Don't Hide That Price Tag!

R.M. Blackledge
©Copyright 2005

One of the most common misconceptions about selling is that the naming
of a final price shouldn't be done until you've already closed the sale. This
tactic is commonly used in new and used car sales.

"How much, exactly?" The customer asks. But the salesperson doesn't
immediately answer, instead he/she continues babbling on about some finer
point of the product. In effect, the salesperson is trying to entice the customer
into falling in love with the product, such that the final price won't really matter
all that much.

The customer will find the money somehow...

This tactic must work relatively well, because it's ages old. Unfortunately,
the sales game on the internet is a little different than in the brick and mortar
world. Web merchants have to be concerned about a little thing known as
bandwidth.

Traffic that doesn't convert into sales wastes bandwidth, which can become
a BIG FACTOR if you have a ton of pages on the same web host. The cost
of placing your site[s] online is something that must be factored in when you
start your web business. It's common sense then, to consider that poor affiliates
will never become wealthy affiliates if they don't pay attention to the bottom
line.

Pay-per-click search engine advertising is a big deal now that banner ads have
become so ubiquitous as to be almost useless. Many affiliates swear by their
pay-per click campaigns. This type of advertising method brings highly targeted
traffic to the merchant's site.

In effect the people are ready to buy. But are they?

Many affiliates who use pay-per-click advertising also believe that a sales
price is something that should be hidden until the very last moment. Thus,
on the affiliate's site the price will be located at the bottom of the page next
to the sales link. The hope is that the customer will read all the sales text
FIRST, and thus still be willing to make a purchase - even if the sales price
is not exactly what they expected.

Is this the best way to go about making an internet sale?

It may depend really on whether you're selling a big ticket item, or a small
ticket item. If you're a merchant, for example, that sells refurbished computers
online, the customer obviously is not going to expect to purchase a quality
used computer for only 50 bucks.

So then what is to be gained by hiding the price until the very last moment?
If the customer can't afford your product, hiding the price down at the bottom
of the sales page will not put spending money in their pocket, they don't
already have. Conversely, if you're selling computer software that has a retail
price of under thirty dollars. Only thirty dollars is a bargain for software. But,
if your visitors are really looking for freeware, you may still lose out.

In effect, not discussing price just postpones the inevitable. Customers will
usually make up their minds about whether to stay on your site within the
first five-to-six seconds. If you've pre-sold your product effectively in the first
place, then the customer knows what to expect. Placing your sales price
right in front of their eyes - so that they don't have to search for it- may
actually help you make a sale or two.

This also demonstrates that you have confidence in your product. If the
customer gets the impression that you're not trying to B.S. them, they
will be impressed, instead of put-off.

Also, if your main advertising method is by use of a pay-per-click campaign,
placing your sales price right in the middle of your ad will save you the headache
of wasting your pay-per-click advertising dollars on those web surfers who
are just browsers and not buyers.

In conclusion, a sales price prominently placed can be an effective tool for
weeding out the bandwidth-wasting window shoppers, from those who are
serious customers.

That's what you want!


About the Author
R.M. Blackledge is the owner of TheWorkAtHomeBlog.Com and is the publisher of numerous business and self-help articles.