{"id":7294,"date":"2011-03-31T16:00:42","date_gmt":"2011-04-01T01:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rosalindgardner.com\/blog\/?p=7294"},"modified":"2019-02-13T11:25:32","modified_gmt":"2019-02-13T19:25:32","slug":"how-to-spot-a-scarcity-marketing-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rosalindgardner.com\/blog\/how-to-spot-a-scarcity-marketing-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Spot a Scarcity Marketing Scam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scarcity marketing is a strategy used by sellers to create a sense of urgency in the prospect to buy a product immediately.<\/h3>\n

This is most often accomplished by stating that the product is available for a limited time or in limited quantities, e.g. “Offer ends March 31st” or “Only 36 copies left”.<\/p>\n

The latter tactic works especially well when the prospective buyer knows that there were only a couple hundred units originally and now there are only 36 available.<\/p>\n

For example, take a look at the screenshot below which shows the order page for a Clickbank product that I looked at this morning.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

“WOW!, that is selling like hotcakes – I'd better buy it now!” you might think. <\/p>\n

That's almost what I did until I stopped and thought harder for a moment.<\/p>\n

The text under Item Description, “… WARNING: ONLY 36 COPIES LEFT…<\/em>” is the description that the vendor supplies to Clickbank when they post the product in the Marketplace. <\/p>\n

Smell a rat?<\/p>\n

Wait, it gets stinkier still. <\/p>\n

A seller might want to limit sales if they have a training program to which they attend to students personally (like I do at Affiliate Blogger PRO<\/a>) and therefore more sales means more work.<\/p>\n

But no Clickbank vendor in their right mind would limit sales of an ebook to 215 copies. It just doesn't make sense. Maybe if they were doing a deeply discounted offer – but not for the full price of $47.<\/p>\n

Nor would that Clickbank vendor get hundreds of affiliates to promote the product. Seriously, would YOU bother to promote a product where there were only 215 copies available and you knew that all the so-called ‘Top Guns' were promoting it as well? <\/p>\n

I hope not!<\/p>\n

Don't get me wrong.<\/p>\n

I'm not saying that scarcity marketing is not an ethical strategy – it IS, when used in an honest and upright manner. <\/p>\n

But I sure as heck wouldn't even consider<\/em> buying a product from someone who so blatantly lies to (tries to scam) their prospects. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyway, check out the sales page<\/a> (it's great copy although I wish he'd stop yelling at some point) and then click through to the order page and see if there aren't still just 36 copies left. LOL<\/p>\n

By the way, if you really want to buy the product – that is my affiliate link – feel free to use it. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

As always, stop and think before you click “Order”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scarcity marketing is a strategy used by sellers to create a sense of urgency in the prospect to buy a product immediately. This is most often accomplished by stating that the product is available for a limited time or in limited quantities, e.g. “Offer ends March 31st” or “Only 36 copies left”. The latter tactic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":577,"featured_media":7295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[937,28],"tags":[137,986,414],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Spot a Scarcity Marketing Scam - RosalindGardner.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rosalindgardner.com\/blog\/how-to-spot-a-scarcity-marketing-scam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Spot a Scarcity Marketing Scam - RosalindGardner.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scarcity marketing is a strategy used by sellers to create a sense of urgency in the prospect to buy a product immediately. 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