Mixed emotions about scarcity

Scott Ames · 07-09-2009, 10:08 PM

Scarcity is a great tool, no doubt. It works.

I'm not a big fan of it however when I discover a new product, coach, etc. go to their sales page, and I see a big CLOSED on it. I never even had the opportunity to meet you, find out about your and your offers and I am presented with a CLOSED sign. I wasn't part of the launch, never saw it.

I know, I know, they were not holding off for me. It just rubs me the wrong way as a potential buyer.

xctang · 07-09-2009, 10:48 PM

I always felt it cheesy to limit quantity on an info-product, as there's no such thing as "running out of inventory". But when I tried it out for my own products, it worked like gangbusters and now I'm all for it - of course, you'd need a reason to explain the scarcity.

XC

xctang · 07-09-2009, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Ames

Scarcity is a great tool, no doubt. It works.

I'm not a big fan of it however when I discover a new product, coach, etc. go to their sales page, and I see a big CLOSED on it. I never even had the opportunity to meet you, find out about your and your offers and I am presented with a CLOSED sign. I wasn't part of the launch, never saw it.

I know, I know, they were not holding off for me. It just rubs me the wrong way as a potential buyer.

Although I must agree that it's quite annoying if CLOSED is all you see. Better to leave the salesletter intact and order links deactivated if the offer's to be closed.

ExRat · 07-10-2009, 04:33 AM

Hi Scott,

If it compelled you to post about it, and raised 'mixed emotions', I'd say it worked perfectly.

Do you remember which product/seller it was?

It seems that some are confusing the emotion 'annoyed' with 'convinced', and therefore the effect. I'm sure a percentage are genuinely annoyed and won't buy in future. But I'm also sure that a higher percentage will remember, and will buy quickly next time. Perhaps feelings of annoyance fade more quickly than memories of genuine scarcity?

Alan Petersen · 07-10-2009, 08:44 AM

I totally understand why coaching programs have scarcity built into it. Not only does it work from a marketing standpoint but I would not pay pay big bucks for a coaching program open to everyone and their brother and sister. So it makes sense to me that they limit it to x amount of students before closing it down.

It would be hard to run an effective coaching program with thousands of students.

The offer is truly gone so why leave it up? Not their fault you didn't get there on time.

Plus it works to show that the coaching offer is closed so people sign up to be informed for the next one. As Roger noted, the fact it compelled you to post shows it elicits the right emotions.

What really annoys me is fake scarcity. Where they say it will be limited by x number of copies, clients, date, etc. but the offer is up forever.

JohnMcCabe · 07-10-2009, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Petersen

What really annoys me is fake scarcity. Where they say it will be limited by x number of copies, clients, date, etc. but the offer is up forever.

Looking at some of the offers with "phony" limits posted, I can believe that they really have not sold X units. I'd be more surprised if they had...

07-09-2009, 10:08 PM	#1
Scott Ames Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: West of Rockies Posts: 5,556 Thanks: 363 Thanked 665 Times in 325 Posts	Mixed emotions about scarcity Scarcity is a great tool, no doubt. It works. I'm not a big fan of it however when I discover a new product, coach, etc. go to their sales page, and I see a big CLOSED on it. I never even had the opportunity to meet you, find out about your and your offers and I am presented with a CLOSED sign. I wasn't part of the launch, never saw it. I know, I know, they were not holding off for me. It just rubs me the wrong way as a potential buyer.
	Action is the foundational key to all success. - Pablo Picasso

07-09-2009, 10:48 PM	#2
xctang HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 211 Thanks: 2 Thanked 15 Times in 8 Posts	Re: Mixed emotions about scarcity I always felt it cheesy to limit quantity on an info-product, as there's no such thing as "running out of inventory". But when I tried it out for my own products, it worked like gangbusters and now I'm all for it - of course, you'd need a reason to explain the scarcity. XC

07-10-2009, 04:33 AM	#4
ExRat Dare To Be Different War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: U.K. Posts: 8,878 Thanks: 1,318 Thanked 2,807 Times in 1,041 Posts	Re: Mixed emotions about scarcity Hi Scott, If it compelled you to post about it, and raised 'mixed emotions', I'd say it worked perfectly. Do you remember which product/seller it was? It seems that some are confusing the emotion 'annoyed' with 'convinced', and therefore the effect. I'm sure a percentage are genuinely annoyed and won't buy in future. But I'm also sure that a higher percentage will remember, and will buy quickly next time. Perhaps feelings of annoyance fade more quickly than memories of genuine scarcity?
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07-10-2009, 08:44 AM	#5
Alan Petersen Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 3,386 Blog Entries: 11 Thanks: 723 Thanked 778 Times in 494 Posts Social Networking	Re: Mixed emotions about scarcity I totally understand why coaching programs have scarcity built into it. Not only does it work from a marketing standpoint but I would not pay pay big bucks for a coaching program open to everyone and their brother and sister. So it makes sense to me that they limit it to x amount of students before closing it down. It would be hard to run an effective coaching program with thousands of students. The offer is truly gone so why leave it up? Not their fault you didn't get there on time. Plus it works to show that the coaching offer is closed so people sign up to be informed for the next one. As Roger noted, the fact it compelled you to post shows it elicits the right emotions. What really annoys me is fake scarcity. Where they say it will be limited by x number of copies, clients, date, etc. but the offer is up forever.
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