So how do you fob people off in such a way that you make it quick, polite, and not necessarily offensive?

For the record, the "sales people" also includes preachers who insist you listen to their views, and people who stand in the middle of the mall on a busy weekday and insist on grabbing your attention for some survey they are carrying out and are not in the least interested that your time is tight cos you're on your lunch hour and have a dozen or so things to do

Heres my top five faves:

(i)  Jehovahs witnesses at the door   -   Pretend you dont understand and start rabbling off in a foreign language (quite easy when they can see youre not a white englishman ;)

(ii)  Credit Card salespeople  -  Tell them you work for one of their rivals (hehe easy cop out)

(iii) Flower vendors that try and flog you cheap flowers when you're in a bar and say "would you like a nice bunch of flowers for your girlfriend?"   -  Simple reply   "erm no thanks im gay"   (works every time :)

(iv)  Telesales people that ring you up thinking they can get a sale out of you -  Keep asking them to repeat cos their accent is too strong and you havent a clue what theyre saying (eventually they'll think youre an ignorant b----d and hang up hehe )

(v) Beauty Promotions saleswomen that claim they have the perfect cleansers and cremes for your skin and they can do you a special offer -  Look at them in shock horror and claim thats not what they said a few weeks ago when they flogged you that tub of miracle creme

Jeez, am i a stubborn little git or what?  :)