A $199 Value....Says Who?

[jamawebinc]

I was just at a website reading an article about stocks and in the right side panel was an opt-in form for a free ebook about options trading. A graphic stamped across it said a $199 value.

Which leads me to ask...Who said it is valued at $199? Was it sold at $199 ever? Was it up for sale for $199 ever? Was it appraised for $199 ever?

I find it hard to believe that anyone really thinks to themselves...
"Wow $199 for FREE???? I gotta download that right now!"

Isn't that tactic played out?

Lot's of people online use this tactic too...
"You get $457 worth of bonuses FREE" when you order my $27 product.

But then I ask the same questions I asked above about the $457 worth of bonuses --- $457 says who?

[Tom Brite]

Normally it's just the product creator.

You could put a price tag on anything and make it seem great... yet the true value of anything is what you can do with it.

Tom Brite

[Daniel Brock]

Originally Posted by jamawebinc

I was just at a website reading an article about stocks and in the right side panel was an opt-in form for a free ebook about options trading. A graphic stamped across it said a $199 value.

Which leads me to ask...Who said it is valued at $199? Was it sold at $199 ever? Was it up for sale for $199 ever? Was it appraised for $199 ever?

I find it hard to believe that anyone really thinks to themselves...
"Wow $199 for FREE???? I gotta download that right now!"

Isn't that tactic played out?

Lot's of people online use this tactic too...
"You get $457 worth of bonuses FREE" when you order my $27 product.

But then I ask the same questions I asked above about the $457 worth of bonuses --- $457 says who?

In the persons mind they arent really thinking...wow im getting this $200 item for free.

They are more likely to associate value to the free product this way, but not really $200 in value...just value.

[Brad Spencer]

I agree with you on this one...

Here's my read on the situation when I come across this in my IM browsing.

I've been around in this biz for a while now and I have seen tons of bull****...

I agree that certain things have value of high dollar amount...they definitely do.

I have developed a sixth sense about what I value things by seeing tons of offers.

When people give away stuff for free that they say is worth 10,000 bazillion dollars I take a look (which is the point) but I value it based on HOW EASY IT IS TO START USING...

That is true value in my opinion. PLR is virtually worthless b/c you have to do so much to get it saleable that you almost need to just start from scratch.

However, I have a PLR redirect script that I got for under 20 bucks with source code and I've used it a ton to improve my links and what not...way more valuable to me than a 20 dollar bill.

So...judge something's value by HOW FAST YOU CAN USE IT!!!

Cheers,

Brad Spencer

[Paul Hancox]

That's precisely what I wrote about in "The Secrets Of A 10% Conversion Rate". If you're going to stamp something with a "value" on it, you need to JUSTIFY why it has that value.

Heck, it's not even that difficult. Just sell it elsewhere on the Internet for $X, and then you can legitimately say, "Sold elsewhere for $X". You can even link to where you're selling it.

That's a lot more credible than plucking a "value" out of thin air.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Sometimes prices seem high and often unbelievable. I typically don't believe someone when they tell me they're going to give me $499 worth of bonuses for $19.95.

But, then, no one is forcing me to buy anything from them. And, if I think those bonuses can't be worth more than fifty bucks, aren't I still getting a deal at $19.95?

The thing is, though, to think of the value of the information. If you were to sit down with an options trader to have him give you some one-on-one training, don't you think he's going to charge you at least $199? So, you may think that it is, ugh, just an eBook, but if there is $199 worth of content in there, it's worth $199, no?

Heck, look at the price of taking a college course, even at a local community college where you can just take a course or two that you're interested in. You may end up paying far more than two hundred dollars and end up with less useful information than what you might have gotten out of that free $199 eBook.

And, once you've downloaded and read your free $199 eBook, then you can make a better determination as to the credibility of the price. If you think the value of the information was only five bucks, you're not going to buy a $37 eBook from the same publisher if he tells you that it's a $199 value. But, if you think the value of the information was worth at least fifty bucks, then you're going to snatch up a $37 eBook from the same publisher if he tells you it's a $199 value.

So, the price may be used to lure you in, but it also gives you some measurement of value from which to evaluate future offers from the same publisher.

[Richard Chapman]

Remember the old adage, you get what you pay for. If it's free, that's exactly what it is worth !

[AtomicFlipper]

Originally Posted by Richard Chapman

Remember the old adage, you get what you pay for. If it's free, that's exactly what it is worth !

Based on that remark, then all the information in here is worthless.

What about a hosting company that gives a free domain name valued at $10 if you signup for their hosting for a year valued at $80?

Just because something is free does not make it worthless.

Giving something away for free has been one of the best tactics ever used in marketing, and will always be one of the best.

[George Wright]

Great subject. Thanks.

Another way an author might justify the price is the time he/she spent researching it and writing it.

If it ligitamately takes 5 hours of serious research and 5 hours of writing time and my time is worth $10 an hour and it would take the average person at least the same time to find my info and his/her time is worth at least as much as mine then I think it would be fair to say my book is "worth" $100. If you don't want to pay me for my time would you pay me for saving you your time?

Many think their time is worth more than $10 an hour. $20 an hour, there is your $199 "worth."

Now if I'm giving it away free to build my list or build goodwill with potential customers am I wrong for saying "Worth $199.00?"

This might work as a pitch on a site. Put a check box on the page with the question "How much is your time worth."

Now have...

$5 and hr?
$10 and hr?
$20 an hour?
$40 an hour?

What ever they check causes a pop up to say, This product is worth at least $199 to YOU because you would spend xxxx amount of time to find all the information I have in .......

Just thinking out loud,

George Wright

[jamawebinc]

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

Sometimes prices seem high and often unbelievable. I typically don't believe someone when they tell me they're going to give me $499 worth of bonuses for $19.95.

But, then, no one is forcing me to buy anything from them. And, if I think those bonuses can't be worth more than fifty bucks, aren't I still getting a deal at $19.95?

The thing is, though, to think of the value of the information. If you were to sit down with an options trader to have him give you some one-on-one training, don't you think he's going to charge you at least $199? So, you may think that it is, ugh, just an eBook, but if there is $199 worth of content in there, it's worth $199, no?

Heck, look at the price of taking a college course, even at a local community college where you can just take a course or two that you're interested in. You may end up paying far more than two hundred dollars and end up with less useful information than what you might have gotten out of that free $199 eBook.

And, once you've downloaded and read your free $199 eBook, then you can make a better determination as to the credibility of the price. If you think the value of the information was only five bucks, you're not going to buy a $37 eBook from the same publisher if he tells you that it's a $199 value. But, if you think the value of the information was worth at least fifty bucks, then you're going to snatch up a $37 eBook from the same publisher if he tells you it's a $199 value.

So, the price may be used to lure you in, but it also gives you some measurement of value from which to evaluate future offers from the same publisher.

Yes, the value that the author assigns to the freebie is made to lure you in. But, I'm not questioning the value of the information. That can be determined in a few ways...most likely to be determined by the reader.

I've read books that cost me 10 bucks that I think were invaluable and not about the subject of online marketing, or making money. Just for a subject of how to do a craft better for instance.

However, I'm talking about if the freebie was sold. In many cases this freebie with an arbitrary value never has been offered for sale anywhere. The arbitrary value that can be slapped on an item can really get ridiculous.

If you had a half hour with Warren Buffett and could ask him questions, the price for such a meeting may be outrageously high, but anyone can go to a bookstore and get a book by him for what, $14.95 or so?

If you want to get technical, I suppose the word "value" is where the wiggle room comes in. They don't say - "Regular Cost of $199, but yours for free today".

This use of the word "value" let's someone use the argument of "That's what I value the information at" when questioned about where the arbitrary value amount comes from.

[jamawebinc]

Originally Posted by Paul Hancox

That's precisely what I wrote about in "The Secrets Of A 10% Conversion Rate". If you're going to stamp something with a "value" on it, you need to JUSTIFY why it has that value.

Heck, it's not even that difficult. Just sell it elsewhere on the Internet for , and then you can legitimately say, "Sold elsewhere for ". You can even link to where you're selling it.

That's a lot more credible than plucking a "value" out of thin air.

I always had this same thought. Isn't it more credible to actually show the item being offered for sale? The person can then know that it really is for sale at the value it is claimed to be worth.

By the way...

Anyone could do much worse than to read Paul's material. Some wonderful stuff as well as wonderful scripts for sale.

And I don't even make any money off that endorsement