Actually Peter, ================== "There that should be as clear as mud." ================== I thought it was very lucid indeed. Well said! Gary Simpson

Hi: ========================================= To MOST marketers it means cobbling together a bunch of useless junk to offer as bonus #1 through to bonus #6 or more. Actually, I have even seen up to 35 bonuses. Yep. I have. ========================================= LOL. Haven't we all. Funny. That style of selling is a spin off from the home shopping and infomercial methodology. You know.... and if you buy this amazing slicer, dicer that chops, shreds and dices RIGHT NOW, we'll throw in this set of steak knives, valued at $19.99. (lol) Sure, people like a "bonus" now and then. That's human nature. But, it's funny to watch people that don't know marketing shoot themselves in the foot because they don't think of the repercussions of what they're doing. The way the home shopping channels and infomercials use bonuses works. If you go into a store to buy the slicer, dicer, you won't get the steak knives. So, you WILL buy from the tv commercial. They offer 'something extra' for buying via their ad. On the Internet, there's not "somewhere else" that you don't get the bonus. When people tack on too many bonuses, often they devalue the item itself. It's like saying "in case my product isn't enough to make you part with the cash, you can have these, too...." Often times, they devalue the bonus items, too. They sprinkle on far too much cheese. It's like Mom always said; "It's not what you say, but how you say it." I know a guy that did a mailing to over a million people. He offered over 10 "bonus" ebooks. His response rate was less than a quarter of a percent. All I could think of was the hundreds of thousands of people that didn't see the perceived value. : ) Linda

Hi Linda, Again a guess. Do Business owners degrade their own percieved value by not really presenting their products in an understandable way, or by not properly showing the product for what it is? Deborah

Hi Deb: ========================================== Do Business owners degrade their own percieved value by not really presenting their products in an understandable way, or by not properly showing the product for what it is? ========================================== That's a good question. I would say that while they might not DEGRADE their perceived value, they would certainly be failing to SHOW much perceived value. I can't "see" value if I can't understand what's presented. What's even worse is that when people create confusion, they create doubt. That's not a good perception to have. : ) Linda

Linda In real estate we're taught that we devalue not only our own perceived value but that of all real estate professionals by discounting. I'm not certain I agree with that as an unconditional generalization. What are your thoughts regarding discounting in general? Cheri