How do you use Scarcity with your own product?

18 replies
Here's my questions

Do you use scarcity to make people buy your product?
From a scale of 1 to 10 what is the amount of scarcity you love to use?
What is your technique to apply scarcity?

Personally I use the "shut down technique" Ie: This is a limited time product I reserve the right to shut down this offer at any time...

from 1 to 10... maybe 6

LEt me hear from you!

Cheers

J
#product #scarcity
  • Profile picture of the author Max Stryker
    try and actually take your product down sometime or at least cut down the number of copies you're offering. I hate to see all those products and pages 'trying' too hard to be scarce cause the effect is the opposite one and people feel too pressured or just think they are getting scammed. So, use the scarcity technique but don't overdo it. And don't try too hard, throw the 'limited time offer' naturally in there.
    Good Luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author scrofford
    Originally Posted by ReachOneMedia View Post

    Here's my questions

    Do you use scarcity to make people buy your product?
    From a scale of 1 to 10 what is the amount of scarcity you love to use?
    What is your technique to apply scarcity?

    Personally I use the "shut down technique" Ie: This is a limited time product I reserve the right to shut down this offer at any time...

    from 1 to 10... maybe 6

    LEt me hear from you!

    Cheers

    J
    That's not true and effective scarcity. True scarcity is saying that you either only have a limited supply, or something will end at a certain time...and sticking to that. Not you have a limited time product and you RESERVE THE RIGHT to shut this offer down at any time...maybe at this time or that time. It should be more like you better take advantage of this offer now, because this offer ends at midnight tonight!
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  • Profile picture of the author vok
    If you're selling a thousand copies great only sell a thousand copies. But don't say you're selling a thousand copies and it'll never be sold again and then 6 months later have it on sale again with another thousand copies available, with the same old story of how this will never be sold again... lol sounds stupid right?

    Trust me people are not stupid, and as soon as they catch on and out you as a lier it'll be game over if you're a self branded marketer.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave Rodman
    Banned
    I never make my primary products unavailable. The only scarcity I employ are the ancillary benefits to buying them today (free shipping, free accessory, etc). And I do stick to that, because usually there is a good reason.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Dave Rodman View Post

      The only scarcity I employ are the ancillary benefits to buying them today (free shipping, free accessory, etc). And I do stick to that, because usually there is a good reason.
      Call me pedantic, but copywriters and marketers actually refer to that as "urgency", rather than "scarcity".

      It's rather a different point. There can sometimes be overlap between the two concepts, it's true, but "scarcity" - as discussed in this thread - intrinsically relates to limiting the supply, not to adducing reasons to buy something quickly.

      Originally Posted by chriswick View Post

      Trust me people are not stupid, and as soon as they catch on and out you as a lier it'll be game over if you're a self branded marketer.
      This is exactly the point.

      The people selling digital products on Clickbank claiming permanently on their sales pages that "only 9 copies remain" (that's an example of scarcity, not urgency) are typically losing large numbers of sales with this "tactic" (to use a polite word), are genuinely not perceptive enough to realise it and have never tested it themselves (or they'd know better). Typically, it never occurs to them that "looking so obviously like a liar when you're trying to sell something" is a bad thing to do. Some of them may even not realise that it's obvious to the average prospective customer that they're lying? Who knows what - if anything - goes through these people's minds?
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      • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        Who knows what - if anything - goes through these people's minds?
        Mostly just air, I would assume (and probably not even fresh air, at that)?
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  • Profile picture of the author ReachOneMedia
    thanks for the feedback so far guys

    I have to admit that I started this thread with the intention of knowing a little bit more about what you guy are doing.

    Whatever you call it scarcity or urgency...

    Do you use one of those technique to make people buy your product?

    From a scale of 1 to 10 what is the amount of scarcity you love to use in your own sales copy?

    What is your best technique to apply scarcity/urgency?

    Sorry if I've been unclear the first time

    J
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    CALLING WARRIORS: I'll Make 10 New Millionaires In The Next 90 Days... Or Look Like An Idiot Trying! CLICK HERE
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Originally Posted by ReachOneMedia View Post

      Whatever you call it scarcity or urgency...
      It's not about what you call "it". There isn't an "it": those are two different things.

      Most marketers who produce "home-made copy" (i.e. not written by a professional copywriter but written by themselves after reading an introductory copywriting book or two, and/or maybe getting some input from "writing friends" who are also not professional copywriters) tend to shoot themselves in the foot with it, and not to appreciate that both of these techniques, when unwisely used, are actually directly and strongly counter-productive. People imagine that "they must work (:rolleyes, otherwise other people wouldn't be using them all the time".

      The reality is that there are correct/good/beneficial and dishonest/contrived/counter-productive ways of using each.

      The one you've asked about, "scarcity", is in fact by far the more widely mis-used one of the two. (Out of the times that it's used at all, I mean). It's actually pretty difficult, with a digital product, to justify plausibly. So it's perhaps not too surprising that so many people who try it manage to make a complete mess of it and end up losing business by having tried.
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      • Profile picture of the author Warren Weber
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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          Originally Posted by Warren Weber View Post

          A digital product can be manufactured over and over, so what sensible person is going to believe in any kind of scarcity to begin with?
          It's not quite as simple as that.

          It's clear, with some products, that their potential value may be in inverse proportion to the number of copies sold. A good, topical example would be "niche research WSO's" which are clearly perceived to be worth less if hundreds of people "have the information", which facilitates competition.

          But there are ways round this. (Two or three spring to mind). There are even ways of showing that it's been "enforced" (i.e. true). It can be presented, explained, justified, and legitimately used as part of the sales techniques. This, of course, is a whole different ball-game from the idiots announcing "only 9 copies of this e-book left" on their Clickbank sales pages month after month. :p
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          • Profile picture of the author Warren Weber
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            • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
              Originally Posted by Warren Weber View Post

              I don't know what you mean by being being "enforced". If it's digital, it can always be reproduced ...

              [ ... ]

              I base my conclusions for buying a product based on whether I'll get my money's worth out of it.
              That's her point. It's not the case very often, but occasionally - very occasionally - there may be times when the perceived (and/or real!) value of a product diminishes quickly as more and more people gain access to and/or use of it. In such cases, one way to put your potential customers' minds at ease and ensure you can uphold the product's value and justify its cost, is to implement real scarcity by limiting its availability / number of sales.

              But as I say, it's usually quite rare for this to be a necessary - or even preferable - tactic.

              So the general consensus of opinion, among smart, reputation-conscious marketers, is that unless you have good, valid and justifiable reasons for doing this (that your customers will believe, understand and appreciate - not ones they'll "see right through"), you shouldn't bother with it. And if you're not bothering with it, don't try taking your customers for a ride by pretending you are; that will only lead to a damaged reputation and probably cost you more in lost sales than you'd care to imagine.
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              • Profile picture of the author Warren Weber
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                • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
                  Originally Posted by Warren Weber View Post

                  Thanks. Why "Dire Straits"? Is it because of the Sultans of Swing? That's a good song with a distinctive guitar solo.


                  Not so much because of that song, specifically, but yeah - the name is after the band. Mark Knopfler's my favourite guitarist and musician (mostly his solo stuff, these days, though).

                  Diddle-fiddle-diddle-fiddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-dooo. (Love the ending. )

                  (Sorry to be ultra off-topic: can't resist a natter about my beloved Knopfler. )
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        • Profile picture of the author scrofford
          Originally Posted by Warren Weber View Post

          A digital product can be manufactured over and over, so what sensible person is going to believe in any kind of scarcity to begin with?
          A lot of people will if you say you are only going to offer a certain amount of the product and then stick to your guns about it.
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          • Profile picture of the author Warren Weber
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            • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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              Originally Posted by Warren Weber View Post

              I don't buy anything with such claims and think I am well served by doing so. And I'm just your average schmuck.
              I suspect not, really. If you've decided not to buy anything with such claims, that may immediately put you at a rather more perceptive and better-judgment level than your average schmuck.
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  • Profile picture of the author sethczerepak
    Scarcity isn't a very good way to build urgency. It's been overdone and people just don't believe it, even if you do mean it. The problem is that it's external and people are far less convinced by external things than they are by the conclusions they arrive at on their own. People want to buy on what they believe to be their terms, or they won't buy...no matter how bad they need it. It's an ego thing.

    You have to find a way to appeal to the person's internal source of pressure, which you do by:

    1) Understanding the emotional need which your product is fulfilling.
    2) Contrasting that fulfillment of that need with the emotional pain caused by the problem that your product solves.

    Do this right and you'll create an internal pressure and urgency which will compel the person to buy...whether it's a limited time offer or not.

    I wrote about this in more detail here if anyone is interested...

    The Three Pillars of Effective Marketing: Part III | Cashflow Copywriting
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  • Profile picture of the author ReachOneMedia
    Hey guys... lol

    This thread is NOT to debate about scarcity should we use it or not
    I do not ask for advice on how use it either...

    Here's my questions

    Do you use scarcity technique to make people buy your product? YES or NO

    From a scale of 1 to 10 what is the amount of scarcity you love to use in your own sales copy? 1 to 10

    What is your best technique to apply scarcity/urgency? Here's the technique I use myself

    Thanks

    J
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    CALLING WARRIORS: I'll Make 10 New Millionaires In The Next 90 Days... Or Look Like An Idiot Trying! CLICK HERE
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  • Profile picture of the author JJOrana
    Read this from a great, transparent, and honest marketer, Michel Fortin:

    http://www.michelfortin.com/digital-...still-convert/
    http://www.michelfortin.com/use-scar...ell-not-scare/
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  • Profile picture of the author carter3
    Originally Posted by ReachOneMedia View Post

    Here's my questions

    Do you use scarcity to make people buy your product?
    From a scale of 1 to 10 what is the amount of scarcity you love to use?
    What is your technique to apply scarcity?

    Personally I use the "shut down technique" Ie: This is a limited time product I reserve the right to shut down this offer at any time...

    from 1 to 10... maybe 6

    LEt me hear from you!

    Cheers

    J
    Using scarcity as a means of selling your product is nice but you must be extremely careful when doing in other not to over do it. just do it once every two weeks i think this will help!
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