Scarcity... Just how far do you go? (Hurry, 3 days and this closes... haha kiddin!)

24 replies
Hello Warriors,

We use scarcity all the time in marketing...

But how far do you go? A day? Two? A week? Month?

At what point do you lose the "scarcity" factor when putting a time limit?

We do five days max usually, I feel as though any longer and people will think.. "hmmm I might come back to it later"

And we all know.. We want them to act NOW when it comes down to making sales! We need to tap into that part of the brain where we trigger the "FOMO" (fear of missing out)

But at what point does it lose it's strength? What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Craig
#closes #days #haha #hurry #kiddin #scarcity
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
    Lol, I don't think people believe in that B.S anymore, there are sales pages out there that say the page will be taken down in 24 hours, and 5 years later they are still up

    I think dime sales are more affective nowadays, people hurry to get a lower price.
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    • Profile picture of the author craig crawford
      Im not talking about a WSO or anything.. I'm talking about in general.

      Say a genuine offer that will be removed to them at a certain time... Which we do.. lol

      Or a webinar replay... which we would only have up for five days... etc... I think you are thinking about the dishonest ones buddy. And not people like us who do it and do it honestly,lol
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    • Profile picture of the author sal64
      Originally Posted by Alex Blades View Post

      Lol, I don't think people believe in that B.S anymore, there are sales pages out there that say the page will be taken down in 24 hours, and 5 years later they are still up

      I think dime sales are more effective nowadays, people hurry to get a lower price.
      That's a pretty general assumption. Perhaps IM people are immune to this, but out there, many people still fall for it.

      It's marketing 101 and depends on your audience.

      Sal
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  • Profile picture of the author intergen
    Scarcity works. The length of time depends - but beyond a few days is too long. Most importantly you don't want to breach trust - do what you say you are going to do and take down the page or close the deal when you say you are going to do it.

    Scarcity is just one of the 6 weapons of influence - for anyone who doesn't believe it still works read Dr. Cialdini's book on Influence - its not based on anecdotal info its based on research.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Harris
    I saw a sales page after a webinar replay that said there was only 1 copy left, started at 15 after the original webinar had been hosted.

    A whole 14 copies have been sold, from the fully booked webinar, over the space of a few days?
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    • Profile picture of the author craig crawford
      Originally Posted by Rob Harris View Post

      I saw a sales page after a webinar replay that said there was only 1 copy left, started at 15 after the original webinar had been hosted.

      A whole 14 copies have been sold, from the fully booked webinar, over the space of a few days?
      Yeah, scarcity in there too! That kinda scarcity is a little... dodgy though for some people... the people may of sold literally hundreds and the prospective buyer wouldn't know. (Not saying he did that) Where as a timer... (A REAL one... lol,) can be refreshed.. and it still ticks down!

      Honesty is a big thing in scarcity! You can use it for good or for evil! lol
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  • Profile picture of the author craig crawford
    No @intergen, I didn't know you was talking about the same book... and post count? Why would I care about that?

    Anyway, my bad. Let's stick on topic
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  • Profile picture of the author KenJ
    I'm worn out with scarcity.

    If the product is brilliant it will sell. Anytime. If you tell me I can only order within a limited time then I know it is BS. I click away.

    KenJ
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    • Profile picture of the author craig crawford
      Originally Posted by KenJ View Post

      I'm worn out with scarcity.

      If the product is brilliant it will sell. Anytime. If you tell me I can only order within a limited time then I know it is BS. I click away.

      KenJ
      In which way? I think you may be looking only one way buddy... Like for example. an offer within a sales funnel you have set up... You could give a genuine 50% off for the next three days only... That's not BS. That's a special offer. And adding the scarcity in may make people buy.

      I'm not applying it to WSO's I am talking about marketing in general. bud...

      It's everywhere! Even if not noticed
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      • Profile picture of the author craig crawford
        Hey Alexa,

        Scarcity can be linked to urgency if an offer wont be around forever then there is an element of scarcity (in time) inducing the urgency to buy!

        Long time no see by the way! We used to chat back in 09 Hope you are well!

        Thanks for your input! Always valued
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      • Profile picture of the author KenJ
        Originally Posted by craig crawford View Post

        In which way? I think you may be looking only one way buddy... Like for example. an offer within a sales funnel you have set up... You could give a genuine 50% off for the next three days only... That's not BS. That's a special offer. And adding the scarcity in may make people buy.

        I'm not applying it to WSO's I am talking about marketing in general. bud...

        It's everywhere! Even if not noticed
        I understand special offers for a limited time. What I don't get is a product only available to the market for a limited time. I work in the world of physical products. If I visit someone or they phone me and I tell them they "cannot order after this Friday" they would see me as a joker and a con man. A customer should be able to order when they are good and ready. Not when a business tells me to.
        I believe customers of digital products should receive the same level of respect for their intelligence.

        KenJ
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        • Profile picture of the author craig crawford
          This is done everywhere... Its part of marketing buddy, look on TV.. lot's of time sensitive offers out there most scarcity related offers are special offers.

          It's not insulting anyone's intelligence.. if you have an offer and want to monetize it, it is a good way to sell more in a shorter time before you remove the offer.

          People do not have to buy if they do not wish to. its about honesty. If the offer isn't going to be around after the time you give.... then there's nothing wrong with it.. Just make sure you remove the offer

          It's the people who abuse the scarcity rule that ruin it.
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          • Profile picture of the author KenJ
            Originally Posted by craig crawford View Post

            This is done everywhere... Its part of marketing buddy, look on TV.. lot's of time sensitive offers out there most scarcity related offers are special offers.

            It's not insulting anyone's intelligence.. if you have an offer and want to monetize it, it is a good way to sell more in a shorter time before you remove the offer.

            People do not have to buy if they do not wish to. its about honesty. If the offer isn't going to be around after the time you give.... then there's nothing wrong with it.. Just make sure you remove the offer

            It's the people who abuse the scarcity rule that ruin it.
            Hi Craig. I understand this completely.

            I am talking about when sellers withdraw a product from sale with no opportunity to buy in the future.
            Can you imagine me saying to a customer. "I will not sell you my UVPC Windows after Friday." (Just an example)

            One of my yardsticks for purchasing digital products is....
            Would I buy it at the real price they are quoting.
            If not then I know they are spinning a line to make me take a rash decision on a purchase by using false scarcity.

            I'm quite at ease with your OP.
            However my view is that most marketers use scarcity because their products are poor, not because there is any other reason for the contrived scarcity.

            KenJ
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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    Originally Posted by craig crawford View Post

    We use scarcity all the time in marketing...

    But how far do you go? A day? Two? A week? Month?

    At what point do you lose the "scarcity" factor when putting a time limit?
    I suspect you're slightly confusing "urgency" and "scarcity", Craig. (I see that there is some overlap between the two).

    Actually, to be honest, I suspect you're slightly confusing "fake urgency" and "fake scarcity".

    Urgency = "This product is available for its last two weeks and will then be replaced by <something different> at <higher cost>";
    Fake urgency = "This is only on sale for another week <no reason/justification given>";
    Scarcity = "This niche information is based partly on its being non-competitive and for this reason, only 25 copies of it will ever be sold";
    Fake scarcity = "Only another 9 copies of this e-book left" (this is probably the worst and most damaging of the lot, and the one that the highest number of potential customers see through, and know that the vendor's trying to deceive them).

    Originally Posted by craig crawford View Post

    But at what point does it lose it's strength? What are your thoughts on this?
    I think that most of the ways that most marketers try to do these things (partly reinforced by another group of marketers who are pretending to be copywriters - real copywriters know better!) have no strength to start with and actually damage their businesses, and that they'd learn this if only they tested it properly rather than assuming, as so many do, "this must work otherwise everyone wouldn't be doing it". :p :rolleyes:

    As an affiliate, I won't send my traffic to sales pages with fraudulent misrepresentations like "only 17 copies remaining" on them (with the number unchanged for three months while the gravity jumps up and down!), because my subscribers/visitors/traffic know perfectly well (a) that those vendors are liars, and (b) that I know they're liars, too. That would be a real lose/lose for me, however you look at it. And as someone who needs to make a living from this, that's obviously something I have to reject on sight.

    There are such things as genuine urgency and genuine scarcity, but they're rarer. Much rarer.

    It's something with which one needs to be very careful.
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  • Profile picture of the author JHandy
    I think if you say "Going on Sale for x number of days" and after that it will return to x price may be a little more motivating than the scarcity thing. I know that scarcity works, but at some point you have make sure that you are still operating your business with integrity. People are always looking for a good deal and if your product is packaged well, it will sell.

    Marketers tend to do what they see others do and believe that it will work. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. It all depends on the individual on the other side of the computer looking to purchase. But, I must say it's a good thought Craig.
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    As far as scarcity is concerned, limiting the number of
    copies you sell works much better than a time limit.

    With a time limit the prospect can always gauge just
    when to buy but with an item limit there is no way to
    judge when all will be sold out.

    -Ray Edwards
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  • Profile picture of the author Woodward82
    At what point is it do you lose your credibility using scarcity. I personally have dropped 4 mailing list in the last few days because frankly Im sick of seeing "Act now or miss out" and then getting emails saying "In case you missed out, only 24 hours left" or the link still working days after ect.

    If your going to use scarcity use it wisely and truthfully. Come to find out I'm not the only person who feels this way.

    And yes it might be Marketing 101 , but I also believe that gaining (and keeping) the customers trust is Marketing 101 also.

    When Walmart says they have a sale and it ends on said date, guess what? It ends
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  • Profile picture of the author Devin X
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    Originally Posted by craig crawford View Post

    Hello Warriors,

    We use scarcity all the time in marketing...

    But how far do you go? A day? Two? A week? Month?

    But at what point does it lose it's strength? What are your thoughts on this?
    Say what you mean and mean what you say. You really have to make something scarce...not just pretend that it is scarce. This is especially paramount in the digital realm.

    Too often, people will use scarcity the wrong way. They'll say that they're going to raise the price...but they don't. They'll say that they'll only sell 1000 copies...but they won't. They'll say you only have 24 hours left...but you have all the time in the world.

    You have to make good on what you say. For example, I have a WSO coming soon and it'll be offered at a 400% discount for only 1000 buyers. After that, it's pulled from the market. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Cut and dry.

    If you don't follow through with your word, then you will lose in this game very quickly.
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