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How Do You Sell An Expensive Product?

by nicolasmd2112
30 replies
Selling more expensive products has to harder. I assume there is more direct communication between you and your prospect. So how do you do it? How do you promote or sell a expensive product as an affiliate. (Expensive = $300+)
#expensive #product #sell
  • Profile picture of the author Lynn Terry
    Selling a product is basically the same at any price point. You meet them at the point of need (specifically: meet them where they are) and answer their questions / offer solutions.

    Obviously inexpensive products fall into the "impulse buy" category, and higher end products require a bit more in the way of helping them making a smart buying decision. Points that help make the sale include: proof, results, and addressing the negatives/questions that make them hesitate. (Always sell the results, not the product.)
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    • Profile picture of the author jurojin
      To sell an expensive product is not an easy task nowadays. On my experience, the product has to be decent/good quality. A strategy that I've used and seems to be working like a charm is this:

      You need to create a video (using camtasia) about the product, where you describe the benefits of buying it. Upload it to youtube and bring 200-300 good PR links to it, so that it will rank well in the serps. From that video, you need to link to a squeeze page where visitors will subscribe to your list before they get to the actually product website. Offering a good value bonus to anyone that buys the product through your link is very efficient. You can use a PLR or a product you've developed yourself as the bonus. The value of the bonus should be at least the same as the product price. If you need details about the tools you need to put this strategy into practice, hit me up, as I won't go into details in this thread. Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author TheLooper
    It actually depends which kind of product it is. Is it a physical product or are you selling knowledge? Approaches are different.

    Ask yourself the question: if i was a customer, what would make me wanna buy this product. What do i expect from it. Does it solve a problem i have?

    Find an answer to this question and you got yourself a strategy how to promote a specific product.

    -Regards-
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  • Profile picture of the author HzCy
    Basicly, selling products is the same.

    For 2$ products, for 20$ products and for 2000$ products.

    Whats different is the amount of negative things you can allow yourself.

    Some bad web-design for a 2$ product wont hurt you very much.
    For 20$ product a negative review (testimonial) wont hurt you, if you have like 90% good ones.

    But for a expensive product everything needs to be perfect. There shouldn't be any things where the user will struggle about "not buying the product".
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  • Profile picture of the author nicolasmd2112
    Thank you guys for your advice! Another question: how do I find prospects willing to
    Buy expensive products? How do I do this without a squeeze page and on a daily basis?
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    • Profile picture of the author daver99
      If you want to sell high end products you need to create a perception of extra value. This can be done by creating a feeling of exclusivity, or by creating a unique experience that cannot be gotten from lower priced products and services.

      There is a mindset that you need to understand if you are going to position yourself in front of the affluent with success.

      Read:

      No B.S. Marketing To the Affluent: Dan S....No B.S. Marketing To the Affluent: Dan S....
      (no affiliate link


      To find them you really have to know who your customers are and how they think. This will point you in the direction of where they are and how to reach them.

      If you don't want to reveal the niche here PM me and we can talk.

      Good luck
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Originally Posted by nicolasmd2112 View Post

      how do I find prospects willing to
      Buy expensive products?
      By finding prospective customers for cheaper products, selling them cheaper products first and on the strength of their increased trust in you (because you never let them down with your recommendations) some will then buy more expensive products.

      To a marketer, to most intents and purposes there aren't "people who are willing to buy expensive products" and "people who aren't willing to buy expensive products": there are "people who trust you enough to buy expensive products from/through you" and "people who don't yet trust you enough to buy expensive products from/through you.

      Most of it's about the relationship, not the price.

      It's about trust, not keywords.

      In affiliate marketing, and for vendors too, a lot (sometimes most) of the money in IM typically comes from selling further (and usually more expensive) products to people who already trust you, which is part of the reason why not building lists is so very short-sighted.

      Originally Posted by nicolasmd2112 View Post

      Selling more expensive products has to harder.
      It's not quite as simple as that suggests. Mostly, for selling online, they just need to be sold to different people (i.e. people who already trust you). You can make them different, by becoming (in your list-building and communications) the person from/through whom those people are willing to buy increasingly higher-priced products.
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      • Profile picture of the author thedog
        What Alexa said

        Once they've bought your lead in product, $17 or what ever, you can upsell a higher ticket item, or, even a lower priced item and then the higher priced item.

        Once they're in the funnel they're in buying mode.

        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        By finding prospective customers for cheaper products, selling them cheaper products first and on the strength of their increased trust in you (because you never let them down with your recommendations) some will then buy more expensive products.

        To a marketer, to most intents and purposes there aren't "people who are willing to buy expensive products" and "people who aren't willing to buy expensive products": there are "people who trust you enough to buy expensive products from/through you" and "people who don't yet trust you enough to buy expensive products from/through you.

        Most of it's about the relationship, not the price.

        It's about trust, not keywords.

        In affiliate marketing, and for vendors too, a lot (sometimes most) of the money in IM typically comes from selling further (and usually more expensive) products to people who already trust you, which is part of the reason why not building lists is so very short-sighted.



        It's not quite as simple as that suggests. Mostly, for selling online, they just need to be sold to different people (i.e. people who already trust you). You can make them different, by becoming (in your list-building and communications) the person from/through whom those people are willing to buy increasingly higher-priced products.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lynn Terry
    My advice: meet them where they are in the buying process. I use organic marketing, others use paid - either works. The point is that you consider where they are, what their current intentions are, and address that specifically.

    When targeting keyword phrases, consider the intent: are they in research / information mode? Do they already know exactly what they want and just need validation and/or help making the buying decision? Are they torn between similar offers - then offer a comparison, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author stoltingmediagroup
    My best suggestion is to throw the word "expensive" out of the window, and out of your mindset. Especially if you are an affiliate. Once you feel that $300 is expensive, it will show in your sales and promotional efforts.

    Selling a $1000 product does not necessarily require more communication, just the right type of communication, plus you need to make sure that you are targeting the right prospect, with the right product, at the right time.

    For an example: Go hang out at a jewelry store around Christmas or valentines day, and you will see how many little rocks fly of the shelf selling for thousands of dollars. (no matter how broke folks are, they will find a way to impress their lovers). Those who push this type of product online, know that the $300 ring is the cheap one.

    A Car dealer sells $20,000 cars everyday, etc, etc....

    It's all a matter of perspective.
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  • Profile picture of the author PBScott
    I have a bit of a different opinion on this, just so you know I have sold many things in my life, but I will use cars as an example.

    I sold cars for about six years, I sold some $4,000 pieces of garbage and some $200,000 + sports cars.

    Obviously in the case of a car, the product demands a higher price tag, so that needs to be the case with your product, however the price of the product is relatively the same to the customer, to each of them it is about a years savings, and therefore you do not treat the customer differently, in fact you are best to get in the mindset that the customer can easily afford your product, and it is a steal at it's current price, if you want to convey that to the customer.

    One guy I remember buying an automotive piece of garbage, had a minimum wage job at Subway or something similar, and one customer of mine that bought a 200k+ sports car had a helicopter charter company...she personally owned eight helicopters.

    However the thing to keep in mind is with a more expensive product, as was said before, you need a more perfect looking website, since you probably will make less sales, which is the norm for more expensive products, you should spend more time making everything perfect for them when they arrive. They are likely used to professionalism, so that is what you should give them.
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    When someone buys something cheap, they are not as careful as when they buy something expensive. If you want to sell very expensive products you have to give numerous explanations and guarantees.

    When I had an offline store I noticed that whenever someone would buy one of our most expensive products they would make numerous questions and visit the store many times. I believe that if they could, they would come to the store with a microscope to analyze all the details of the product.

    Some people would come with their entire family to make this important decision, after asking everyone’s opinion.


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  • Profile picture of the author ValCDesigns
    Originally Posted by nicolasmd2112 View Post

    Selling more expensive products has to harder. I assume there is more direct communication between you and your prospect. So how do you do it? How do you promote or sell a expensive product as an affiliate. (Expensive = $300+)
    Since you're interested in selling these expensive products as an affiliate, my advice is to always have a funnel in place.

    Start by offering a free report and thus get people to join your list. Then have a series of 3-4 emails offering pure content, this way you'll start building an actual relationship.

    Then start doing cheap affiliate promotions to differentiate the real buyers from the freebie seekers and to also establish the fact that you'll be sending affiliate recommendations from time to time. And simply work your way up the funnel with more and more expensive items. It works.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lynn Terry
    Keep in mind too that the merchant sets the price, but the buyer determines the value. In helping potential buyers determine the value to them specifically, the price becomes an investment vs an expense.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mozzen
    I've a simple procedure for this. If you want to sell an expensive product, just increase its value. Make it look more pricy, make it stand out from other products in its niche. Just write some high quality content about it telling that how valuable the product is. You can increase or decrease products value by content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Trujillo
    You sell the product like you would any product.

    The trick is to know your niche and build a responsive list !
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  • Profile picture of the author gcbmark20
    Hi,

    You could offer and construct a packaged BONUS that makes it a complete
    'No Brainer' for someone to buy that high ticket priced product.

    Bonuses are great for increasing conversions.

    They cannot be rushed though.

    It must be of REAL quality and compliment the product that you wish to
    sell.

    Hope this helps
    Gavin
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Hmm. I sell $300+ products and services all the time without a relationship. No bonuses, no big list, no affiliates.

    You do have to have info out there to intercept prospects at the time they are experiencing a problem you can solve. Eg. a video. Or sales copy. Because they are looking for it then.

    When someone tells you, "Your video talked about EXACTLY the problems I've been having!" then you know you're on target. And credible.

    Then your prospect has to know that the price of your product or service is far exceeded by what they will get from having it. Then they'll buy...if they have the money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Originally Posted by nicolasmd2112 View Post

    So how do you do it? How do you promote or sell a expensive product as an affiliate. (Expensive = $300+)
    1) Sell to the wealthy

    2) Promote super high commission affiliate products

    3) Create your own $300 products

    4) Sell some services online starting at $300/month

    5) Get MASSIVE amounts of leads

    6) Offer a $1000 seminar each year
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  • Profile picture of the author Devin X
    Banned
    OMG there's so much fail in this thread. Selling information products more expensive than $300 will require MUCH more energy to sell than less expensive information products. People aren't that stupid. How many of you actually sell any info products that are high ticket!? By what I'm reading...it's not many of you. You have to get on the phone with people and close the deal yourself. It's not done online. The only way to sell high ticket items hands free is by webinar. You need to do the whole presentation with an audience and record it. The key with webinars is ENGAGEMENT. People feel like you're talking to them and they see the social proof of other people being interested in what you have. If done correctly, you'll sell the product to some of the audience members...then you save the recording and use that on your sales page to sell the item for you. Other than that, you won't be selling high ticket items online.

    Furthermore, people are completely stupid when they say that you have lower refunds on high ticket items than with low tickets...or that there's less headache. That's just what wanna be gurus tell people to sell expensive garbage.

    Customers expect engagement and support for high ticket info products, that's why a lot of them are complete courses or seminars. It's more of a headache for you as the vendor than if you're dealing with $47 ebooks. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't actually done it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
      Originally Posted by TheRealDudeman View Post

      OMG there's so much fail in this thread. Selling information products more expensive than $300 will require MUCH more energy to sell than less expensive information products. People aren't that stupid. How many of you actually sell any info products that are high ticket!?
      I do...and I don't use webinars to do it, here.

      Yes, you are screening with the sales copy like crazy.

      Yes, most people are not going to buy.

      Yes, that's what you want.

      You match up...their problem...with...your solution. And you make sure they understand how much their problem is worth...and how little your solution's investment is in comparison to that.

      You know what most people are trying to do with their copy? A) Tell you how great they are; B) Tell you how great the product or service is; and then MAYBE C) Tell you why you should buy it for the features and benefits. TOTALLY different from what I do.

      And it is SO much easier and more satisfying to get the sale from and over-deliver to a $500 buyer than 50 x $10 buyers.

      The $500 buyer understands the value of what you're offering. You can work with them without it taking much of your time. They are more likely to do a testimonial and give referrals. Now you have a real relationship and have impacted their life--do you think they will buy another product or service from you? Will their be any price objection?

      The 50 x $10 buyers want the world for their $10. They create a time-sucking vortex with support tickets. They don't value what you offer because it's so cheap, and they rarely leave testimonials.

      I know who I would rather deal with, every time.

      Here's the scary thing: I have tested at both price points. And my conversion percentages are the same. In other words, whether I price at $9 or $97 or $997, the same people buy and the same people don't buy. This is probably because I am in a definite niche, and one that requires the dreaded four-letter word of W-O-R-K.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    Selling a $997 product is usually just as easy as selling a $47 product. The people you are selling to are just a different (more premium) type of buyer.

    It always comes down to value. If your customer can see they are going to get a lot more value than the price you are charging, they will always buy -- provided it is something they actually need/want.

    If someone walked up to you and tried to sell you a $47 ebook about stamp collecting, it would probably be harder for them to sell it to you than the guy who walks up to you and offers you a $40,000 car for just $10,000. In that example it would be easier to get you to spend the $10,000 rather than the $47.

    So the price point is really invalid. If people feel they are getting a hell of a deal then they will always find the money somewhere no matter how expensive it is. Likewise if they have no interest in the product whatsoever then they will not buy it no matter how cheap it is.
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  • Profile picture of the author vedremo
    Banned
    This might/probably/will sound like I'm in a different universe, but focus on designing a product to the customer needs. This isn't something that can be done in a 1 hour sitting. It needs complex thought and a deeper understanding. You'll probably need a marketing consultant. In the process, don't jump to solutions and think creatively.

    - Who is my customer?
    - Why do they want this product?
    - How can I help them better?
    - In what ways can I help my customer?
    - How can I make uncertainty around my product certain?

    An example of this is an Australian online clothing store Asos. The problem? People were reluctant to buy clothes online because of slow shipping and they weren't sure how the garment fits. Solution? 4 hour shipping. Return process that accommodates for poor fitting garments.

    Customers are the lifeblood of business. Focus on them first. The culture of IM is to fixate on quick cash, but it's hardly fulfilling, especially when you're doing anything to get it. It's much more rewarding to help people and money will naturally be drawn to you.

    A good read - This Is Service Design Thinking by Stickdorn & Schneide.
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by vedremo View Post

      An example of this is an Australian online clothing store Asos.
      I didn't think ASOS was Australian. Aren't they UK based?

      Maybe you mean 'The Iconic' since they have the 4 hour shipping.

      But yes, they have done very well for themselves. Bought plenty of stuff from them... and sent plenty of it back. But that's a good thing because I've also kept a lot of it and would always happily buy from them again because of that piece of mind.
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      • Profile picture of the author vedremo
        Banned
        Originally Posted by WillR View Post

        I didn't think ASOS was Australian. Aren't they UK based?
        They recognised the opportunity in Australia, is what I mean. Other retailers didn't offer this, pretty sure they were first to market here
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by WillR View Post

        I didn't think ASOS was Australian. Aren't they UK based?
        Yes, ASOS is a British company. It has separate websites targeting other countries - including Australia, America, Russia and a few European countries - and it ships to those and many other countries from its distribution centre in the UK (which isn't very far from where I live).
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        • Profile picture of the author WillR
          Originally Posted by vedremo View Post

          They recognised the opportunity in Australia, is what I mean. Other retailers didn't offer this, pretty sure they were first to market here
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          Yes, ASOS is a British company. It has separate websites targeting other countries - including Australia, America, Russia and a few European countries - and it ships to those and many other countries from its distribution centre in the UK (which isn't very far from where I live).
          It was what the poster above said about 4 hour shipping that through me. As far as I know, ASOS does not offer 4 hour shipping to Australia -- in fact that would be impossible really. I'm fairly certain their express shipping to AUS is 2 days.

          So if he was talking about the company that was first to offer 4 hour shipping then he is talking about 'The Iconic' which is a totally different company... but the one doing great guns here in Aus because they were first to offer the 4 hour shipping and free returns.

          Anyway, not that important. I think he was just confused as to what company actually offers what.
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  • Profile picture of the author carlamae
    Although I've never sold a high ticket item, I've been told time and again that it can be easier to sell a big ticket item worth thousands than a cheap ebook. I assume that it's the approach though.
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  • Profile picture of the author rustynail
    You can see Apple selling really expensive products. See how they present and market it. If you will use a squeeze page it has to be done as high-end as possible.

    I assume you are able to give some extra candy when charging this much for product. For example buy to each buyer access to some web-based service, application or what ever meets your niche.

    Good luck!
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