Giving a baptist minister a bottle of Absolut you have stashed is not what I'm suggesting. The "gift" needs to be tailored to the individual or the group to be effective. Avoid social faux pax in giving incorrect gifts in this manner.

    Now understand I'm suggesting this from a point of decent logistics to begin with. Just as we can't "dispense charity" if we are in no position to take care of our own selves, we can't use "gifts" to their full advantage if we are destitute.

    What's y'alls thoughts on this?
    Boris- "He's famous, has picture on three dollar bill!"

    Rocky- "Wow! I've never even seen a three dollar bill!"

    Boris- "Is it my fault you're poor?"

  • #2
    I was forced to take reflective PT belt from that Guy :p...was a trying to tell me something.lol.

    Contractors....the worst always gave the best but most useless baskets or gifts.the best ones thought out what they gave and they always were well received.
    That's what showed to me that it was more than a "swag " bribe for the buisness.

    I do belived like you...on the come arounds. At the last camp I had some items that weren't cheap but couldn't get rid off. I even tried to force it upon some of the guys there LOL. Gave away some stuff anyway.made a fair trade for others...but no one would take this one item.
    A good fishing rod.easily a 50$ rod. I left camp and even wife unit was "you still have that rod..'' LOL
    Few days later..I was at our local trash dump. Its attendant is always smiles...waves and remembers folks. She's always nice. So I toss my trash in the roll off...I see that rod...still in my truck..even though I had cleared out everything else...

    I say hello ...and ask her if shed like it. She smiled real big...told her I had plenty of rods and enjoy. She returned with " this will make a great gift for my dad for Christmas ....what's your name so I can say where I got it..."
    It was her reaction and her honest thank you I got that made my day.
    All over a rod no one wanted for whatever reason......
    Hey Petunia...you dropped your man pad!

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    • #3
      Mobiles giving me typing grief. But IMHO dropping swag to bribe future dealings never seems to work out. Does it help on our end as preppers /survivalist. It does.
      That extra jar of preserves or homemade cookies to the local produce folks ....turns into a relationship....that realationship turns into better deals or jam for an extra pound on taters...LOL
      Its about building that core /base to build on. Either personally or buisness wise.
      Hey Petunia...you dropped your man pad!

      Comment


      • #4
        Ok, so there's this guy at work...not a prepper or anything, but a nice guy and good worker. He mentions one day that he does Civil War reenactments and has a reproduction 1860 Navy black powder pistol. I used to have one. I didn't say anything but the next day I show up with 3 boxes of .454 lead balls and give them to him. He's thankful.
        The next day, he shows up with 3 half full boxes of .45 ACP (he knows I have a 1911). Come to find out, he used to do the 'Storage Wars' stuff before the tv shows ruined it and they were leftovers from that.
        A week or two later, I'm digging through some of my old stuff and find an old brass powder flask and a brass powder measuring tool. He gets those.
        A while later, I mention that I'd like to find a local beekeeper and get some local honey. Guess what, there's a guy on his way home (he lives out in the boonies) that sells honey on the side of the road for $12 a quart. He's toured the guy's facility and he's the real deal....only spins and filters, no pasteurization. He offers to stop and get me some. I give him the money for a case of it.

        The bottom line, someone's got to start the relationship when it comes to finding resources. A lot of time nothing comes of it but, occasionally, you find a real treasure trove.

        Another guy I was doing favors for at work turns out to have a 'hobby' as a machinist. I've gotten drill stock and other things from him in trade for scrap oak and cherry from my woodworking shop.

        Again, I was the first to initiate the relationship. And, if you get the reputation of being a fair, semi-generous guy, a lot of times the bargains show up at your doorstep. What goes around comes around.

        rambling done....
        "Common sense might be common but it is by no means wide spread." Mark Twain

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        • #5
          Never never ever forget one mans trash is another treasure. Lately I have been reminded of that. Remember its not what you spend on a gift to someone its the thought and the utility that counts. I have a friend who is a big time pepper type. well needless to say I have basically nothing I could give the guy that he doesn't have 10 of already. or a hundred. well one year I got a movie poster that hung in our local theater for free... it so happens my friend absolutely loves this movie. when I say he's seen it 100 times he's probably watched it twice that. Anyway I got it framed in a quality frame with a nearly bullet proof front and sent it to him for Christmas. He loved the hell out of it.

          Lately I have been going through my stuff cleaning and organizing. I found an AR-15 cleaning kit and a carbine spring. I gave it to a friend who owns an AR-15. He doesn't own alot of guns, just 3 or 4 actually, and he didn't have a cleaning kit for the ar-15. SO i gave it to him. He then proceeds to show me what his dad gave him....60k in snap on tools. My friend is an ASE certified mechanic.

          My car's gonna need a tranny and soon....and he says "get a rebuild and I'll help you put it in." it will probably save me a K and I'll have a certified and experienced mechanic to help me.

          That extra jar of preserves or homemade cookies to the local produce folks ....turns into a relationship....that relationship turns into better deals or jam for an extra pound on taters...LOL
          Its about building that core /base to build on. Either personally or business wise.
          I couldn't agree more about relationship building. relationships are so important. We live in an era where people have 400 friends on facebook but when it comes to having relationships with people they fail at it completely particularly when it comes to buying and selling stuff. people think buying and selling stuff is like shopping at walmart. they will call around town, beat people up on the price buy something and they never realize that if they built a relationship they could get better deals in the future with less work and head aches.
          "You are the Vice Regent of the Jews" -QRPRAT77

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