 |
| It's free; no, it's $4... no, it's 50% off! |
I also wanted to know whether people actually read before purchasing, as the product descriptions explicitly stated that the full tutorials were available on my blog.
Here's the background. The PDFs were my Portable Pocket Pouch and the Quilted Hanging File Organizer. The former has been available as a freebie since April of 2017, the latter since August of 2018. They were originally in my Craftsy (now Bluprint) shop; as of the end of December 2018 — when Craftsy dumped a bunch of our collective patterns and shops — they've been available on Makerist.
Anyone who is a regular visitor of this blog could/would have known that they are free. Before the sale went live, I edited the pertinent blog posts and my PDF Pattern Shop page to note that the patterns were involved in this little experiment.
The result? I made eight sales; two for the Portable Pocket Pouch and six for the Quilted Hanging File Organizer. I haven't participated in enough of these Makerist $2 promos to have a good idea of whether these numbers are "normal", but in the two most recent sales — albeit with different patterns — I sold less during one and more during another.
Since this was hardly a scientific process, I can't draw real conclusions here. But I can make some observations.
1. We Don't Pay as Much Attention as We Should
This was hardly a surprise to me, given my past ranting about people who don't read. On each of the two product pages, there was a statement about these tutorials being available in full on my blog.
 |
| Full disclosure on the product page... |
In the comments from the original post about this experiment, two people out of eleven (about 18%) explicitly said that they would not pay for a PDF that contains free content. I had noticed that at least two bloggers were testing that strategy (of asking for a small payment for a downloadable PDF version of a tutorial that appears as a post on their blog) and was wondering what appeal that might have for anyone.
My observation from this experiment is that either 1) people don't read well enough to become fully informed, or 2) at least eight people were willing to pay $2 for content that is freely available. Doubtful it's the latter, but like I said, I hesitate to draw a real conclusion.
2. We're Influenced to Buy When it's 50% Off
I admit to being influenced by a steep discount, which to me is fifty percent or more.
 |
| It's half off! |
Had I priced these two PDFs at $2.25 prior to the promotion, would I have made any sales at a $2 price point? I strongly suspect the number of sales would have been less, but I can't be sure. Maybe that will make a good follow-up experiment.
3. We're More Likely to Buy if a Sale is Ending Soon
In the comments from the previous post, there were several people who said that a sale boosts their inclination to buy.
 |
| Don't let these deals get away! |
I must confess to feeling more pressure to buy on the last day of a sale as opposed to the first.... which is why I usually avoid shopping at those times.
4. We Don't Do Much Research for a $2 Item
The last time I purchased during a $2 Makerist sale, I bought a couple of patterns from ithinksew, the Ollie and Seth bag patterns. Despite them being deeply discounted at $2 — the Seth bag pattern normally sells for $8.50 — I still googled the designer, browsed her online shop and read some reviews before committing.
I'm guessing that other people are not inclined to do even that small bit of research before making their purchases when it's "only $2". Had my eight buyers come to this blog and checked my PDF Pattern Shop page, they would have seen this:
 |
| Full disclosure on my PDF Patterns page... |
Not only does it provide a link to my post about this experiment, it also says that if people want the PDF, they can contact me directly for a copy. And the heading says that it's free.
This experiment almost didn't happen. The morning of the sale, hubby and I were heading off on a ten day holiday; I checked my Makerist shop before leaving home and discovered that the two PDFs weren't marked for the event. I quickly sent off an email and this time, the response was almost immediate. Whatever the issue was ("did you click 'save' when you added your patterns to the sale?"), the support person was able to rectify the situation and add my PDFs to the promotion.
For those who haven't yet migrated over to Makerist to sell PDFs in the wake of Craftsy/Bluprint still not ready to roll (as we approach the final quarter of 2019), their platform was recently upgraded and is better than it was. But it's still not as automated or as convenient as it could be. Participation in a sale still requires the use of a form to be submitted. While drafts of new pattern descriptions can now be saved for later activation, seemingly arbitrary controls are imposed over what needs to be included before an entry can be saved and it doesn't appear as though one can change one's mind and delete a draft altogether. (Who designs these things?)
From an inquiry back in July, Bluprint claims to be still in the game of eventually returning with a pattern marketplace, but the wait has been long.
Anyway, did you learn anything from this experiment? Will you wonder next time you buy a pattern whether or not it's available elsewhere for free??
No comments:
Post a Comment
You have the power to brighten my day. Leave me a comment; I'd love to hear your thoughts... you can even remain ANONYMOUS! And rest assured that I acknowledge all comments, either here or via email. (That is, if you don't see a response from me here, I would have responded privately to the person.) Spam or generic comments with unrelated links, however, are promptly removed... and I may take appropriate action or report you to Google. Thanks for reading! (✿◠‿◠)