Gansley and Johnson's Business Competition

AN: This is not meant to fit into canon, just a short story based on something I think to be a poor business strategy.

Gansley and Johnson belong to the creators of Yu-Gi-Oh


Gansley was going for a walk in the park. He was feeling very good today, for he had made excellent sales, and received a call that offered to expand his business. He'd get more powerful by any means necessary.

Then, he noticed Johnson sitting on a bench, and sat down next to him.

"Great news, Johnson," said Gansley. "I might be expanding my business soon."

"Well YOU seem to be having a good day," said Johnson. "But not me. I was disbarred today."

"Someone figured out your deceptions?

"I may have overlooked one thing."

"So, what are you gonna do now?"

"They said I can never get a career in law again. I'll give business a try. Maybe open up a lemonade shop."

"In that case, I'll give you a tour of mine."

Gansley took Johnson to his lemonade store. Johnson examined one of the cans of frozen lemonade, and looked at the price.

"Only $1.70? You won't make a lot of money by selling it so cheap!"

"I bet you a thousand dollars, for the first week after you open your store, I'll make more money than you!" said Gansley.

"You're on! If you even have that much."

"Trust me, I do."


When Johnson opened his lemonade store, he set the lemonade's price at $10 per can. People came in, took one look at the price, and walked out the door.

Gansley, meanwhile, sold about a hundred cans per day.

On Day 2, Johnson raised the price to $50 per can. People started cursing and calling Johnson a swindler, and left.

Day 3 was a Sunday. Gansley's store was closed Sundays. Johnson kept his open, desperate to make even one sale. More people came in, but not one of them would buy his lemonade.

On the night of Day 4, Johnson paced back and forth.

This isn't good, thought Johnson. I haven't sold a single can of lemonade. And, maybe my glasses aren't on straight but I don't think I've seen the same person come in here more than once. Well, only one thing to do if I hope to beat Gansley! I'll increase the price even more!

So, the next day, Johnson raised the price of his lemonade to $100 per can.

"There ought to be a law," said a man who has just read the price. He threw the can at Johnson, and walked away.

"What in the name of Zorc am I doing wrong?" said Johnson. "I should be raking in the cash with the prices at 100 dollars, but no one wants to buy it! This calls for drastic measures."

On Day 6, he raised the price to a thousand dollars per can.

"Disgusting," said a woman, dropping the can on the floor, slapping Johnson in the face while saying "Greedball", and walking out the door.

The usually-sophisticated Johnson was scratching his head and messing up his hair. "What am I gonna do?"


On Day 7, Gansley finished his sales and counted the cash he got. He had made $1,028.50 over the course of these seven days.

"I bet Johnson didn't even make one sale," he said. "Not if he used the strategy he said."


Next day, Gansley and Johnson met up at the park.

"I sold $1,028.50 worth of lemonade this week," said Gansley. "How much did you make?"

"$99,822!" said Johnson proudly.

"You're lying!" said Gansley.

"I deposited it into my bank account. Here's the receipt." Johnson held out the receipt, and Gansley read it.

"How in the name of Zorc did you do it?" said Gansley.

"I sold it at much higher prices than yours."

Gansley couldn't believe Johnson had pulled this off.

"Hey, did you hear?" said a man with a newspaper. "Someone robbed the bank last night. The cops haven't caught them yet."

"They will soon enough," said his wife.

"Not if Nesbitt hacked into the security cam..." Johnson stopped and put his hand over his mouth. Gansley looked at him suspiciously.

The man threw the newspaper into a nearby garbage bin. Gansley reached in and pulled it out.

"You don't know what sort of things are in there," said Johnson, sweating nervously.

Gansley looked at the bank robbery article.

"$99,822 was stolen," read Gansley. "Johnson, you filthy rat!"

"Hey, you began your career by stealing a lemonade stand from your neighbor!" protested Johnson.

"That's not the point. You cheated. You didn't sell a single can of lemonade, did you?"

"No," Johnson admitted sadly. "But I can't understand why."

"How much did you charge?"

"First it was ten dollars."

"WAY too much for a single can of lemonade."

"But then it was fifty, then a hundred, then a thousand."

"A THOUSAND?" Gansley laughed out loud at this. "I knew you were a swindler, but that's just not a good business strategy. If it's overpriced, no one's gonna want to buy it. That's why they were perfectly willing to buy my lemonade for $1.70, and completely ignored yours."

"All right. I admit defeat. I'll give you one thousand dollars."

"There will be an extra penalty for cheating. You have to give me all the money you stole from the bank, in addition to the thousand from your own pocket."

"ALL of it?"

"All of it."

"Fine, I'll pay you the 9,822."

Gansley looked at the newspaper. "Nice try. It's 99 thousand! You can swindle anyone else you want, but not me!" He tore the section of newspaper out and put it in his pocket. "I'll make sure you don't try again. And I'll be having a word with Nesbitt for helping you cheat. I'm thinking, I'll ground him from Transformers for a week."

THE END

AN: The amount of money Johnson stole is a reference to Gundam Wing.