Let's Make a Deal!

Have you ever had a garage sale? If you have, someone has inevitably approached you with an offer of $.25 for an item marked at $.50. If you are like me, you politely turn away, roll your eyes, turn back and say “sure.” The MSU Surplus Store doesn’t quite work that way. We have a fiduciary responsibility to students of MSU and the State of Michigan to attain maximum value for their financial investment into the items we sell. This doesn’t mean we can’t discount prices, or offer incentives to purchase an item. There are a variety of factors that go into our pricing, and after a time of not selling most prices can be adjusted. Here are 9 tips on how to make a deal at the MSU Surplus Store:

1. Never ask for more than half off.
2. Give it a week. Items are almost never discounted on the first day.
3. Come prepared. Offer to take large items with you. We would rather not move and store large sold items.
4. Wait until the end of the day to ask for a deal.
5. Buy things in bulk. In most cases, there is a 20% discount if you buy 5 or more like items.
6. Don’t disparage the item. Asking the sales person for a deal because the item is “junk” is not effective.
7. Be sincere. Don’t exaggerate details about how long an item has been for sale, or claim you are the only person in the world who would ever buy it.
8. Know what the item is worth. We look up values for a lot of our items through a variety of resources. Since we do not test most items, in many cases our prices are comparably lower. Sometimes the asking price is already a great deal.
9. Watch for upcoming events. Large event sales, like bike sales, mean we need to move inventory fast in order to make room.