Question
I'm not sure how I feel about this one, so I am sharing this here to see what some of you think about it.
The auction is for a role playing game book. The seller also seems to be including with the purchase, links to numerous rolep laying websites--as well as other info, which is already free on the net. He lists the free modules you can download from a website (anyone can download these at any time)--presumably as a bonus for those who buy the book he has up for sale (I assume he is planning to include the site where you can download them from, which most role players probably already know).
Has anyone else seen someone giving away internet links and internet locations, along with an auctioned item? What do you guys n' gals think about this?
Here is the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/Sword-and-Fist-L...cmd ZViewItem
Edited to add:
He uses this phrase in his subtitle line, "BONUS FREE D&D STUFF OFFER!"
Presumably as a selling point to draw in buyers?
Answer
The BIN bonus is the dice.
The rest makes me think he's just trying to set his auction apart from the others selling the same book.
I do something similar when I sell my used kitchen appliances...instead of making the winning bidder go find the instructions from the web I get them and dowmload/print them as a service.
I also go find the clips locally for my hot rollers I sell if they're not in the set...something my buyers could easily do themselves...but I do it as a service...that way they'll pick me over an identical auction without the clips
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I see what you're saying.
Kind of like offering a few free recipes with a food dehydrator or BBQ pit auction.
Hmmm...
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I also noticed in the auction that some of the goodies are only given if the price reaches a certain amount...incentive to keep bidding
That part IMHO is icky
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Originally Posted by thentavius
I see what you're saying.
Kind of like offering a few free recipes with a food dehydrator or BBQ pit auction.
Hmmm...
Yes,
The marketing strategy is called "value-added."
Another way to set yourself apart from the competition.
That's when the bonus really does add value to the item being sold, not just an extra doohickey that doesn't have any relationship to the main item.
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Thanks for the proper marketing term...roflmao...you would think I knew that having a degree in marketing...but then again I graduated 25 years ago and promptly emptied my brain
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y'all missed the most obvious. By adding the freebies ... he gets to put in lots o' keywords he wouldn't have otherwise.
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I think he's a clever marketer. The practice of including extras if the item is purchased at a particular price is specifically approved by eBay. I've done it myself, but not to the extent he does it in his auctions.
It's probably true that all that information is publicly available but he does save the purchaser some time and effort by having compiled it. You see the same principle at work in the coupon auctions pretty frequently.
fLufF
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Originally Posted by rosiebud
y'all missed the most obvious. By adding the freebies ... he gets to put in lots o' keywords he wouldn't have otherwise.
Ah hah! Therefore, in the world of eBay-ing, "value added" could mean, more search engine hits, which skews the idea toward having a bonus item that is NOT be related to the original item.
(no worries, Cleo -- I just happened to remember that term 'cause of marketing research which I still do a bit of now and then )
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lol..keywords...trust me I am very good an finding every legal descriptor possible to pack my auctions and titles