Hurry ... Only one left.

23 replies
The "hurry only one or two left" etc., seems to be the growing flavor (tactic) of the month for more marketers. It must work (I assume) or you wouldn't see so much of it. Would you?

Or is it a case of person see .. person do?

I may be wrong but it seems to say the wrong things and send the wrong message about both seller and buyer (in some cases).

Seller:
  • How do you only have one left of a digital product?
  • Why don't you ever explain why you only have one left?
  • As a business owner why didn't you have enough foresight to avoid it from happening? (could that oversight reflect in your products results as well?)
Buyer:
You didn't have enough common sense to notice the above 3 questions and bought anyway.

In my personal experience those are the type of buyers that give sellers the biggest headaches. Their gullibility (or laziness) gets them in trouble and they take it out on the seller, with ...
  • Nit-picky Complaints
  • Knee-jerk refunds
  • And refusal to follow the products instructions (if they ever read them) while lambasting the product to high heaven.
Conclusion: Beware if you're tempted to try this tactic or attract this type of buyer. The few extra sales may not be worth alienating your better quality prospects and potential customers.


As always I invite your commments, opinions and criticisms.
#hurry #left
  • Profile picture of the author jamescanz
    Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

    Seller:
    • Why don't you ever explain why you only have one left?
    I agree with this, and even for downsells as well.

    (have noticed a slight bump in conversions when doing so)

    It could be anything simple such as:

    "You're getting a discount because I'm taking away a bonus"

    or a reason I have seen others use rarely:

    "...Because I want to be the go-to person for all of your (niche) information..."
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  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    I think one of the reasons some marketers use this tactic is for the benefit of the people who get on their list but do not buy. They can send an email that says, to the effect, " Hey, I've been getting a lot of emails lately asking if I was going to re-release that ebook about (fill in the blank) I got so many I decided to re release it, for a limited time"

    al
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Yeah, it's the scarcity angle. Most often I look at limited digital products and just keep right on moving. There are legit scarcity offers though. PLR articles for example. To keep them from being overexposed (diluted) the seller will offer only so many. That's legit.

    Then you might have a certain version of a course or a piece of software that's going to be discontinued soon before a newer version comes out. That's legit too.

    It's up to the seller to make it real for the buyer. Still, most often scarcity with digital products smells funny.
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  • Profile picture of the author BizMath
    Hurry ... Only one left.

    Get ready to refund and start marketing........
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    • Profile picture of the author talfighel
      Hurry ... Only one left.

      Many marketers from all walks of life have used this before with great success and are still doing this to this very day.

      Originally Posted by BizMath View Post

      Hurry ... Only one left.

      Get ready to refund and start marketing........
      Not necessarily. This does not get more refunds.
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      • Profile picture of the author BizMath
        Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

        Hurry ... Only one left.

        Not necessarily. This does not get more refunds.
        You know, it's marketing. People use various tricks, gimmicks, strategies due to depth of their own awareness. I didn't mean that it doesn't work, it works,

        Somehow...... My point was different, as I believe, real marketing is extremely deep thing. But, you don't need to be a genius to earn money, so, people don't think to be enlightened with it, unfortunately, the only thing they do is making contacts with it.

        "Hurry ... Only one left"

        In wrong way, you encourage people to take an action. If you've done the right thing, why do you motivate people in wrong way? do you really need to do it?

        "Hurry ... Only one left"

        I've seen thousands of offers in the scale, craps.......

        "Hurry ... Only one left"

        I repeat........Get ready to refund

        In addition,

        or disable the refund policy
        .

        Because, Your product doesn't give a real value to the customer since you're a cheap marketer.
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  • Profile picture of the author C G
    Yes these tactics work but only in the short term.

    I would never buy again from someone if I find out that he was lying to me.

    Cheers,

    C.G.
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    • Profile picture of the author Angshuman Dutta
      "Hurry One Left" also implies half the world has already gotten on board...only the reader is left.

      There's nothing wrong in using the scarcity angle to get more sales and do the dime sale thingy as far as a seller is concerned.

      What I don't really get is why don't buyers use their common sense when buying such products?

      If "hurry one left" means half the world has already bought it, there should be buyer reviews and if those are good indicating its a supercool product a buyer wouldn't probably mind paying an extra cent to get a copy.

      So again at the end of the day 20% IMers (sellers) tell the rest 80% (buyers) what to do and they just comply!
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  • Profile picture of the author Adrianhenry
    This is a very interesting thought. Ive never really sat down and thought how ridiculous the statement of only having one digital product left is. Its just such a common turn of phrase that has tangible meaning in brick and mortar settings that I didnt even consider it strange.
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  • Profile picture of the author Carter Boatright
    It is the scarcity tactic and it does work. However, it should be followed by a reason. There are a couple legitimate reasons I could see me using this tactic for.

    One would be that I have a couple methods I may share eventually that I wouldn't want to get saturated.

    Another would be if it includes coaching or something and I can only take on do many people at a time.
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    • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
      Originally Posted by jamescanz View Post

      I agree with this, and even for downsells as well.

      (have noticed a slight bump in conversions when doing so)

      It could be anything simple such as:

      "You're getting a discount because I'm taking away a bonus"

      or a reason I have seen others use rarely:

      "...Because I want to be the go-to person for all of your (niche) information..."
      Yes, that’s the weird part I notice when many people use this tactic. There could be a number of reasons why a person could say only one left (even of a digital product). But when no reason is given, it smells made up.

      Originally Posted by BizMath View Post

      Because, Your product doesn't give a real value to the customer since you're a cheap marketer.
      I'm sure your assessment fits most situations. But ironically, I've seen two products where the marketers use the ... "Hurry only one left" tactic and the products were pretty good. So, I imagine if they got the person to order, their refunds would be minimal. It's just the numbers of observant prospects he'd turn off using this tactic alone would make it seem risky to me.


      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      It's up to the seller to make it real for the buyer. Still, most often scarcity with digital products smells funny.
      I agree. It takes a little more to make it believable with digital product, than a physical one in most cases. But most of the cases where I’ve seen a digital product accompaning this tactic, no reason is given. So, the seller leaves it up to the prospect to give them the benefit of the doubt, seems very risky … even suicidal. But maybe not, judging by the number of times I’m seeing it now it’s at least working for the short-term.

      Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

      Hurry ... Only one left.

      Many marketers from all walks of life have used this before with great success and are still doing this to this very day
      I've seen marketers using the principle of scarcity with physical products for decades (ex. only a few left ... in our warehouse, at this price, of this model, of this size, slots open for some kind of service etc. But I've just recently noticed the growing number of digital products using this tactic (or ploy, if it's made up).
      It’s just when this tactic is used and no reason is given, I think one of two things. It makes the seller look stupid or maybe the seller thinks the prospect is.
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  • Profile picture of the author Malteaser
    Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

    The "hurry only one or two left" etc., seems to be the growing flavor (tactic) of the month for more marketers. It must work (I assume) or you wouldn't see so much of it. Would you?

    Or is it a case of person see .. person do?

    I may be wrong but it seems to say the wrong things and send the wrong message about both seller and buyer (in some cases).

    Seller:
    • How do you only have one left of a digital product?
    • Why don't you ever explain why you only have one left?
    • As a business owner why didn't you have enough foresight to avoid it from happening? (could that oversight reflect in your products results as well?)
    Buyer:
    You didn't have enough common sense to notice the above 3 questions and bought anyway.

    In my personal experience those are the type of buyers that give sellers the biggest headaches. Their gullibility (or laziness) gets them in trouble and they take it out on the seller, with ...
    • Nit-picky Complaints
    • Knee-jerk refunds
    • And refusal to follow the products instructions (if they ever read them) while lambasting the product to high heaven.
    Conclusion: Beware if you're tempted to try this tactic or attract this type of buyer. The few extra sales may not be worth alienating your better quality prospects and potential customers.


    As always I invite your commments, opinions and criticisms.

    This is a great debate to pick up... me personally, I attach scarcity with the bonuses offered with the program I promote...

    I never say there is one spot for people to join the program but rather, if you are on of the next 10 to join then together with the program you get free coaching (it's common sense for coaching to be limited cause I can't offer it to anyone who buys from me in a given week)

    In other words, if the people I target really want what I have to offer bad enough and want to get some sweet bonuses, then they have to take action. I personally offer the bonuses a few days after they have been through my funnel to weed out the people I don't want... I market in a way that targets my ideal customer and use scarcity to push those people who are interested off the fence and become action takers.
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      I have no problem with the Scarcity approach if it is truthful.

      You might have a digital product but want to keep its value relevant so you decide to issue only 100 copies to the public. Well...there is nothing wrong with that because you are being truthful about it.

      But many unethical Marketers use this approach and then go way beyond the established deadline number.

      Just plain bad business


      - Robert Andrew
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    • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
      Originally Posted by Malteaser View Post

      I never say there is one spot for people to join the program but rather, if you are on of the next 10 to join then together with the program you get free coaching.
      .
      That's a textbook example of how to apply the scarcity principle to an intangible product/service.


      Originally Posted by discrat View Post

      I have no problem with the Scarcity approach if it is truthful.

      But many unethical Marketers use this approach and then go way beyond the established deadline number.
      - Robert Andrew
      He, He. What about the marketers who have only one left, and you come back two weeks later and they still have that same one left. It's like the first 1,000 or more flew off the shelves, but their having a helluva time selling that last one, yea right.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Trujillo
    I think the reason this tactic is used is not only for scarcity reasons as already mentioned, but also you gotta remember a lot of these type of sales you are seeing are dime sales. Meaning after they sell so many copies the price raises. The more they sell the more the price goes up. It's all supply an demand. Also some marketers only plan on selling the item for a limited time period meaning they might just want to sell it for the summer or something. So there are many reasons as to why this tactic is used. It can be deceptive, it can be effective, it can be many things depending on what purpose it serves. As a buyer if it looks like a good deal , why not buy it and if you don't like it return it? The types of deals I don't like is the no refund policy deals, the ones that say "We've sold so many and their are rave reviews and because of that we cannot offer a refund". I tend to avoid those.
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  • Profile picture of the author skyro
    I think for some they actually have only a certain amount of the product they are selling. This is a scarcity tactics and seems to work good for alot of marketers. You will see that some websites have actual timers on them as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author XponentSYS
    Scarcity is a tried and true marketing tactic that works and has withstood the test of time.

    In what we call the "digital world" the implication of "hurry..... Only X left!" is "hurry..... Only X left at this PRICE.

    since its "digital" being "out of stock" is stupid and the market knows that.

    "Price inflation" (and using scarcity) is NOT stupid..... and the market knows that, too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tyler Pratt
    Scarcity in Marketing has and always will work.

    I still cant figure out how the mattress business is always going out of business. Strange...
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  • Profile picture of the author gluckspilz
    wait.. what? Are we talking about REAL scarcity where the seller actually only has one left or BS scarcity just to sell the product?

    I don't see anything with hurry only one left if the seller actually closes the cart.

    If they sell 1,000 copies with the angle of Hurry only one left. Then that's obviously not cool BUT they did make a ton of money didn't they? So I guess it depends on how YOU want to run your business.

    If I needed $20,000 within the next 30 days to pay for a surgery else I'll die. I'll throw in all sorts of angle just to get the sales. As long as I deliver quality content. I really don't care.

    So it really depends on how you want to run your business.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave37
    Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

    Seller:
    • How do you only have one left of a digital product?
    • Why don't you ever explain why you only have one left?
    • As a business owner why didn't you have enough foresight to avoid it from happening? (could that oversight reflect in your products results as well?)
    I just want to point out that some sellers use to mean it when they mention "only one left" and there can be many reasons for that:
    - To sell a limited amount of copies at the low launch price.
    - To unfreeze a price and start a dime-sale.
    - For beta-testing.
    - To avoid saturation of the method they are promoting.
    - To provide a better support to a limited number of customers.
    [there might be other reasons as well...]

    Some time ago I failed to purchase a product that way, thinking the seller wasn't serious about it, and when I visited the page the next day, the offer was closed for good.
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    • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
      Originally Posted by gluckspilz View Post

      wait.. what? Are we talking about REAL scarcity where the seller actually only has one left or BS scarcity just to sell the product?

      I don't see anything with hurry only one left if the seller actually closes the cart.

      If they sell 1,000 copies with the angle of Hurry only one left. Then that's obviously not cool BUT they did make a ton of money didn't they? So I guess it depends on how YOU want to run your business.

      If I needed $20,000 within the next 30 days to pay for a surgery else I'll die. I'll throw in all sorts of angle just to get the sales. As long as I deliver quality content. I really don't care.

      So it really depends on how you want to run your business.



      Originally Posted by Dave37 View Post

      [/LIST] I just want to point out that some sellers use to mean it when they mention "only one left" and there can be many reasons for that:
      - To sell a limited amount of copies at the low launch price.
      - To unfreeze a price and start a dime-sale.
      - For beta-testing.
      - To avoid saturation of the method they are promoting.
      - To provide a better support to a limited number of customers.
      [there might be other reasons as well...]

      Some time ago I failed to purchase a product that way, thinking the seller wasn't serious about it, and when I visited the page the next day, the offer was closed for good.

      I think the foundation to the "Only X number left" tactic is to make sure you give a believable reason why. Even s-p-e-l-l-e-d out for the prospect, whether it's a physical or digital product or service.

      If not and you just assume prospects can guess or figure it out ... the B.S (smell) meter will go way up to most of your sane thinking prospects.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucian Lada
    Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

    It must work (I assume) or you wouldn't see so much of it. Would you?
    This is sheep mentality at its best.

    As a general rule of thumb, when a lot of people are saying or doing something, it's wrong. Or at least you should be skeptic about it.
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