Still Be Successful Even If You're Not The Cheapest?

[olimits7]

Hi,

I've been doing some research comparing prices on Google Shopping, and I notice that there are such large low/high price ranges for the same product between different sites.

For example, I saw one product being sold for $61 with a site that had 147 good reviews, and then I would see the same product being sold for $92 with a site having 4,210 good reviews.

I know when I shop online I usually buy from sites that have the lowest prices. So I don't know how these other higher priced sites compete with these lower priced sites?

And just going off the amount of reviews each site has it seems the higher priced sites are doing better than the lower priced sites.

I'm guessing that these higher priced sites provide better customer service, but would that be the only driving force that would make customers pick the product on a higher priced site?

I think good customer service is great to have, but as long as the product arrives to my house I usually pick the lower price product.

Could it be psychological? Do customers think that if the product is priced higher that it must be in better condition?

Thoughts?

Thank you,

olimits7

[briggidere]

My first thought is that Google shopping isn't the only place these guys are selling.

I don't rate reviews very highly (due to lots of fake reviews) so doubt people would choose just because of them.

Level of service means a lot to me. $61 - $92 is quite a difference so price might sway me on this example, but if it had been $75 - $92 and I knew the higher prices company well, I think I'd use them over the cheaper one as I do have loyalty to quality service.

Prices can really significantly change people perception of quality. I used to sell an RRP $2499 item for $1200 as we still made a decent profit but when we changed it up to $1895 the conversion rate went up by over 15%. Price was the only change in this item, nothing else. After this we did a few more price point tests and came up with the best conversion figure we could. I think some people think, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is, so pay more for peace of mind.

[HRoth]

I don't buy from the places with the lowest prices, because they usually have the highest shipping and because they often feel skeevy. And I like when I get some information about what I am buying. I think there are customers who just want the cheapest and a lot of it, and there are customers who want the best and are happy with one of whatever. Some people want their hand held. Some want to talk to a human being for a $20 purchase. Some need information about the item on the site and even over the phone. There are all kinds of customers out there, and I think it is possible to make a living catering to each type--but not all at the same time.

I made a decision a long time ago not to compete on price. I'm still here after 10 years, no evil eye.

[RhinoFish]

As a marketer, I know that many low priced places do other things to "monetize" their traffic - sometimes lowest price means you've stepped in it. If there's one high, and 20 lows, I know what I'm seeing. If there's 20 highs and 1 low, different story, but similar skepticism.

Price seems like a simple story, but it isn't. :-)

[jsinger]

I saw one product being sold for $61 with a site that had 147 good reviews, and then I would see the same product being sold for $92 with a site having 4,210 good reviews.

Interesting range and not at all typical of products I'm familiar with... unless the cheap one is being phased out by the maker or the seller, perhaps due to an urgent need for cash. Too, we routinely buy closeouts at 30-50% off.

There's always the chance an outlier price is simply an error rather than the product of inscrutable marketing brilliance. We have one competitor who sells everything at about the same price we do. But one of their items is far cheaper, in fact about a buck over cost. And it's not shown on their site as being on sale.

I'm guessing that price is an error. We make no effort to match such pricing.

[LifeinAsia]

Other possibilities:
1) The $61 site normally sells it for $92, but is doing a special sale at $61.
2) Someone at the $61 site screwed up and entered the price incorrectly (instead of $91, for example).
3) The $61 site sells most of it's items for the same price or higher than the $92 site.
4) The $61 site may not actually have any more items for sale (although still showing as being in stock).
5) Still using a page from a 1990s .com book: sell at a loss but make it up in volume. :)

[MrHard]

Your assuming that they know what's going on. They may not be competing at all.

Many places are to busy to research other sites and monitoring can be a full time job in itself, or are functioning on loans, credit or income from other sources and won't address a price issue unless absolutely necessary.

[olimits7]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Very interesting views regarding this topic!

Yeah, I definitely need to stop worrying about being so price focused. It just messes with my mind when I do some price "spot checks" on certain products.

I get great wholesale prices from the top wholesalers in my industry, and when I see another website selling the same product for so much less; I wonder if these products fell off the back of the truck! haha...

And I don't even bother doing price "spot checks" on eBay anymore without having a heart attack...haha; a lot of these eBay sellers sell products so much cheaper than my wholesale prices...crazy!

olimits7

[engine]

I've seen many unknown sites trying to get attention by showing low prices, however, once i've looked to see the deal, quite often they dont; have it in stock, but, have captured me as a prospective buyer. They then show other products in stock and hope that they can upsell.

I'm not fooled by this ploy.

In addition, i've seen rogue sites showing low prices to encourage purchase, only to find that it has been a fraud. The wife was caught by one of these, and luckily, we managed to get a refund from the card processor as they'd realised it was a fraud at about the same time.

Good service counts for a lot. In fact, i'd rather pay a little more to get support, should it be needed.

[Essex_boy]

Price is a funny ole thing Im selling Mp5 players cant sell them over £48.45, best listing price is £39.95 + £8.50 shipping, no other combination works.

All very odd.

[piatkow]

I am always happy to pay a SMALL premium to buy from a trusted name.