I just payed $5 to reserve a video game ... would this work in IM?

[Ashley Gable]

I was just at the local mall, buying a video game for my little brother for Christmas, little did I know the game wasnt out yet BUT you could "reserve" a copy by paying $5. That $5 would be used against the purchase price, when you bought it. So I did.

It got me thinking, does anyone do this on the internet?

Like if you had an upcoming course, you could let people "reserve" their spot by paying a small fee, like $5. Of course like the video game example they could use that money towards the course, if and when the bought it.

This would probably only work if it was a limited thing, like only 500 people or something.

So is this a common thing? If you have done it before I would love to hear what the results were!

Ashley

[Sancho Sanches]

I'm pretty sure it's been done and one time I saw someone doing that I remember that there was a horror story attached to it

I guess it could work as long as people trust you.

[Zeus66]

Yes, as you say, if you plan and advertise that it will be strictly limited. A lot of marketers will use the build-up to great effect and allow people to reserve spots in their upcoming launch. That works great for the big names in the business.

Another variant of this is with the continuity model. You get people into the pipeline for cheap - like $1 for the first month. Then you count on a good % of them sticking around when the price jumps to the normal monthly rate.

John

[hjalte81]

Originally Posted by AshleyAA

I was just at the local mall, buying a video game for my little brother for Christmas, little did I know the game wasnt out yet BUT you could "reserve" a copy by paying $5. That $5 would be used against the purchase price, when you bought it. So I did.

It got me thinking, does anyone do this on the internet?

Like if you had an upcoming course, you could let people "reserve" their spot by paying a small fee, like $5. Of course like the video game example they could use that money towards the course, if and when the bought it.

This would probably only work if it was a limited thing, like only 500 people or something.

So is this a common thing? If you have done it before I would love to hear what the results were!

Ashley

Yeah.. I believe that would work, especially if you're selling physical products. If you're products are digital, you need a damn good reason to why you're limiting it...

[Ashley Gable]

Thanks guys. The reason I ask is because while I was at the video game store, I also reserved 2 other games, ones I didnt even know if my brother would want, just because they would be "exclusive", not many would have it.

I dont like the sound of the horror stories thought money and horror dont go together!

[Daniel E Taylor]

We actually did this for an 8 week course we launched
in AUG.

We actually let people reserve their spot a month in
advance for $197.

We actually sold out!

How we made it work is we offered the course at
$100 off original price if you got in early.

And got some killer bonuses.

The best part about this is, we made a boatload
of money before we even started the
product.

Daniel