I had learn my lesson well and it's time for me to share my knowledge and experience on how to do business with Magic Dealers in Malaysia although very seldom I mingle with them due to a few factors.

Lesson 1:
Identify who you are dealing with in the first place. Batman (the boss)or Robin (the worker). Both have their special power. Both can sense either you are made of plastic( a loser anyway ) or a stone (celebrity status). You will be asking, why I need to know all these things. Reason is because you asked too many questions there even after the transaction is over. The sad thing being a customer here is that we did not get alot of attention from them after purchased. Next trip you come back to them, the same routine happen again ..how can i help you( Sigh!!quickly!! what u want...I have a client to attend too..a client with Big Wallet).Being a customer , please understand the treatment you get from prejudism because its a dog eat dog world out there. So don't waste your time if you really want to get more information.

The Solution: Do more research in the internet and call them first before making a trip there feeling dissapointed with price or product quality.

Lesson 2:
Magic Shops that you should be looking for will be the one that provide After Sales Supports from the US Distributor and they are Very Honest to tell you the flaw in the product. I doubt they can because they want your business. So sometimes , new customer like me really got cheated buying a pantyhose for RM 40 and bloody inferior DVDs for few hundred bucks.

Solution: Search in the internet more and make more friends. They will tell you. But too bad not everybody like me have the time to make more friends but relies only in the Forum. Therefore, the Forum moderator have to be more transparent and allow more sensitive topic that will not harm the Magic Industry ( the Genuine Business License ).

Lesson 3
Focus! Focus! Focus! Magic Products are expensive and you don't want to jump from one trick to another trick in a short time. Try to focus on the short term and long term goal. If short term is to Date a Girlfriend, maybe Sleight of hand will do for the time being. As for Long Term, maybe you want to do Escapism like Houdini, than invest on the book first. This will avoid yourself talking so many things with Magic Dealers and wasting time. They are not there to train you. Do think about other people like me queueing to talk to them. And for the Shopkeeper, do keep your social talk outside the business hour, I notice when someone girlfriend was there, you guys tend to show off and talk alot and neglecting losers like us.

Solution: Practice One at a time.




(still updating)

Lesson 4
What to do when Feeling Cheated? Ever thought of calling Consumer Fomca and lodge a complaint? It's a good idea too . Magic Dealers don't want anyone to come back and said ..Hey! look this is a cheap gimmick I am paying for. Their mouth were like Japanese Bullet train and their words never registered in their mind at all. They were used to think on their Feet and had forgotten about a simple Business Ethics practiced by Harvard ,Oxford or any business instituition. " If you Are Not Satisfied, The Policy of Return Genuinely will applies." - this doesn't work at all in Malaysia because of too many
Fraudster and Con-artist. I still tryingg to convince the Dealer that Im paying a RM 40 for a pantyhose. Magicgarage.org is selling it at RM 13. (Stripped too!)

Solution: Can only hope. Have A Big Heart. Bigger than that and the losses will not be so great. Dealers , Check youger Heart and make buyers happy. In Long term, your business will multiply through word of mouth. Its the cheapest advertisement.

Lesson5
Surf the Net and get Support From US directly.Period.After all, you are going to be a professional magician, y not deal with the best n get original too. Keep a list of what you want and order together from the correct dealer who are willing to service you.

Solution: Be nice to everybody.





(still updating)

You got a good thread going here, Jeff.

Keep it up. ;)

Hey thanks adlan.

Lesson 6

just hope every newbie don't tire the shopkeeper because this biz is people oriented. Best time to talk to them is when they start opening the shop. keep conversation short and Focus on what u need only. Imagine if 20 people asking them everyday. Out of 20 , the breakdown also consist of people like Datuk Son, the Nerds , amoi, Ponteng Kids, Retiree , low IQ , High EQ , Jerk, A Mechanical student, A spy, magician etc.

Solution

im not an owner, im just a customer. shopkeeper can think of a special training time like 1 hour session for customer who bought RM 200 above single product or an Accumulated of RM 500 from their sales. this will provide the customer ample time to talk to you one on one basis and get instance explanation. the hardest part of this business is that every products need to be explained and guided to perfection. Like sleight of hand, i notice one thing which even video did not tell you. Hand and finger muscle is relevant to perform. I have discover it through practice and who in the world will think that the palm muscle can be built in a short time. try palming a coin or a match stick with a muscle grip. different people have different style, complexion and featuristic.

Bravo to the last point.

Imagine questions like these (IS ALL REAL questions):

"How many tricks can a Black Tiger Deck do?"
"I buy E's decks I can flourish?"
"I want you to deliver 1decks of bicycle to Kepong right now and meet me in xxx plaza in 15minutes time" (is a public holiday, he pick a freeshipping option, send sms on 5pm noon time, my location is Sunway -_-")
"This magician pull out neh that thing a ball shape form neh this thing a square, what is the name?"

You do not know whether to laugh, or to vomit blood.

Isaac
MG

Vomit some fake blood! Then sell them some..Hehehee..

It depends on the time of the day.



Anyway Isaac, to keep your sanity, just keep laughing inside.

Smile on the outside, ROFL inside.

Cheers.

Really sound advice Jeff! Great job!

Hey thanks! Im not in magic business but in property line , i can sense the similarity in any other business. People tend to go unprepare and ask if he can fly like Superman tommorow.

Issac, keep it coming. your business also help you to see alot of jokers and losers out there who disturb other genuine buyers. But bear in mind that not all in that category. I believe there's a group of people in here who really cares about the industry.

my advise to you is to stop those COD thing. It will be much better for you not to get calls at 3am in the morning.

Sometimes its hard to talk to so many weirdos while working especially the Nerds , they will stick to you like magnet. Wait till u see Auntie or Uncle some more trying to learn some tricks..hahaha!!Some really Kiasu , I attended some cooking classes last time and you can see their attitude when questions were allowed on the floor. Non-stop.

Last experience, trying to get photo with Michael Ammar after that, people flocking into him and never let him go at all ( Im not blaming these people, its human nature seeing celebrities). Feel sad and walked away ( not a competitive character, somehow) . I wish they knew how to limit whatever conversation they have and make one or two quality question. (I notice Michael starts packing some stuff and staying clear also but he's very down to earth and not so arrogance) . ARRRGGHHH!!!!!! Maybe i just cut Michael Ammar photo from somewhere, cut and paste with my photo.

jeff goh, you have a real good thing going here man, all your saying is absolutely true. I'll say that most of us or all of us agree with u 100%. specially the part where u said bout the questions.... ahahha


keep this thing up man, ill lookin forward to read more of your lessons :D