The late (and great) mail order salesman Robert Collier said, “That’s the only letter that has never failed us after a big sale.”

In the 1920s and 1930s, Collier used this particular card to outsell all of his stock (from books, to traveling bags, to raincoats…and…even bed blankets). What Robert Collier was talking about is one of the most underused (yet profitable) letter types in the entire marketing realm.

This card is often referred to in “marketing circles” as: The “Damaged Set Card”. Why? Simple: because the letter is based on the concept that you have previously unknown excess inventory of the product you are selling…and/or…that inventory is slightly damaged in some way.

Robert Collier was a master (and a pioneer) in the use of “damaged fixed print”. But other marketers have successfully used the “damaged set letter” over the years. For example, there is a famous story by the late copywriting and marketing genius Gary Halbert who used a “damaged fixed card” to successfully sell furniture inventory for a client he was working for at the time. Gary’s letter told the reader how the warehouse (where some furniture was stored) had a leaky roof and the rain had caused some minor damage to the packaging of the furniture. And because of this minor rain damage… the owner of the furniture store (Gary’s client) was forced to sell the rain-damaged furniture at a deep discount.

The result? The furniture offered on the menu sold out in record time!

I know of another copywriting “big wheel” that used a “damaged fixed letter” to sell a high-priced stock trading course to unconverted leads. This writer has told me how those unconverted leads did not respond to AT LEAST THREE prior, well thought out, well crafted and executed attempts to sell them the stock trading course. Not dice! Neither offer worked!

Then he wrote (and had the mail client) the “damage set letter” he wrote… and… BAM!

That three-page “damaged set letter” almost immediately garnered over $65,000 from people who had previously “held on to their heels” and refused to buy.

I myself have conceived and written “damaged fixed letters” for clients.

One particular letter that comes to mind was only two pages long…and it told the story of how the vendor of the product was taking inventory of the warehouse (to keep his “bean counters” happy). The letter then explained how one of the warehouse clerks had stumbled across a few extra sets of the product (23 sets total)…that had been lost among all the other products in storage. And because the packaging (containing the product) was all “scratched”… the seller of the product (my client) was willing to let them go at a deep discount.

I’m telling you, these “damaged letters” work like magic.

And you can be very creative with the reason for the damage.

For example: Perhaps the packaging of an information product you sell has been “battered” and marked, but the product inside is still in perfect condition. Maybe you sell clothes and the labels have been sewn on backwards. Maybe you sell bikes and… even though a particular high spec race bike is brand new… the brake manufacturer does not match the bottom bracket manufacturer (which is a “turn off” for some bike fans) …

Or maybe you’ve had a seminar filmed and copied to DVD. Well, if this were the case, the “harm” could be that…because you’re a fussy perfectionist…the video quality isn’t 100% up to your standards. And therefore… you just don’t feel right selling the DVDs at the full anticipated price. Although the buyer of the product will still get the full benefit of the information provided in the seminar by viewing the DVDs.

Or maybe you make and sell custom jewelry. And for whatever reason, a buyer of your jewelry has decided to return, say, a necklace.

Maybe because the buyer bought the necklace as a gift for his wife…and…it doesn’t match his wife’s color tastes…or…she is allergic to silver on her skin.

If this were the case, you could write a “damage set letter” to your other customers explaining how you put so much effort into making the particular necklace…the sublime value of the gems you used that were mined from 500 feet underground in somewhere exotic like Peru… and… how the market value of the necklace will increase by leaps and bounds in the next few years, etc., etc.

But, because it has been returned (albeit in perfect condition) by a customer…you now consider it “second hand”…and therefore…you are willing to let another customer keep the necklace returned for a great discount!

You get the idea. If you’re selling products… there is ALWAYS a way to use the “damaged letter” strategy to cause an immediate injection of cash flow into your business.

Only remember:

When constructing your “damaged fixed letter” offer, you MUST adhere to these two rules:

RULE 1): You MUST give the recipient of the letter special treatment.

RULE 2): You MUST give them a plausible REASON WHY you are giving them a special offer (ie explaining minor damage or overstocking, etc.).