Is This a Viable Way to Save Money When Buying from an Infomercial?

In a piece about the secrets of telemarketing from an industry insider, they say the following about buying from an infomercial:

We used simple circle talking techniques to trick people into buying our product. In the infomercial it was $120. We had a list of people that called the number from the infomercial but didn't buy the product. We called them back and offered the same product for $45. Then if they refused we'd go down to $35 and eventually $25 as a last resort effort. They were willing to sell this product for $25, and people were buying it for over 4 times that much! (Employees got the product for $5)

So this got me to thinking -- what if you really wanted a product from an infomercial but wanted to save on it? Why wouldn't you simply call the number, let them do their sales pitch, and then say you don't want the item since it's too expensive? Then you hang up and let them call you with a lower price. The longer you say "no", the more you save.

Of course not every infomercial outfit works this way, so you could be risking losing out on something you really want, but couldn't you always go to their website later and get the item at full price if no one calls?

Seems like a decent method to save some money to me. What do you think? Will it work?

Comments

[Shane]

I used to work for a company that made websites that did exactly this. They'd offer a product for $1000 and ask if you wanted it. If you clicked no, they'd offer it for $600. If no again, they'd lastly offer for like $200. It would always say 'this is your only offer!' but of course you could always go back and get the same deal at any time.

So yes, I think it's worthwhile to say no as long as you know you won't be losing out on it entirely. If you think about it, it's a form of negotiation.

[Jim]

Sounds like a good trick. Wouldn't hurt to try.

You're probably better not buying things from infomercials. In my experience at least I have yet to find a product on an infomercial that didn't turn out to be a piece of junk.

[billyjobob]

Well I've never bought from an infomercial before. But, I believe this same thing takes place in retail shopping. Not so much that the product continues to go down in price, but that the deal is conditional. For example. Black Friday. The feeling is that if you don't get to the store that day the deal will be gone. But if Wal-Mart or Best buy is selling a large screen TV that day for 500 bucks. I usually feel confident that the same TV can be had in January for either the same price or lower. If they were going to profit off it on black Friday then they'll profit off it in January too.

[J in FL]

Or if not in January, at least through that weekend. This year I noticed a lot of retailers in my area running "Black Weekend" sales... its not just about the Friday anymore, why not extend it through the weekend? Also, it's much nicer shopping on Saturday/Sunday of Black Friday weekend since there's less crowds, and most of the time you can still find the same deals.

[Crystal]

We've bought a couple of things from infomercials and I will definitely use this idea in the future just to see if it works.

The complete series of "Get Smart" on DVD (130 episodes) was about $220 with shipping two years ago. If I had said nevermind, I wonder if I could have saved $100 or more. Same thing for my Miche bag...

Oh well, my husband really appreciated his "Get Smart" Christmas gift and I love my Miche purse, so we'll survive...

[MC]

I thought things sold on infomercials were all junk worth only 1/10 (if that) of the "price"? Probably not anything you need, even if it is cheap.

[Jan]

In your example, you'll still end up paying five times more than necessary.
Personally I rather avoid companies which operate like that. The last such company I dealt with on sold my details to other tele-marketer companies overseas (since it's illegal to on sell personal data in NZ)
Now I usually buy direct from the producers on the web. Even cheap items from China can be bought cheap from the web directs from China. And they don't on sell my data (since all they get is a posting address from Paypal and nothing else) and it's much cheaper than buying from infomercials. Keep in mind that infomercials and call centers are very expensive to maintain. They're passing on the expenses to you.

[Crystal]

@MC
I don't know about most infomercial products, but the "Get Smart" DVD's were exactly as advertised...just DVD's of the whole series in a cool-looking boxed set.

I also love my Miche purse and the interchangeable "shells" that you can change out with different outfits. Miche sells mostly online or through reps now, but a year ago they used infomercials and a very basic website. I've used my purse every day since I bought it and have had no problems.

You can take a look a www.michebag.com...almost all of my female friends either want one or have bought one. A couple of my male coworkers have ordered one and some shells for their wives as Christmas presents after looking at mine. The shells work exactly as described with the purse magnets and take 5 seconds to change out. It may be cheaper to find a rep near you than to buy directly off the website since they get 30% as commission (wiggle room to negotiate).

I looked into being a rep, but I didn't like their starting package or the location of their nearest warehouse. I haven't bought any new Miche stuff since the 4 original shells I picked out seem to go with everything...

[RobF]

I remember browsing through a book about a small company that started with infomercials. It was an inexpensive way to market their product until they could build demand enough to get it into stores. So I don't think all infomercials are junk.

[FinanciallySmartServices]

infomercial is not different than haggling on the street. So they put up a big price until they come right down. This is dishonesty in business because they know they don't have to go so high. I think that persons should try that tactics especially in these hard times.