Most of us try to be wise with our money when shopping, and finding a bargain is a great thing! When it comes down to it, though, everything you purchase is a bargain.
From Seth Godin’s book “This is Marketing“, he explains:
Everything that we purchase—every investment, every trinket, every experience—is a bargain. That’s why we bought it. Because it was worth more than what we paid for it. Otherwise, we wouldn’t buy it.
I was thinking that there might be some exceptions to this. Perhaps the only copy of a classic book that you want is “way overpriced”, or a hurricane is heading your way and gas prices are much higher than normal due to demand. Even then, if you make the purchase then you must have considered it a bargain. The $10/gal for gas is of higher value to you than the $10 in your pocket.
We think this way about marketing, too, both for our clients and for their customers. Your price might seem low or seem high, but the only important metric is the amount of value versus the cost.
More specifically, it’s the “perceived value” that needs to be higher than the “perceived cost”. Perceived value is easy enough to imagine, but perceived cost can get a little weird. Isn’t that just the cost? If gas is $10/gal, isn’t the cost simply $10/gal? Much of it is, but you need to consider how longer it’ll take you to get to the gas station, how long you might have to wait in line, what the weather is like, and a host of other factors. The price is a big consideration, but it’s certainly not the only one. “Costs” are more than just money.
Transactions generally only occur when both sides feel like they were the winners. The store got to sell an item and make a profit, and the consumer was able to get something that they want or need for a price that was less (to them) than the product was worth.
Not everything feels like a “good deal”, but if it’s worth your money then it must be some degree of a bargain.
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