"This $16,983 value, for only $47"

by kyoo
19 replies
Does this tactic really work? Well, I guess this pair of tactics, since there are two in play

o Sandbagging the sticker price to increase the apparent value of the sale.

o Making $50.00 into $47.00 because people subconsciously think 40, not 50 when they see it.

Both of these techniques, but especially the first, seem so transparent, almost *offensive* to me as a consumer, I'd cast the technique aside out of hand, except ... well, it seems like everyone uses them. Am I overly sensitive to this ploy? Are people not able to come up with other ways to increase apparent value? Should I not even try, or are these hamfisted tactics really enough?
  • Profile picture of the author Long Beach Nathan
    Those these types of techniques seem obvious, it's been shown over and over again through decades of marketing that they do in fact work. Though, of course nobody will believe you if you jack the price up that insanely high, but I take it you're just exaggerating to make a point.

    It's like the .99 cents thing. It's been shown that even though we round up to the nearest dollar in our heads, we still feel like we're getting a "deal".
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    Originally Posted by kyoo View Post

    Does this tactic really work? Well, I guess this pair of tactics, since there are two in play

    o Sandbagging the sticker price to increase the apparent value of the sale.

    o Making $50.00 into $47.00 because people subconsciously think 40, not 50 when they see it.

    Both of these techniques, but especially the first, seem so transparent, almost *offensive* to me as a consumer, I'd cast the technique aside out of hand, except ... well, it seems like everyone uses them. Am I overly sensitive to this ploy? Are people not able to come up with other ways to increase apparent value? Should I not even try, or are these hamfisted tactics really enough?
    First of all, YOU are not your customer. Stop thinking like a customer and start thinking like a marketer. I'm amused at people who call themselves marketers but then complain about these sorts of things.

    Stop complaining, grow a pair and test it with your own products.
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    • Profile picture of the author David Burnett
      Yes this really does work.

      I saw a thread a while ago with a guy testing this out. He ended up making DOUBLE the sales when he decreased the price like that.

      I wish I could find the thread and show it to you but it's buried in my list of bookmarks lol

      Anways don't be offended... It really works and it will get you more sales.

      It's just plain stupid in my mind not to use some of these marketing tactics. The customer doesn't realize what your doing (most of the time) so basically your are just loosing out on money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Micah Medina
    Originally Posted by kyoo View Post

    Does this tactic really work? Well, I guess this pair of tactics, since there are two in play

    o Sandbagging the sticker price to increase the apparent value of the sale.

    o Making $50.00 into $47.00 because people subconsciously think 40, not 50 when they see it.
    Yes.

    Originally Posted by kyoo View Post

    Both of these techniques, but especially the first, seem so transparent, almost *offensive* to me as a consumer, I'd cast the technique aside out of hand, except ... well, it seems like everyone uses them.
    I don´t understand your goal for this thread. If you want to complain about effective marketing techniques perhaps you should vent on a forum for consumers and not marketers.
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  • Profile picture of the author kyoo
    Originally Posted by Long Beach Nathan View Post

    Though, of course nobody will believe you if you jack the price up that insanely high, but I take it you're just exaggerating to make a point.
    I was exaggerating, but not by much - the actual program in the video I had just been watching was discounted from $5679 to $47. Even PLF jacks up the "apparent value" by inventing around 10 grand in free live events right at the end of the pitch.

    Are there are levels at which this tactic becomes too transparent, and the perceived value you're inventing falls apart?

    And sorry to anyone who feels I'm complaining. I'm a newbie with no IM experience asking an actual question while I build the content for my first attempts. It's not judgement, just looking for other people's experiences and trying to plan.
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  • Profile picture of the author JamesBorg
    Originally Posted by kyoo View Post

    Does this tactic really work? Well, I guess this pair of tactics, since there are two in play

    o Sandbagging the sticker price to increase the apparent value of the sale.

    o Making $50.00 into $47.00 because people subconsciously think 40, not 50 when they see it.
    The first tactic is a standard ploy that you'll often see discussed with the phrase "perceived value." I gotta admit I've just trusted the marketing "wisdom" and intuitive plausibility when I've written copy -- I mean, I couldn't, off the top of my head, point you to a rigorous empirical study, the result of which may not apply to specific niches/offers/whatever anyway. All you can do is try to isolate it and run your own tests.

    The same goes for the "magic 7" price point, only I don't find it intuitively plausible that $47 should do better than, say, $49. Easily tested for your offer. (Let's not even get into something like $47.77, which for me has neither intuitive plausibility nor intuitive neutrality -- it strikes me as very jarring for the customer, even scammy-looking. But testing must decide.)
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  • Profile picture of the author LimitlessTraffic
    I think the better question is why number 7?

    Is there a psychological reason behind that number 7?

    I mean what is wrong with $46? or $96? $95? etc.

    Or is this just a band wagon thing where people just go with the flow?
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  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    It does not work.

    Only because some guy has a video up where he discounts something from 5k down to $47 does not mean that it works.

    It does work if you can make it real. So getting something worth $300 or $500 for $47 might be real but $5k for $47 triggers the BS filter.
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    • Profile picture of the author iLinkedin
      Originally Posted by hpgoodboy View Post

      It does not work.

      Only because some guy has a video up where he discounts something from 5k down to $47 does not mean that it works.

      It does work if you can make it real. So getting something worth $300 or $500 for $47 might be real but $5k for $47 triggers the BS filter.
      Agree with you. Discount something from $16k to $47 is just unrealistic. Customer is not that easy to believe. :confused:
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    With a spread like you suggested in the first technique, it is not believable. I discount it completely when I read something like that.

    Yesterday I looked at a WSO that was offering 3 other ebooks as bonuses and each one said $27 value, $47 value, etc. I was shocked and noticed it right off the bat because it's been a long time that I've seen someone value the product or bonuses in a truthful manner. The ebooks were actually close to the value stated rather than some overblown, completely fictitious number.

    As for the second, yes it works. I've used it and I've used round numbers before and sold more with the pricing ending with 7 and a few bucks less than the rounded number.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Both Mark Joyner and Joe Vitale used this trick to put books at #1 on Amazon's best seller list on the day they were launched. Basically, they set up a JV giveaway event and promoted the book launch as:

      "Buy my book on launch day, and get $10,000 worth of free bonuses."

      I know it worked at least three times, because I can turn my head and look at all three titles on my office bookshelf. In fact, Joyner and Vitale had what looked like a little private competition for awhile to see who could offer the biggest bonus package. If memory serves, Vitale won for "Attractor Factor" with a promise of over $20k in bonuses. The fact that most of the bonuses were crap didn't seem to matter.

      One of Joyner's books even beat the latest (at the time) Harry Potter for a few hours.
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      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
        Banned
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        "Buy my book on launch day, and get $10,000 worth of free bonuses."

        ...The fact that most of the bonuses were crap didn't seem to matter.

        One of Joyner's books even beat the latest (at the time) Harry Potter for a few hours.
        Sounds like an all out bribe to buy a book that people otherwise may not have even noticed of its own accord. I'm sure the author of Harry Potter's books didn't have to bribe anyone to buy them. That's the difference I think between a great product and a weak product.
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

          Sounds like an all out bribe to buy a book that people otherwise may not have even noticed of its own accord. I'm sure the author of Harry Potter's books didn't have to bribe anyone to buy them. That's the difference I think between a great product and a weak product.
          It wasn't so much a bribe to buy the book. It was a bribe to buy the book on a given day so the author could call himself an "Amazon best selling author" complete with legitimate screen shot.

          My only point was that outlandish bonus packages can work, at least temporarily.

          The three books I ended up buying weren't all that weak, but they were no Harry Potter, either.
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          • Profile picture of the author TheFury
            I feel like with so many of these pitches if someone even gets as far as the price they don't have a working BS filter...
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          • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
            Banned
            Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

            It wasn't so much a bribe to buy the book. It was a bribe to buy the book on a given day so the author could call himself an "Amazon best selling author" complete with legitimate screen shot.

            My only point was that outlandish bonus packages can work, at least temporarily.

            The three books I ended up buying weren't all that weak, but they were no Harry Potter, either.
            I agree completely that they work. I've heard more than one person say that they weren't even interested in the product ... they wanted the bonuses. That was for products that a bunch of super affiliates were all competing for sales with and offering tons of bonuses if you bought from their links.
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  • Profile picture of the author johnben1444
    The most important thing is to study your current market and give your prospect exactly what they want.

    The value of a thing works but not without justification.

    As for the 7 number, i always leave that to James Bond.
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  • Profile picture of the author chg
    If these tactics didn't work, most of the top marketers wouldn't be using them!

    It's all psychological. You're offended because you know the science behind it, but all the average consumer will see is DEAL DEAL DEAL. I feel the same seeing most products at a store. Having businesses (and manufactured products) of our own and knowing what true product costs can be, I'm disgusted sometimes when I see the inflated prices at some retail stores...but even I'm susceptible to the trickery sometimes when I see a product bundled with something else or a "huge drop in price".
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    • Profile picture of the author kyoo
      Originally Posted by chg View Post

      If these tactics didn't work, most of the top marketers wouldn't be using them! It's all psychological.
      Yes, I agree, and inside, I'm sure I agreed when I asked the question. I think what drove me to ask it was the fact that I had just heard such an over the top one from a marketer who had simply not closed the deal yet.

      When Jeff "slips in the knife" at the end of the PLF cycle, people are already frothing at the mouth, and the slight lift he gets from inventing perceived value is to offset the pain they are about to feel when sticker shock hits. But he's always cranking up the value, cranking up the proposition, making you feel like you're worth the expensive program.

      This other guy, who I won't name now, instead cranks the value up from 0 to 11 in 30 seconds and within that same minute reveals what he thinks his program is really worth ... about the same as a "deluxe" dinner for 2 at Wendys.

      I suppose like all of this, it's not just about your chosen tactics, but about your execution.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nigel Love
    After seeing a zillion sales pages it doesn't seem to work on me anymore.
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