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And what would you do with a list like this?

by misterme
6 replies
Ah, my son. He's got the bug of a marketer in him. One of the things he did this past year is buy a truckload of books on tape from someone selling their stock for pennies, and he turned around and sold them on Amazon.

He noticed the people who bought them, about a thousand people, are elderly and live in the middle of nowhere (he says). It was tough selling more books to them he says because they were only interested in the same author, and that was non-existent in most cases. In some cases, he'd be able to find a book for them from another source, but then the price would be prohibitive.

So here's a nearly fresh list of 1,000 elderly people's names and addresses (emails blocked by Amazon) who may be responsive to direct marketing...

...if I can think of what the heck to sell them! What else do you think they would buy?
#list
  • Profile picture of the author mattmax
    If they are buying books on tape, they might be interested in a better/newer/more convenient tape player.

    Beyond that, depending on how much time and effort you and/or your son are interested in putting in, you might actually offer to buy books on tape from them, since every one of your customers is likely to own more books on tape which are likely to be out of production, and hard to come by, so you could theoretically make money in the middle shuffling those tapes around, and growing the list the whole while, as new people bought.

    The trick would be finding a price that would make it worth your while without insulting/alienating your customers.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Try asking them!

    "Hi, you recently invested in **<the type of>** books on tape that I was able to get for you at incredibly discounted rates. I hope these have been valuable to you.

    Since I know that you're the kind of person who is looking for new information to get an edge, I'd like to ask you what other topics, products or services you'd like me to track down for you.

    Could you take a quick minute and write for me the names of some of the things that you wish you had the time to find yourself, but are just too busy to look for? Then I can go out and do my best to find these things at great deals for you!

    Thank you!!"
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  • Profile picture of the author BarbaraP
    Just saw this post, know I'm late to the thread. Dealing with the elderly is a tightrope.

    As for what you might sell them, the idea for a new player is a good one. Hearing aid batteries are a big deal with elderly.

    The buy back idea is good too. Just make sure you offer a fair price and make it super EZ for them to ship to you. That's how Buy Your Gold (scammers) makes big bucks.

    one-step process....send the mailable pre-paid envelope that's self-sealing. It may not be worth all your effort if the margin is not high enough.

    Elderly people like to talk on the phone, that's why telemarketers call them. I swear our late aunt's name and number was on every "Easy Mark" list.

    She was financially and emotionally exploited by a group of people including a former neighbor, college fundraiser, and distant relative. More than $168,000 was taken from her. That's why we're offering advice on how to work with the elderly to protect them, yourself and families.

    Anyway, please use ethical communications with the elderly. Please be cautious in your approach. It is not worth a few dollars you make to be at risk of being questioned about your dealings with older people.

    Best wishes.
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  • Profile picture of the author danielkanuck
    What topic are the tapes on? Maybe you could make them a new information product and sell it to them that way.
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  • Profile picture of the author uppergrade
    sale on Fair price can improve your custmors list. It seems that your son is brilliant. Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Miller
    My first question would be..."what age group specifically are you talking about?" How old is your son?

    I work with people who consider 50 elderly!
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