Why do people still use “number scarcity tactic” for digital products?

[Jason H]

Don’t get me wrong, I find scarcity to be a great tactic for physical product, but when it comes to digital products, and a seller uses that, I just get a bad sleazy salesman feeling in my stomach.

What so, the seller only has like 17 copies of his own digital book sitting on his computers, and each time a buyer buys one, one of them gets taken out until all 17 all gone?

I just find this try-hard, lame and slightly-childish, but most importantly disingenuine, like the customers are actually that stupid?

What do you guys think?

[Woody C]

Some possibilities:

1. In many niches, people don't realize the psychology behind number scarcity and it doesn't register that the seller cannot run out of e-books or videos.

2. The seller actually is releasing a limited number for testing, customer service, integrity, acutal scarcity reasons. Some IMers still like to keep it to a certain number.

3. The seller learned traditional sales copy, which came from direct mail, and knows no different because they learned about the numbers scarcity tactic worked.

4. The seller is a sleaze ball that thinks you are stupid enough to buy from him.

[Nick Brighton]

I agree to some extent, but what many ebook marketers don't realize is that what matters when using limited QTY or any kind of scarcity in their call to action is that there are different types.

For example, limited quantities is the obvious ground level type of scarcity. But you can also use scarcity in how long you'll be offering bonuses, or how long you'll be offering the price deal etc.

That is more effective than simply saying "we have limited copies available" when selling a digital download.

If the limited quantity works so well, why not start shipping a physical product, raising the price and taking a photo of your product on your website and saying...

"Hey look, we've made "X" amount of these...they are selling out fast..."

It amazes my why so few people do this. Guess it's too much like hard work!

[BrianMcLeod]

There are plenty of reasons why limiting the number of sales is a perfectly legitimate and recommended practice:

1) PLR products – too many copies in the marketplace dilutes the value. A limit on the number sold creates value.

2) A marketing strategy or tactic that will become useless if too many people do it, but works perfectly for a limited number of people.

3) A specific sales goal for the promotion - the marketer wants $2k to buy a new computer, so he runs a promotion and limits the number of sales to just enough to cover the cost.

All of these give good "reasons why" which directly play to the scarcity and urgency of the offer, further driving sales.

But they also depend on the marketer being true to their word about it.

Ironically, it's usually the "evil gurus" who are least likely to bull**** about it and actually do what they say. Scarcity isn't just a marketing tactic, it's a mindset too.

: )

Best,

Brian

[Frank Donovan]

Hi Jason

I couldn't better the recent post by Paul Hancox concerning scarcity. If you missed it, see here: The Truth About... Scarcity

In direct response to your OP, I'd say there's no excuse for lazy, me-too marketing.

But I'd also add that if I create a product, it's entirely up to me how long I make it available and how many copies I allow to be sold. That applies to a digital, as well as a physical product.

And I'd be perfectly happy with using any limited availability in the marketing of that product.

Of course, if you say your product is limited to a set number of downloads, then you should keep your promise; but publishers aren't under any obligation to continue supplying the world indefinitely.


Frank

[ebizman87]

A lot of people indeed are buying a particular product because some sort of scarcity tactic was used to persuade them. 3 of the famous scarcity tactic that marketers use today are:
1.Limited Quantity
2.Limited Access
3.Limited Time Frame

Each and every tactic differs from another and has different influence over people!! It still works. Even though I realize that sometimes a marketer is purposely using that tactic, I still jump into an offer because the product and the bonuses really attract me.

[Emily Meeks]

That tactic only works if you actually do what you say you're going to do.

If you say you're selling 50 copies, as soon as order #50 rolls in, take it down. If the price goes up after order #50, raise it.

People who don't follow through are the ones who lose credibility.

[TheAngelGuy]

I don't think he's talking about scarcity, itself, not being legitimate or helpful.

It's the sell-job of "oh, I only have 17 left" and it's a digital download. Doesn't make for trustworthiness except for computer neophytes.

[Michael Hilton]

Yeah it is still used because people essentially remain the same. A certain type of person would always look at the scarcity statement and be taken in by it, where as another person would take one look at it and think 'Who do they think they are kidding?' Well maybe not them, but it is kidding a lot of other people.

My opinion is there is no point in doing this if your product is digital, as it is blatant lies, and destroys a certain level of credibility and respect from the more discerning potential buyer. The point is there are a lot better ways to entice a possible customer than trying to rush them to buy.

Sometimes I have even seen sites where in the middle of the sales pitch there is a statement somewhere along the lines of 'Special offer ends on ....' - And it is always midnight that same day or whatever. There is likely a clock that updates the sales page every day with whatever date it is, so the offer always 'ends' on whatever day the person is viewing the site.

I say stick to a good honest sales pitch and treat a potential sale with respect instead of a whole load of nonsense and deception.


Regards,

Mike.

[Black Hat Cat]

Originally Posted by TheAngelGuy

I don't think he's talking about scarcity, itself, not being legitimate or helpful.

It's the sell-job of "oh, I only have 17 left" and it's a digital download. Doesn't make for trustworthiness except for computer neophytes.

And those with more than 2 brain cells to rub together. Only the dumbest of the dumb don't get what a seller means when he says this. The rest of us can figure out that when a seller says he only has 17 digital "copies" left, he means he is only going to sell 17 more.

[Michael Motley]

Originally Posted by Jason H

Don’t get me wrong, I find scarcity to be a great tactic for physical product, but when it comes to digital products, and a seller uses that, I just get a bad sleazy salesman feeling in my stomach.

What so, the seller only has like 17 copies of his own digital book sitting on his computers, and each time a buyer buys one, one of them gets taken out until all 17 all gone?

I just find this try-hard, lame and slightly-childish, but most importantly disingenuine, like the customers are actually that stupid?

What do you guys think?

3 words:
call to action.

[Paul Hancox]

Well, I do get that kind of impression myself when I visit a site that says,
"I'm only selling XYZ of these, before they're gone." Unless I know the
marketer well, I usually take these things with a pinch of salt.

Or if I wasn't convinced to buy there and then, I'll usually pop back a few
days later, and guess what... there's STILL XYZ in stock before they're all
gone!

Oh, so no rush then...

I guess nobody told them that reverse social proof (ie. evidence of people
not buying) is going to have an anti-scarcity effect!

As I said in the other post that Frank kindly pointed to, it's ALL about (a)
perception, and (b) justification.

There are good reasons why a person might want to limit the quantity they
sell, or the quantity they sell at a certain discount. I highlighted some in
my other post, and Brian has given some good ones in this thread.

But it needs to be perceived to be credible. And the limitation needs to be
justified.

The seller should really justify WHY he only has 17 left of a DIGITAL
PRODUCT.

Here are several reasons why he might want to limit sales...

* It's a trial or sale price before it goes back up. (Stores use this all the
time - are they sleazy for doing so?)

* Can only handle so much support at this time...

* Looking for more customers who can give testimonials / case studies.
Once they have the magic number, they will put the price back to its
normal level.

I have run several limited quantity campaigns. Most of the time the
quantity is limited because I'm selling the product at a price that is much
lower than what I'd normally like to sell them for.

That is all the justification I need. It's limited because it's not the regular
price. It's a sale.

Yes, we digital marketers have sales too, at times. (Although I make sure I
don't have them very often - usually when I upgrade a product.)

But I always make sure the sales page automatically updates with how
many are left, and then removes the order button or restores the regular
price once the limited quantity are sold. (I use my own Dynamic Deadlines
script to do that, it saves me the hassle of having to update the page every
time there's a sale.)

I would consider anything less as lazy

[Learnanew]

Suprisingly, this still works rather well in niche marketing. Of course, IMer's have caught on to this fad by now.

[winebuddy]

The last one I did was on new years eve and I limited it to 100 buyers and a 30% off sale with several new bonus products.

Didn't sell the 100 but sold 72!

[ragnartm]

I'm all for real number scarcity, but static non script numbers that say something like 100 no 73 left makes me want to leave the page instantly. Why people use it? My guess would be that it works.

[Networking_now]

Originally Posted by Jason H

Don’t get me wrong, I find scarcity to be a great tactic for physical product, but when it comes to digital products, and a seller uses that, I just get a bad sleazy salesman feeling in my stomach.

What so, the seller only has like 17 copies of his own digital book sitting on his computers, and each time a buyer buys one, one of them gets taken out until all 17 all gone?

I just find this try-hard, lame and slightly-childish, but most importantly disingenuine, like the customers are actually that stupid?

What do you guys think?

some people use it, as most of the visitors dont click on that the more times the book is bought, the less products are up for sale, most visitors are not internet marketers, so that might be why it works for them.

[ehicks727]

There are legit reasons for scarcity. I'm working on a few products right now that I want to limit the spread of this knowledge.

Unlike some marketers, I actually want my customers to be competitive in their marketplace using my techniques.

I'm working on one that I am only going to sell 1500 copies of my ebook/videos. I'll make the amount of money I want out of this, I'm not going to be greedy.

If I sell too many more, then the market gets saturated with this technique, therefore, my customers lose their competitive edge. I want my customers to be competitive. (and that actually becomes a selling benefit that I can tout).

So, I consider it that I'm showing some good will to my customers by not selling out the secret to anyone who buys it, and they get some advantage to buying it from me... that is, exclusivity.

[Troy_Phillips]

When I get ready to launch one of my own products I will send out a couple of emails to my buyers list . I will only let 100 go and give a discount in return for a testimonial.

Once the full sales page goes out to my affiliates I only use scarcity for the upsale which is physical.

My last launch amazed me . I only made 1 ebook and sold over 100 the first hour . Every time I went to my desktop the ebook I made was still there.

Imagine that .