Lloyd and I often say to each other, "We need another Donkey in the Goldmine." We are not talking about hiring more employees. That expression is our code for a business home run, or a "big pop", as Lloyd calls them; the kind of return on the sale of one item that meets our quota for a week or more.
There is a story about our Donkey in the Goldmine that illustrates how to creatively finance a purchase.
Someone had given our friend, Russell, a 1929 Exhibit Supply Donkey in the Goldmine fortune teller. It contains a little mechanical donkey that travels into the goldmine, pulling a cart, and when it comes out it has a fortune card in the cart that is dropped into a chute for the player. If you want to learn more about this arcade game, visit this website, http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=2578
If anything you owned were in the condition of that fortune teller, you would put it in the trash. It was damaged and missing quite a few of the original parts. Looking at it, you wouldn't guess that it was part of something so rare and valuable that even in that condition it was still worth quite a bit. It had been sitting in Russell's basement for some time, and he was finally in the mood to let it go. Lloyd had been hoping to buy it from him for while, but Russell wasn't ready to sell for what Lloyd wanted to pay. The trouble was, Lloyd didn't have a lot of capital to work with at the time.
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He had offered Russell $8,000, and Russell finally called up and said he would sell it, but he wanted $16,000. He wanted to give half of the money from the fortune teller to the man who had given it to him as he thought that was the right thing to do. The amount Russell was asking was more than Lloyd could pay at that time.
Lloyd thought about who could come up with that much money and would want the game in the condition that it was in. The name of a dealer came to mind. Someone that Lloyd knew would restore the machine beautifully and who knew buyers for the end product who would have the interest in it and the money to pay for a fully restored machine. He made the phone call. A deal was struck for $22,000.
The dealer drove to Russell's home and met Lloyd there. Lloyd told him, "Go inside and pay Russell $16,000 and load it up, and then give me the rest. He did. The machine was restored, as expected, and found a home with a happy collector, at considerable profit to our dealer friend.
When we first met, it was not uncommon for Lloyd to ask a seller to hold his check for a week or two before depositing it. They usually would agree to that, and he would hustle to sell his purchases quick, making back his purchase price and his profit before the seller put his check in the bank. It took confidence, determination, and a good list of contact numbers in his phone to make it happen, but he always made it happen. I have sat in the truck beside Lloyd on the way back from picking and dialed number after number for him, as he called each potential buyer to give them a chance to buy his "fresh merch," as he calls it.
Anyone can do business this way, if you protect your reputation and you don't sit on your rear-end waiting for the business to walk through your door. It only works if your word is good and you follow through on the things you say. The collecting world is small, and if someone gets stiffed or scammed, word travels fast. Then no one wants to do business with the unreliable character.
One day, I was having lunch with my friend. Lloyd called me to say he had an opportunity to buy the contents of a building for $30,000. I paused. I thought. Then, I asked, "Do we have $30,000?" His reply?
"No. But I'll get it." And he did.
That's how you get it done!
There is a story about our Donkey in the Goldmine that illustrates how to creatively finance a purchase.
Someone had given our friend, Russell, a 1929 Exhibit Supply Donkey in the Goldmine fortune teller. It contains a little mechanical donkey that travels into the goldmine, pulling a cart, and when it comes out it has a fortune card in the cart that is dropped into a chute for the player. If you want to learn more about this arcade game, visit this website, http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=2578
If anything you owned were in the condition of that fortune teller, you would put it in the trash. It was damaged and missing quite a few of the original parts. Looking at it, you wouldn't guess that it was part of something so rare and valuable that even in that condition it was still worth quite a bit. It had been sitting in Russell's basement for some time, and he was finally in the mood to let it go. Lloyd had been hoping to buy it from him for while, but Russell wasn't ready to sell for what Lloyd wanted to pay. The trouble was, Lloyd didn't have a lot of capital to work with at the time.
Here is a photo of a reproduction, that looks like our original would have after restoration.
.jpg)
He had offered Russell $8,000, and Russell finally called up and said he would sell it, but he wanted $16,000. He wanted to give half of the money from the fortune teller to the man who had given it to him as he thought that was the right thing to do. The amount Russell was asking was more than Lloyd could pay at that time.
Lloyd thought about who could come up with that much money and would want the game in the condition that it was in. The name of a dealer came to mind. Someone that Lloyd knew would restore the machine beautifully and who knew buyers for the end product who would have the interest in it and the money to pay for a fully restored machine. He made the phone call. A deal was struck for $22,000.
The dealer drove to Russell's home and met Lloyd there. Lloyd told him, "Go inside and pay Russell $16,000 and load it up, and then give me the rest. He did. The machine was restored, as expected, and found a home with a happy collector, at considerable profit to our dealer friend.
When we first met, it was not uncommon for Lloyd to ask a seller to hold his check for a week or two before depositing it. They usually would agree to that, and he would hustle to sell his purchases quick, making back his purchase price and his profit before the seller put his check in the bank. It took confidence, determination, and a good list of contact numbers in his phone to make it happen, but he always made it happen. I have sat in the truck beside Lloyd on the way back from picking and dialed number after number for him, as he called each potential buyer to give them a chance to buy his "fresh merch," as he calls it.
Anyone can do business this way, if you protect your reputation and you don't sit on your rear-end waiting for the business to walk through your door. It only works if your word is good and you follow through on the things you say. The collecting world is small, and if someone gets stiffed or scammed, word travels fast. Then no one wants to do business with the unreliable character.
One day, I was having lunch with my friend. Lloyd called me to say he had an opportunity to buy the contents of a building for $30,000. I paused. I thought. Then, I asked, "Do we have $30,000?" His reply?
"No. But I'll get it." And he did.
That's how you get it done!
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