The Farmers Market Vendor Who Never Says "Organic"
She hands you a sliced peach before you ask a single question. By the time you've tasted it, the bag is already open. No claims, no pitch — just proof you can hold in your hand.
True stories of real-world selling — sales made, sales attempted, and sales fumbled spectacularly. The barista's upsell, the kid's lemonade stand, the pitch that lost you at hello — and the one lesson each moment teaches.
She hands you a sliced peach before you ask a single question. By the time you've tasted it, the bag is already open. No claims, no pitch — just proof you can hold in your hand.
Two sizes: $1 and $3. Nobody buys the small. The eight-year-old doesn't know the term "decoy pricing" — she just knows the big cup sells itself.
"You don't need this yet. Come back in 10,000 miles." He lost $400 that day and gained a customer for life — plus everyone I've told since.
Twenty minutes of horsepower specs and financing options. He never once asked what I drove now, or why I was there. I left with his card and zero intention of calling.
Sales in the Wild is a daily field journal. Every entry is a real, observed moment of selling from everyday life — a sale made, attempted, or blown — written up as a short story with a single takeaway. Where this collection ends up is anyone's guess. For now, we're just taking notes.
Saw someone sell brilliantly — or watched a sale die on the vine — at a garage sale, an airport, a school fundraiser? Write it up. The misses teach as much as the makes, and some of the best sightings are sales that never happened. Featured stories get full credit in the daily field notes.