Insidious Sales Tactics . . .
nelsonsmith
Posts: 1,337
That work.
How many of you have bought something you didn't need, or even want (even if you grabbed the cheapest item offered), in order to get in on a great sale that was too good to pass up?
Just so I don't come off as being immune, lets just say I won't have to worry about buying a dragon for any renders I plan to do anywhere in the foreseeable future, unless somebody sculpts one helluva' beautiful looking Dragon (say a Chinese Dragon perhaps?) this year. Fortunately I can always use some shaders. 
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I have already purchased additional items I wasn't really interested in or may not have purchased right away otherwise because adding them to my cart made the total price more interesting than purchasing only the items I wanted.
Yeah I totally forgot about those situations where placing an item in my cart made the total of items cheaper than they would have been without having that item in there at all.
Sort of. Comes down to shifting evaluations.
Is the sale going to be so good that even if I never use the first item, it's still better than I'm likely to see for a long time? That's worth it.
Could I find a use for the first item, even if it wouldn't normally be something I go for? That might be worth it.
I find sales help me re-evaluate things, but I try hard to avoid 'I'm spending more money than if I just got what I wanted.' I've noticed that with some of the gift card sales, where I'm spending far more than I'd be saving on the gift card. In those cases, I REALLY have to want the trigger items.
I think it's a bad idea for it sends the signal that you like the item which probably just make them produce more of the same stuff.
Greetings,
Definitely.
A sale, or an item being a trigger for a better discount, does lower the bar for perceived value to me. In other words, something which would normally be 'on the bubble' becomes more attractive if it's a trigger for a sale on things that I strongly want.
-- Morgan
Bet Amazon is all the richer for the people who have thrown somethey they don't really need into their cart in order to trigger free shipping. Consumers (including me) are stupid. We'll spend $300 for a discounted item because we think it is saving money (rather than, you know, costing us $300). Creeping Meatballism, as Jean Shepherd said.
no, won't buy something I don't like or need even if the other item is steeply discounted or free, has to be something I would want or need,and of course the other item discounted for buying the new release often has to be something I want or need only time that doesnt come into play is if it's a new model I like, as in kaleya bundle bought it but not interested in any males..
The only time I've bought something I didn't really want to trigger a discount was if the item made the cart total go down for things I was going to buy anyway. The sales tactic has been successful a few times in getting me to spend more money than I had originally planned, though. Items I might have put on my wishlist ended up in my cart due to sales like that.
I don't have to worry about this sale since I've only got like $1.50 in my bank right now LOL
The only time I've picked up items I wasn't really interested in is when it was free.
I might have done it once or twice, but usually I don't get items, that I don't need (or think I'll gonna need) unless they're free. From free items, only ones I don't get are the ones, that are add-ons for product I don't have.
I'm always doing this with CDs. They'll be one that I really want, and another that I'd like to have or I'm not really sure about, but if I buy it as well I get free postage.
Ah Jean Shepherd, the sage of the age. I lived outside of the range of his NYC radio broadcasts but I had a friend in college during the late '60s who had tape recordings of many of his excellently hilarious revelations about American life. I wish I knew what happened to all those recordings.
His voice and timing and dry humor were masterful. He's the narrator on the film of one of his stories "A Christmas Story" about the kid who wanted a BB Gun for Christmas.
Well, yes and no. I look to see if any of it can be kitbashed. If it's sexyware, if there's no part of it I can use that is decently family friendly, I won't buy it no matter what. And Taozen hit it on the head, they use this tactic then throw it in our face that "this stuff sells." And make more. And throw it into one of the discounted sales tactics again.
Hope everyone is noticing the discounted prices are now usually only 30%, they were routinely 40%. And buying 3 things gets you 50%, not 60% on many sales now. I'm loving it, I have stopped buying daily. I think I bought two times last week, maybe three, but only one or two things in the cart because as usual, several of the vendors are stellar
Lately I do it less often... an mostly if the trigger item(s) can be used within the next 4-7 major projects I will be working on. As otehrs, MOST of my stuff is family friendly or at least not boudoir based.
I never buy anything I don't need... In real life I won't buy four large tubes of elephant moisturizer to get a 60% discount on Cheeze Whiz, so I won't buy a Space Station to get a discounted hair. When I see "Buy this at full price to get this cheaper" I usually don't think of it as a sale... I think of it as "pay more for something you want and get something you are not really interested in, for slightly less".
The sales tactic obviously works though or else they would not persist with it.
Today I did exactly the opposite: I bought something I wanted, and got two free items I had little to no interest in, simply because they were free.
Greetings,
Because 'want' is not binary. Everything in the store exists on a spectrum of interest which varies for each person, and there's a threshold over which they're willing to buy items. Reducing the cost of something that is high-interest by buying something that is further out on the interest scale than you'd USUALLY buy confers some of the high-interest item's 'personal value' to the item further out on the interest scale.
Sure, if you never buy smexywear, or environments set in the 1920's infuriate you, then the conferred value isn't going to be enough to overcome that. But almost nothing in the store is all-or-nothing, want/never want, and discounts can tweak where items lie on that spectrum.
-- Morgan
Saying you wouldn't buy something you didn't want (i.e. see an immediate need for), in order to get something you do want at a steeply discounted price, when you think about it is not thrifty at all. I wanted a dragon for a scene I was planning that cost damn near $40. Even the best discount I could imagine would have me paying at best $20, so a deal comes along where I can get an item I wasn't even considering for around eleven bucks and the dragon I wanted for $2? Why would I pass that up on some abstract principles? Anybody who was a good steward of their capital would jump on that in a NY minute!
Besides there really aren't any items I would "never" use. Sometimes I brainstorm to see if I can come up with a scenario for items I own that I haven't used. I recommend everybody should do it every now and then. Exercise the "little grey cells", it can make you a better artist.
.
Like they say, there's no such thing as a free lunch. If you get something for nothing, you're just paying for it in another context. Or someone else is.
I won't normally get something I really don't want or need. Or know I won't ever use. No matter what the discount.
I do wait on sales and watch FastGrab.
There's more than one way to catch a cat.
What free lunch? Money is still being spent.
I guess there are more people than I imagined who because of their principles don't take advantage of any sales and simply pay full price for everything they want. I salute you, and honestly wish I could be in your shoes.
The truth is, Daz users and buyers come in a WIDE variety when it comes to economic statuses. We don't know any one elses finances or life circumstances, so there is no one that should be judging anyone else for taking advantage of deep discounts or big sales.
I rarely pay full price either, though.
PC discounts are pretty good, thankfully, and if I can use a PC coupon, I will.
And if I see a sale that suits me, I do pounce. Got a $24 dollar dress the other day, for $6. That was a red letter day because I'd been watching that dress for awhile.
I created a folder in my Content pane which I called "Rarely Used". It is full of stuff I should never have bought but probably came bundled in a sale offer. Pro bundles are usually stuffed with fantasy and warrior queen items that will never find their way into any scene I create. I'm not sure why I bought them other than they were exceptionally cheap at the time of the sale. Perhaps I bought a pro bundle in order to get the gens which are only available in pro bundles.
What is concerning is that the sales numbers stack up for all this fanasy gear which encourages DAZ and PAs to create more of it and fill more bundles with it. I'd rather see more contemporary, everyday content for ordinary characters of diverse ages and features (not more warriors or glamour models).
I do take advantage of the sales also, I'm just pointing out some of the caveats of modern market strategies.
I can agree with you on some things, but then again, NO. I don't do outfits with the butt showing in a thong, with necklines where the waistlines should be and boobs barely covered in front and blooping out the sides. As I said above, if it can be kitbashed and SOME of it used, then it's a usable item. But what I described, NO, I will not waste my time- I will never use those. (I do children's books.)
Well, yeah there are items I don't buy on general principle as well. When I speak of items I'd don't see a need for, I'm usually referring to items that I'm more or less on the fence about. I don't even entertain a lot of the stuff that crosses the line as far as objectifying women, and really serves no other purpose but that, something I'm a bit fed up about. But if we're talking about a wolf, or an elephant, something I've never considered using in a render, sure, I'll buy it, and I'll even try to find a way to use it.
One of the great things about having some of these sale or of little use items is when you're working on a scene and think, it needs something else. It's great to realize you already have it in your content. Happened to me recenly when I wanted a trashcan, had the perfect one and finished my scene. Not sure where or when I got it though but I've become a sucker for these add this or get that for 80% off sales. My first purchase about a year and a half ago was one item, an older item at that, for full price $24.95. A few times since I've filled my cart with 20+ items for less. I'm definately more picky about how much I pay now, but not always whether I have a current use for it.
I kind of wish there was a scaling constant sale on older items. It seems to me there might be a shift, over time, between items that, more and more, you just happen to have a use for.
Nowadays, if I suddenly need an Easter Bonnet, I'd go 'well, heck, this 10 year old hat which will be a pain to fit is also $25. Nuts to that. Let's see if I can find something free.'
And if that bonnet is ever on sale, chances are I'm going 'hrm, 50% off? I can do better. Plus not sure I'll ever use it.'
But if the Eastern Bonnet was always on 50% sale or more because it was older content well passed the usual sale window... that VASTLY increases the chance any sudden mood will strike and I'll nab it.
Maybe DAZ could try something like the "Deep Freeze" catagory they had at RDNA before the merger.