They're buying a story more than they're buying dirt. Even better, they're buying a story that they'll <i>get to tell</i> for years.<p>This is a distinction I wish engineers would treat as more importantly, because <i>we sell stories, too</i>.<p>P.S.: If he put a wee little translation in Japanese in the box he'd sell one to just about every Japanese tourist who passed his stall. Same dirt, same words (modulo translation), different story.
It's not like the guy grabs a handful of dirt and then sells it to the first passing foreigner with a nice sales pitch. What people pay for is the packaging. There are many people who would like to take back a soil sample from places they've visited (e.g. there's a guy in Saving Private Ryan who does that on each new battlefield), but the logistics of doing that are just too much. (I don't even know where to get a proper vial, if I didn't plan to bring one with me, plus I'd like some nice labeling etc.)
"Growing up, my parents had a little display case on the mantel with a piece of the Berlin wall on it."<p>Two decades later, I'm still kicking myself for not buying a piece when I had the chance.
Sell yourself, but be honest, in case someone calls your shit. The dirt selling guy is pretty honest, I don't think he was yelling.<p>It really does help to have good communication skills for anything, be it speaking to that interviewer, discussing costs with some sales rep, selling your product etc...maybe even being a little bit aggressive, but not in a bad way, you know?
Ha that is nothing. There is a turist shop in Berlin which sells, among other things, authentic canned Berlin Air.<p>Yes that is right, they are selling empty (but closed and captioned) cans.
IMHO, Software engineers and sales people have completely orthogonal skill sets. As a group we are poor negotiators, be it salaries or pushing "the right technology" to project owners.
I couldn't get past this line: "the ordeal of attempting to convince someone that I have something of value, and that they should pay me to access it, was very new to me".<p>I'm not trying to be mean but, how old is the author? How much work experience does he have?<p>When I was 12 years old I went knocking door to door with my snowshovel in the dead of winter, trying to convince people I had something of value to offer. When I was 14 I convinced a local pizza parlor I had something of value to offer and got my first "real" job.<p>Trying to convince others of your value and economic worth is a daily affair for most people. It's an accurate way to look at the situation. It shouldn't be a hardship.