| Preaching and Selling: Make Them Believe |
| Invention Development Advice - Marketing | |||
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Have you ever noticed that on eBay there are sellers that seem to be able to sell anything, even though there are multiple others offering the exact same item for less? If you've ever stopped to wonder why, you may have thought it has to do with the seller's reputation.
Have you ever noticed that on eBay there are sellers that seem to be able to sell anything, even though there are multiple others offering the exact same item for less? If you've ever stopped to wonder why, you may have thought it has to do with the seller's reputation. But there is more to it than that. Something many sellers fail to realize is the role that marketing plays, even on eBay. One very effective marketing tactic is tapping into a buyer's emotions by offering them a great deal... or leading them to believe that they are getting a great deal. We can get a better idea of how giving somebody even a chance at a great bargain can improve your odds of making a sale with the following real-life example. An order of ski jackets arrived at a retail store. But as they opened the box the order arrived in, it turned out that one of the jackets received a cut in it from a box cutter. All other jackets were left unharmed. Rather than returning the damaged jacket, the store manager decided to put it up on eBay, along with an undamaged jacket to run side-by-side with the damaged one to compare the performance of the two auctions. The store manager had the jackets put up at the same time under the same account, both on five day auctions. However, the damaged jacket wasn't expected to sell well, so the opening bid was set at less than a dollar. The undamaged one was set at $75, the normal retail price. At the end of the five days, the auction for the new, undamaged jacket received few page views and just a single last minute bid. The damaged jacket, on the other hand, received well over a dozen bids and sold for just short of $75, almost reaching the full retail price. Now why did the damaged jacket received so much more interest and sell for nearly the same price as an identical item that was in perfect shape? Remember, the damaged jacket was originally listed for less than a dollar. Even after receiving several initial bids, the bid amount remained low, attracting even more buyers -- all hoping to get a great deal -- to the auction. After the price rose beyond being a "good deal," those who had placed bids were now already emotionally invested in the item. Moral of the story? Emotions are a powerful thing, especially when you're trying to sell something. More information: Stuart Lisonbee is a marketing consultant at Doba where they strive to simplify access to hundreds of drop shipping companies offering millions of wholesale products ready to be drop shipped direct to the end customer.
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