What is your experience selling cheap products versus expensive ones?

36 replies
I want to promote an affiliate product on a site that I have, but I am struggling to figure out if it would be a good idea to promote a cheap product or an expensive product.

I have heard that cheaper products sell better, because they lead people to not think so much about the price. This leads to many impulse buys. The thing is I believe it is just as hard to sell a cheap product than a more expensive one.

If I work hard to promote a product I want to be paid as much as possible. However, if I can get a small sale and then upsell later I do not mind doing this either. I guess what I am asking is who has done both? Which one were you more successful at?
#cheap #expensive #experience #products #selling #versus
  • Profile picture of the author alexgold87
    How you feel about value of your product? If it's really valuable and helpful - don't confuse about final price. Keep it real. If you will put less that originally your product costs - you will get lots of refunds.
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    • Profile picture of the author Centurian
      I have done both. It depends on your target market and your list.

      You make more money off high-end products, but you've got a bit more work to do. Unless it's just such a flat-out good deal it sells itself.

      I have sold products for higher prices than my competitors in a saturated market by proper positioning. In fact, I was the highest price, but I targeted prospects that truly wanted what I offered. As such, I still outsold them in price and volume.

      Research shows salesmen are more worried about price than customers are.

      With a higher-priced product, you need to educate your market about why they need it and why yours is better. Use information marketing to sell it; webinars; evergreen videos, etc. can do the work for you.

      Then don't forget you are also selling access. Provide financing or installment options for high-priced products. Reverse the risk and increase sales.

      Remember there are only two things people care about. How much does it cost me now and how much later. If you find a screaming market, drop a quality product, and provide the means to acquire it, you'll have good success.

      Consider how much traffic and how many sales you have to generate to earn real money on a $7 or $17 product. Two $500 sales earn you more than one hundred $7 sales.
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    • Profile picture of the author knish
      Originally Posted by alexgold87 View Post

      How you feel about value of your product? If it's really valuable and helpful - don't confuse about final price. Keep it real. If you will put less that originally your product costs - you will get lots of refunds.
      I myself want to find the most inexpensive products, but also ones that offer the best value for the money. I think that is an excellent way to go when attempting IM.
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    I am referring to marketing affiliate products. I have seen some that are over $100.00 and my commission would be 60% or more. Then I have seen affiliate products that were $7.00 where I would get one hundred percent. The question is will one convert at a higher clip. If the cheaper ones convert higher is it worth it for the chance to upsell to an expensive product later? Does this always work is what I was wondering.
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  • Profile picture of the author WorkOnline
    Selling whatever how much it cost really doesn't matter, it should be the quality of your products that you should give more importance. The price of your product should go with its quality because buyers would go for quality regardless of how much it cost. Just be honest with your products and you'll get what you want in the future.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew Mak
    the conversion depend on the sale letter, if the writing catch the buyer eyeball and keep them reading, finally the call to action make the buyer feel really need for the product, then this sale copy will convert high, no matter it is a cheap or high ticket product.
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  • Profile picture of the author zelgly2
    before you sell a product know about the product, it should not cause any harm, the quality of the product is the main thing you should look for not the price. if the quality is good you will get more number of customers through word of mouth.
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    before you sell a product know about the product, it should not cause any harm, the quality of the product is the main thing you should look for not the price. if the quality is good you will get more number of customers through word of mouth.
    I might think a product is good but someone else may not. I guess the best way for me to figure this is the reputation of the seller combined with what similar products were being sold on the market.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      A method that is effective in many niches is to build lists of buyers using inexpensive products, then promote incrementally higher end products to these buyers. For example, I've experienced great success in consistently selling Amazon affiliate products well into the five-figure price range by initially building lists of buyers of nominally priced ($20-$50) Clickbank products.
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    A method that is effective in many niches is to build lists of buyers using inexpensive products, then promote incrementally higher end products to these buyers. For example, I've experienced great success in consistently selling Amazon affiliate products well into the five-figure price range by initially building lists of buyers of nominally priced ($20-$50) Clickbank products.
    Could Amazon affiliate products be promoted in place of Clickbank to make good money? I would love to promote a physical product instead using the methods I am going to use.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by pheonix44 View Post

      Could Amazon affiliate products be promoted in place of Clickbank to make good money? I would love to promote a physical product instead using the methods I am going to use.
      I don't know what methods you are going to use, but I promote both Clickbank and Amazon products almost entirely by email to my lists. If you choose to go that route with Amazon, don't put affiliate links in your email; it is against Amazon's TOS. What I do is have the link point to a product presell/landing page. This method can increase conversion rates dramatically, often well into double digits.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by myob View Post

        I promote both Clickbank and Amazon products almost entirely by email to my lists. If you choose to go that route with Amazon, don't put affiliate links in your email; it is against Amazon's TOS. What I do is have the link point to a product presell/landing page. This method can increase conversion rates dramatically, often well into double digits.
        This ^^^ exactly. (Is all true for me, also).

        Whether you're looking at cheap or expensive, Robin, whether you're looking at ClickBank or Amazon and/or other things, the key concept is that affiliate sales are made by list-building. Whatever sort of website you have, it's the emails and their open-rates and "attention-rates" that keep your subscribers returning to your site, and buying.

        This post mentions "ClickBank products" specifically, because that was what that thread happened to be about, but you can substitute the words "affiliate products" for "ClickBank products" in it: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post5210243
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  • Profile picture of the author ChadOath
    My experience is that you don't know which converts better til you split test.
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    What I do is have the link point to a product presell/landing page. This method can increase conversion rates dramatically, often well into double digits.
    Would pointing to a landing page work inside of a PDF report?
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by pheonix44 View Post

      Would pointing to a landing page work inside of a PDF report?
      Of course, but IMO for best conversions always follow up with email. There are some Amazon affiliates I know who write downloadable PDF "white papers" of high end industrial products with links to their landing pages. But never include your Amazon affiliate link (or redirects) with any off-site promotion.
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    Whether you're looking at cheap or expensive, Robin, whether you're looking at ClickBank or Amazon and/or other things, the key concept is that affiliate sales are made by list-building. Whatever sort of website you have, it's the emails and their open-rates and "attention-rates" that keep your subscribers returning to your site, and buying.
    Independent of a list I would still want them to return to the site. Getting people to give their email address is no simple task.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Originally Posted by pheonix44 View Post

      Independent of a list I would still want them to return to the site.
      Of course, and rightly so.

      The reality, though, is that "independent of a list" (i.e. without one) it's extremely unlikely - not to put too fine a point on it - that there'd ever be enough sales to make such a project viable in the first place.

      Originally Posted by pheonix44 View Post

      Getting people to give their email address is no simple task.
      These things are all relative, aren't they? Compared with the prospect of trying to get significant return visits and make affiliate sales without a list, it could even be said that it's "trivially easy".
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    I'm more successful at selling the low priced products, and then gathering massive amounts of customers (or people who are willing to buy again), and selling them on the backend.

    Will try my luck at $1,000 products when i launch my internet marketing seminars.
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    I'm more successful at selling the low priced products, and then gathering massive amounts of customers (or people who are willing to buy again), and selling them on the backend.

    Will try my luck at $1,000 products when i launch my internet marketing seminars.
    I was thinking along these lines. I figured that people are more likely to spend a big amount of money on a physical product rather than a downloadable product.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by pheonix44 View Post

      I was thinking along these lines. I figured that people are more likely to spend a big amount of money on a physical product rather than a downloadable product.
      It depends a lot on your market and what they are looking for help accomplishing.

      > MMO/IM products can run into the thousands.

      > There are advisory services for many professions that run several hundred dollars per month.

      On a smaller scale, many software products that sell for hundreds of dollars are downloadable, with a CD available at extra charge.

      Start with the people that you want to market to. Are they looking for physical products or something they can download for immediate gratification? Do they expect to a little or a lot for what they buy? Is the market such that you can do as Paul suggested and create a funnel starting with relatively low cost digital products?

      Start answering those questions, and any you can think of like them, and you'll have an answer that will at least give you a solid place to start.
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  • Profile picture of the author AdwordsMogul
    In my experience cheaper products don't necessarily convert better, and you don't necessarily sell more copies.

    I actually did an experiment to verify this.

    The thing is, it's all about VALUE. If you can present the VALUE the right way, in a way that the customer believes you, and believes it will work for them price becomes less of an issue.

    When you go to a really nice bar you expect things to cost more than average (even though that's not always true). On the other hand, if someone sells you the same drink (at the same price) in a forsaken join you might thing they are crazy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Challendge
    Advice from other is great because life is too short to always learn from your own mistakes!
    However, a suggestion would be split testing it yourself. Run a campaign for a low and high price and see what works out best.

    Remember to always check the products that you are marketing to make sure that they are at least decent and suitable for your target market. Also decide if the price is in line with the product.

    Making money online is NOT easy! It takes a lot of research, hard work, "failure", and persistence. Do your due diligence with a split test and go from there!
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    When you go to a really nice bar you expect things to cost more than average (even though that's not always true). On the other hand, if someone sells you the same drink (at the same price) in a forsaken join you might thing they are crazy.
    To me value equals benefit. So the value I could create would have to be well presented in my salescopy. It would not be my goal to make things fancy or attractive looking just to justify a higher price.

    If something has value it has value. It is like going to Pick n' Save versus Whole Foods to get apples. At one store the apples have benefits, but they are not listed. These apples cost $3.99 a bag.

    At the other store the apples are attractively packaged BUT various health benefits are listed to justify the price. This equals value, at least in the eyes of the person who is going to pay $4.99 per pound for them at Whole Foods versus $3.99 for a whole bag at Pick n' Save.
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  • Profile picture of the author ejunkie
    Find great products which offer great value to your customers.

    If it's like $400 or whatever, go for it.

    Selling high priced not only means higher profits... but it also can differentiate you among the sea of affiliates who peddle cheap, crappy stuff. And make you look premium, quality, high-end, class.... you get the drift.
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  • Profile picture of the author Viramara
    I got a "strange" thing happened lately. When I turned my e-book into a physical printed book, more people buy than when I just offer them a digital copy. It's the same ebook with same content and even cover, but they prefer a real book which pages they can flip! They don't even bother the price are higher and they have to wait for shipping. I guess physical book still goes well, even when you sell it online.

    (I joined a self-publishing thing in my country that has similar system like Kindle, but they allow the ebook printing)
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  • Profile picture of the author Angel Warrior
    Go for quality over quantity. This also allows you to raise the price and can have a viral effect. It also build reputation and trust
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    I got a "strange" thing happened lately. When I turned my e-book into a physical printed book, more people buy than when I just offer them a digital copy. It's the same ebook with same content and even cover, but they prefer a real book which pages they can flip! They don't even bother the price are higher and they have to wait for shipping. I guess physical book still goes well, even when you sell it online.
    I have been thinking about this lately. There are print on demand services that can be used. I believe this would open advertising avenues to me that are currently closed. I also believe the refund rate would not be so bad.
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  • Profile picture of the author funkynassau
    We sell a product that comes in 5 different kit forms, none is expensive in the grand scheme of things. The cheapest one was a fair bit lower in cost from the next one up, and it sold like hotcakes. We did up the price of the cheapest one to where it is closer to the next one up and now the cheapest one isnt selling anywhere nearly as much, which is fine, really, as we make better money on the second cheapest.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nixgan
    Phoenix,
    it all really comes down to your customer profile.

    I usually think about customers in my niche,
    "are they willing to spend much"?
    before going into the niche.

    If your answer is no,
    you should probably sell cheap things.

    If your answer is yes,
    go for the ones that are expensive but of good content!

    As they say, selling one $100 product is easier and profits you faster than selling ten $10 products.

    As an example,
    in the internet marketing niche,
    people are willing to spend
    if they get good contents in return.

    I know,
    because I have spent tons for
    internet marketing products and workshops too!

    You might wanna invest your time
    on niches with people like me as customers.

    Think about it! All the best !
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  • Profile picture of the author 6figure101
    Set up your sales funnel to sell both... start with a good quality, low priced product... and sell the higher ticket items on the backend!
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  • Profile picture of the author christinejones
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    In my experience it's better to cover all your bases. I sell cheap digital products (~$1), but also expensive ones upwards of $47. Some people consider selling only expensive products, but in my opinion they are leaving a ton of money on the table.
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    In my experience it's better to cover all your bases. I sell cheap digital products (~$1), but also expensive ones upwards of $47. Some people consider selling only expensive products, but in my opinion they are leaving a ton of money on the table.
    What type of information do you sell for $1.00. I might want to try out such a method, but there would definitely have to be an upsell.
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  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    In terms of infoproducts, I've sold $7 reports through $497 membership sites, $1000 coaching programs right through to $500K weekend training programs...I would say it is just as easy to sell a high-end product as it is a low-end as long as your sales funnel and positioning target this from the start.

    If you build a list or following of newbies who expect freebies and $7 products then you are not going to be as successful selling $1000 products, but if you position your site as special with value add and aim for the top 20% of the market, then they will

    Regarding Amazon sites, that's a little different in that certain categories of products lend themselves to higher priced products - ex. LCD TV's versus Food processors.

    I use the top sellers as guidance here, if your product category has a wide range of different priced products then make sure the higher-end products are selling, if they are, then go ahead and pick either the high-end or the low end.

    For example, we setup an Amazon site around headlphones - they can easily be categorized around high-end and low-end and we did just that...we picked one and built our entire site around that category.

    Jeff
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    If you build a list or following of newbies who expect freebies and $7 products then you are not going to be as successful selling $1000 products, but if you position your site as special with value add and aim for the top 20% of the market, then they will
    The question is how do you position your site as special? Also, when it comes to those thousand dollar products I might think they will sell better if a person can pay for them in increments. This can also be done for products that cost little over a hundred dollars.
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  • Depends on what you mean by cheap. Cheap product do tend to sell well but my best selling product is $200.
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  • Profile picture of the author WalterWhite
    Its all a matter of selling the right product to the Right Person.

    If You are selling parashouts in a falling airplane You can easily ask for $ 10.000

    If You selling them on the ground the Price will be much lower.

    Location folks...Its all that matters online !
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