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Selling same product at 2 different prices

by manego90
8 replies
So I'm still in the process of learning marketing and the question came up for a technique that I've seen worked, but I can't tell how effective it is. Does giving away the product for free at first for a limited period of time, then sellling it for it's intended price devalue the product? I don't know if this more of a marketing question or a user research and design question to understand how the customer views the product. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks
#prices #product #selling
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by manego90 View Post

    So I'm still in the process of learning marketing and the question came up for a technique that I've seen worked, but I can't tell how effective it is. Does giving away the product for free at first for a limited period of time, then sellling it for it's intended price devalue the product? I don't know if this more of a marketing question or a user research and design question to understand how the customer views the product. Any thoughts are appreciated.

    Thanks

    Folks usually do that on sites like amazon to jack up sales counts or reviews.
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    Hi
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  • Profile picture of the author shaond
    I've seen two cases a few years ago where free product given to the right people increased the profile of the brand & product.

    The first one was a motorised skateboard. Basically the product was given to some kids who were super popular on Instagram and in exchange they only had to post one photo of themselves using the skateboard with the brand visible (these were $500 skateboards!).

    I'm not sure how they gauged the effectiveness of the campaign, but it would be safe to assume that they got some pretty good brand awareness out of it, which eventually lead to some great conversions. If I remember the brand, I'll come back and edit this post.

    On a second note, if you are a follower of cricket, you might know of Michael Clarke's association with a (then unknown) Australian brand called Spartan. By virtue of him using this unknown brands cricket bat during an explosive innings against India, Spartan's cricket bat sales exploded.

    So... the answer would be that yes - used correctly - free product in the hands of the right people can do wonders for your brand or products value!
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  • Profile picture of the author Karl Karrlander
    Originally Posted by manego90 View Post

    So I'm still in the process of learning marketing and the question came up for a technique that I've seen worked, but I can't tell how effective it is. Does giving away the product for free at first for a limited period of time, then sellling it for it's intended price devalue the product? I don't know if this more of a marketing question or a user research and design question to understand how the customer views the product. Any thoughts are appreciated.

    Thanks
    People have been using this method for years.

    Kind of similar to the beginning of a sales funnel. The reason to give it away is to rack up views and reviews, increasing its visibility, especially in Amazon and other vendor sites.

    So yes, it works in the long run if that's the business model you want to run.

    - Karl
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  • Profile picture of the author Tesslady
    No it doesn't devalue the product. It even upvalues it! Especially when it contains rich content and you give it away for free and declare how much it costs (you can see this like: Get this eBook valued at $500 for FREE!), it's gonna get big!
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  • Profile picture of the author Regional Warrior
    Originally Posted by manego90 View Post

    So I'm still in the process of learning marketing and the question came up for a technique that I've seen worked, but I can't tell how effective it is. Does giving away the product for free at first for a limited period of time, then sellling it for it's intended price devalue the product? I don't know if this more of a marketing question or a user research and design question to understand how the customer views the product. Any thoughts are appreciated.

    Thanks
    Here is something to try I have and works well , list 3 prices and asked them to choose the cost to pay

    $17 $19 $27

    Now if the product is good they will choose the higher price and If it is for the MMO niche have a 30 day money back guarantee and in fine print they get there money back on the 30th day stops the people who just buy and asked for refund

    Jason
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  • Profile picture of the author Pinkysoll
    Banned
    It's doesn't devalue the product (especially if it's a pretty good one), but you should build a base as to why people should grab it while it's free. This base could be reviews, feedback, a snippet on what's inside the product, and stuff like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by manego90 View Post

    So I'm still in the process of learning marketing and the question came up for a technique that I've seen worked, but I can't tell how effective it is. Does giving away the product for free at first for a limited period of time, then selling it for it's intended price devalue the product? I don't know if this more of a marketing question or a user research and design question to understand how the customer views the product. Any thoughts are appreciated.

    Thanks
    If you're talking about giving a product away to build buzz and gain feedback, then offering the product for sale to others, it's a tried and tested method.

    If you're promoting a service or license, you have to be careful. Over the years, I've seen companies try to build up a user base by offering a free service or license, or a one-time fee, and then switch models to a paid subscription. The results have not been pretty.

    There is a way to do this, and it means being straight with your users/customers. If people know up front that they have 30 days to evaluate a product and then they will be charged, it's up to them to say yes or no.

    Bottom line, be honest and consistent. People promised freebies should get freebies. Don't give people a product for free and then go back and ask them to pay for it later unless that's part of the original offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author manego90
    So from what I've read from all your guy's posts, it increases the brand, awareness, reviews of the product. It makes more sense. It seems like it's actually generous to give valued product away for free.

    Thanks for the clarity and response.
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