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Marketing in South Africa...Need Help w/Issues

by elsvirtual
13 replies
Hey All...

I'm launching a product and a few of my hot markets are in South Africa.

I've never marketed out of the US before and I have a few questions I'm hoping you may have the answers to:

1. My product is $27 (about 219 Rand). Is this price affordable or expensive? I'm clueless here.

2. Would it be wise to price my product in South African Rand? If so, any advice?

Any thought would be appreciated!

Evy
#africa #africaneed #marketing #south #w or issues
  • Profile picture of the author Oscar D
    Hello, maybe I can help you.

    I will PM you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick Lotter
    I guess it depends on what the product is. R217 is not a lot of money - depending of course on which market you are selling to. The average middle class family in South Africa has a combined income of about R10 000 per month. But from a sales psychology point of view, $27 looks less than R217 so maybe you should stick to dollars :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author elsvirtual
      Okay, the average middle-class family is exactly who I'm marketing to.

      So it seems I'm okay on price.

      Does anyone have any thoughts on whether the foreign currency (US Dollar in this case) would be a deterrent or if it doesn't matter?

      Evy
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick Lotter
    May I ask which niche your product is in?
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  • Profile picture of the author SaSeoPete
    I think your big problem will be people actually being able to pay online. We can't get Paypal accounts here, so that makes it difficult. SA is a not quite where you guys are with regards to the net. Also, not a whole lot of the population have internet, also broadband is pretty expensive.

    Did you get your market stats from Google Trends?
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick Lotter
    I live in South Africa and I have PayPal... I agree though that a low percentage of the South African population shop online.
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    • Profile picture of the author SaSeoPete
      Originally Posted by Nick Lotter View Post

      I live in South Africa and I have PayPal... I agree though that a low percentage of the South African population shop online.
      Sorry what I meant to say was a fully functioning Paypal account.

      Hey Nick, can you draw money from your paypal account? Mine won't let me, so I just reinvest all my Paypal payments (not a bad thing) + cap too...
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      • Profile picture of the author Nick Lotter
        Originally Posted by SaSeoPete View Post

        Sorry what I meant to say was a fully functioning Paypal account.

        Hey Nick, can you draw money from your paypal account? Mine won't let me, so I just reinvest all my Paypal payments (not a bad thing) + cap too...
        I only opened my Paypal account recently, so I havent tried to draw any money out yet. I had better check it out though, didnt realise that would be an issue. Thanks for the heads up.
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        • Profile picture of the author elsvirtual
          Gosh everyone, thanks for the responses!

          I actually have a merchant account and I don't accept PayPal right now because I will be doing a 1 click upsell.

          I also have been mini-testing my Adwords and I'm getting more than double the hits from South Africa than any in North America.

          So...I know there's an interest and now I know the price is good.

          I'm starting to lean towards doing a separate campaign and web page with Rand pricing throughout.
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  • Profile picture of the author Oscar D
    Yes, that is true. I only got a Paypal account today and it was a mission.

    I personally think that South Africans will be deterred by the dollar sign as most will not want to spend a lot of money, but if it is in rands then it will be straight to the point.

    Obviously this is just speculation, it will be best if you test it and watch your stats.

    Hope that helps
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  • Profile picture of the author pjlyons1uk
    I am English but also live in SA and that price of R217 rand is not bad at all with the dollar running at 8 rand to 1 dollar at the moment.

    Also I agree the the internet though available over here is no where near as wide spread as europe or the states by any means.

    Also paypal is a bit wierd over here also as at the moment with the finance laws and restrictions people are not able to withdraw money from it directly here.

    I am also looking at the local market which has alot of scope I see just finding the right tools for the job.

    Best wishes and good luck with your venture here in SA.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Anderson
    hi. another south african here.
    it would depend on your product. my neighbour signed for a training course last week offline to do website design and IT support. he is paying R1000 per weekend. and at no stage did he even mention the cost.
    i myself have spent over R1500 online this month.
    and we are very much middle class suburban joburgers.
    my personal opinion is that you will need to overcome the natural tendancy of a south african to be sceptical.
    about paypal, that isnt an issue as we are able to buy using paypal.

    one thing that is good news for you is this.... south africa is about to open up in a big way internetwise, as two new fibre optic cables are nearing completion, and then the prices will come down for full time broadband.
    and then every fool and his aunty will be here clicking like a lunatic.
    and you might get very rich.

    good luck with it all.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Anderson
    if you are south african and need to get a paypal account that pays you there is a way, but it is a huge mission. PM me and i will give you the link.
    i simply am putting all my products into clickbank and then they pay me.
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