Why did Sally sell seashells on the seashore when you can just pick them up anyway?

Answer 1

Sally got in early and picked all of the seashells, leaving none for anyone else. People came to the seashore and saw her selling them and thought "F**k that, I'll just pick them myself for free." People then went mad looking for seashells because Sally had already picked them all and they raced over to Sallys stalls offering increasingly ridiculous amounts of money for the (now extremely rare) seashells. Sally made a killing, sold every single shell and shut up shop a very rich women. Only then did people realise that they had never actually wanted the seashells in the first place. They had only looked for them because they wanted to show Sally how silly she was for trying to sell them, then they only wanted them because only Sally had them, and everyone else seemed to want them too.
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Damn! In the time it took me to write all that, someone else has said it. Now it looks like I'm copying.

Answer 2

It's a matter of Supply and Demand. She at first tried selling them in the cities, but there was no ready Supply of inventory. She then moved her operation to be close to the source, where there was no Demand since, as you point out, every customer was her competition.

Finally, she wised up and applied for government business subsidies, arguing that her business is vital to the local economy and the environment, as well as her trade being a long-standing local tradition. She now lives in a mansion overlooking the beach. When people ask what she does for a living, the answer is "She sells seashells by the seashore", even though she's never made a profit.

Answer 3

Sally was way ahead of ya dude. She got up real early & went & picked up all the seashells so that the tourists had to buy them from her. She's a smart cookie that Sally is.

Answer 4

Well, I asked her and she said 'I sell sea shells on the seashore because I'm Sally who sells seashells on the seashore', which is nice.

Answer 5

Cause chuck norris told her to do it, or else he would take a seashell, throw it up in the air and roundhouse kick it to hit sally's face!!!

Answer 6

She had a seaside stall and was selling cooked seashells with the seafood inside them so those other lazy beachcombers had something to eat.

Answer 7

Cause Sally is an American, and so are her customers, and thats what we do....buy and sell stuff. Some cheapskates pick em theirselves, but most people....they buy em off sally.

Answer 8

Ah...a question for the ages. The answer?

Sally wasn't just selling sea shells...let your imagination take it from there.

Answer 9

Why pick em up yourself when sally is daft enough to do it!

Answer 10

Maybe they were rare seashells. Like those big urchins or something.