Wino’s, Weirdo’s & Walking Away? The Pawning Planners Still Manage To Save The Day…

Advising a client that their item has no real value can “heat things up” at an Appraisal Meeting but I’m a realist and let’s face it, I’ve had a few fairly crazy submissions along with preposterous proposals.

When you’re trying to help everyone, especially families with no money for wedding or event services-you meet some fairly interesting folks in the Bartering Business! 

Recently I’ve had so many questions, that I wrote a blog to address concerns regarding what we do and more importantly, what we don’t-Our Services & Information For Bartering Or Paying for Services.

Since my loyal readers recognize and understand that we can’t always find a treasure when digging through rooms full of junk, a reader recently reached out to ask what we do when we can’t find something of equal value.  Today, we will “go over” what happens when we can’t find something or “come up short.”

We have a few options- first you can mark off certain items like the DJ, the cake, the open bar or event the venue or- you can satisfy the difference via cash, check or charge.

Believe it or not- finding the exact same value of items on location almost never equals the amount of services the client desires.  Why?  Well mamy of our clients have no idea of the actual cost of services they are requesting is because they came to us first lacking proper finances and therefore- effectively “skipped” shopping around to find the actual cost.

If you have nothing of value or something unequal to the services you desire- we have to “work on” taking things off your list or pulling out a checkbook, credit card or cash to even the score.  Yesterday I uploaded a video regarding trades that don’t work and even exchanges-Wendy Wortham Explains What Happens When Event Requests Cost More Than The Value Of Your Trade.

A band?  Minimum of $800 for four hours.  A DJ? $1000 and up.  You “get the drift.”  Weddings and other events are pretty expensive endeavors and when people come to me with a desire of a Dream Event, they also “bring a list.”

Taking things off the list isn’t ever an easy conversation but the truth is that it happens all the time with Pawning Planners Clients.  

Texas Twins Events Clients have always “shopped around” because they are saavy consumers and recognize traditional price structures.  But Pawning Planners clients often have no idea of the cost of a venue, DJ, Dress, Wedding Cake, etc actually are.  

Yesterday, I uploaded a video of my twin sister, Cindy Daniel after an Appraisal Appointment left her wheezing due to the number of family pets-Cindy Daniel Of The Pawning Planners.

Last year at an Appraisal Appointment for an estate liquidation, I nearly gagged with the prospective client opened his front door due to the smell of ammonia his houseful of cats had created.  This was a walk away event because of 3 problems, first the client wanted us to “clean out the entire home” so he could sell it and second, the only items of value which included an 1800 era organ he “wanted to keep” and third, due to this issue of feral cats inside the home, I wasn’t going to find anything that hadn’t been damaged from cat urine.

Liquidating an entire home that was 99 percent junk and trash would require a box truck and numerous “trips” to the dump.  Cleaning the home is not a service we offer and this client meeting was remarkably similar to last years “flip this house” escapade where the owner had told us to do a “staging” in order to sell and flip the house.  The problem?  The house had been vacant for several years and the upstairs pipes had broken during a freeze and caused so much damage that the house had no value other than the lot itself so “light landscaping and a quick dusting” would have done nothing to make this house ” appeal to a buyer.  We do “stage” homes but we aren’t magicians! I’ve staged numerous homes for my husband who builds custom homes but there is no “magic wand” in my SUV to make something horrible into something marketable.

I’m fairly picking regarding a handshake and commitment when I know the “deal” is one sided and will never work.  The expense to rent a box truck and manual labor involved to “empty the house”  would require an up front fee of at least $2500 and the fact that the only item I was interested in was “off the table” we’re (effectively) the same with the Parker County Estate Liquidation as the House Flip Proposition in that they were both wanting everything and unwilling to give anything in return.

“Fixing up” a house that needs to be condemned and liquidating a home in similar condition are “walk away” meetings.  It’s always easier to say no than to say yes and spend months on a project when we could be doing other events and making money without manual labor!

Finding a way to “enlighten” these clients isn’t easy but “laying it all out” is similar to someone who wants a Cadillac but can’t afford a Chevy.  

Today’s client was somewhat “buzzed” and I’m guessing it was from a few nips of the moonshine.  Going over the details of pricing and appraising a tractor in the barn, I noticed the “figures weren’t sinking in,” and decided to show my prospect the actual numbers while declining a trade involving liquor.  Since it had never come up before, I’m adding liquor (or moonshine) to the list of no livestock and no firearms. 

 Arguing the value of a proposed trades value continues to be an “issue” but, I make the rules not the client.  Dealing with someone who is more than a little “tipsy” isn’t fun for me.  I’m willing to walk away and wish anyone good luck that exhibits bad behavior.  I don’t “have to help” anyone and if you’re behavior is bad at the get-go, I’m smart enough to know that your behavior won’t improve during the planning process!

Over the years I’ve had a handful of clients that I should’ve kicked to the curb but told myself “things would get easier and it would be over soon-I was wrong.”
If your first impression is your worst impression- you’ve lost our help at the get-go.  I don’t “have” to take every client, my husband makes a very good living that supports me as a land developer and likes to come home to a happy wife.

We can’t take trades of moonshine either so today’s adventure was pretty interesting.  

We did work something out without taking that case of moonshine though.  When we can’t find a trade- we take cash, checks and credit cards.  

Teaching clients that they don’t make the rules can be an escapade in futility but it’s an important aspect of the Bartering Business when the client believes that they are making the rules instead of accepting and understanding who is really in charge. 

If you have no one else to help you with your Dream Event and have contacted me to help you, I’m going to suggest you check yourself before you wreck yourself and understand who’s in charge, what the prices actually are and why your trade won’t work.

Heading to my brother in law, Steve Daniel’s birthday lunch, Cindy and I are still laughing at one of the wildest trade propositions we’ve had yet but that’s life in our journey to change the wedding and events industry one family at a time from Fort Worth, Texas! 

 
We try to help everyone but demand a degree of respect from prospects and if you’ve been drinking- it’s probably a very good idea to reschedule  with us because if you can’t stay sober for your first meeting- how are you going to act at your actual event?