People will buy anything

bl0at3r

bl0at3r

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Thinking about business ideas and reflecting on experiences of selling things personally over the years. I was speaking to someone earlier in the week and the conversation turned to how you go about finding a niche product or service to sell.

His opinion is that you'd be surprised what people buy - even so far as people will buy anything.

I was surprised because my perception/experience is that people usually want something for nothing - there's a Scrooge gene in many of us it seems.

What are your thoughts on this? are people happy to pay for anything upto a certain price point - say 5 or 10 pounds, or are people more likely to pay a premium price for a high end product without quibbling?

Interested in your input.
 
The first question to ask is

Do people want it ? Do people need it ? and who would buy it ?

Success story :

Fidget spinner brought by kids but not really wanted or needed by anyone else. Where it’s failed there are 100s of people making them all over China ebbing away on the originators profits.

Failure:

Sinclair C5 - nobody wanted it, nobody needed it and not many adults brought it !
 
I don't think you can generalized, some old tat gets bought by millions, some great stuff by none, price can have an influence of course, it may be easier to sell tat cheaply.
 
Puppies come to mind, people pay a fortune for so called designer breeds, or go to BYBs /puppy farmers for their breed of choice, both paying well over the odds
for a badly bred, mostly unhealth tested puppy, because they can't wait, they want it and they want it now
 
Interesting points of view - thanks

Maybe there isn’t a magic formula and it really is down to luck?

I’m also wondering, for any particular product or service, whether there is no room for yet another company offering the same thing - or maybe I should be thinking mine would be better than anyone else’s and customers would all flock to me ?!
 
Gremlin said:
Puppies come to mind, people pay a fortune for so called designer breeds, or go to BYBs /puppy farmers for their breed of choice, both paying well over the odds
for a badly bred, mostly unhealth tested puppy, because they can't wait, they want it and they want it now
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I would pay for puppys :exit::exit::exit:
 
I'm always amazed at the behaviour of people during Black Friday sales. Fighting each other over a rubbish supermarket own brand television/hi-fi etc because they think they are getting a bargain.
 
bl0at3r said:
Interesting points of view - thanks

Maybe there isn’t a magic formula and it really is down to luck?

I’m also wondering, for any particular product or service, whether there is no room for yet another company offering the same thing - or maybe I should be thinking mine would be better than anyone else’s and customers would all flock to me ?!
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Customer service is key, just look at John Lewis, their price is competitive but people buy from them because of their superb service.
Matt
 
I used to work with someone who was always buying stuff if it was cheap. No matter what it was he'd buy it - and then try to sell it at the usual price. Once time he pestered me all day to buy 60 tins of dog food he'd bought. I told him repeatedly that I didn't have a dog, it didn't phase him "But you must know someone who does."
 
MatBin said:
Customer service is key, just look at John Lewis, their price is competitive but people buy from them because of their superb service.
Matt
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I' disagree with that. If people can get it cheaper, many will, then moan like hell about the customer service when they try and complain
Also wouldn't say John Lewis prices are that competitive
 
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Gremlin said:
I' disagree with that. If people can get it cheaper, many will, then moan like hell about the customer service when they try and complain
Also wouldn't say John Lewis prices are that competitive
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Agree, not that competence and not that knowledgeable either in their photograph section. I can’t speak for the other departments. On a positive, the staff are very polite and cheerful.
 
Gremlin said:
I' disagree with that. If people can get it cheaper, many will, then moan like hell about the customer service when they try and complain
Also wouldn't say John Lewis prices are that competitive
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Never knowingly undersold ring any bells? :-)
 
viv1969 said:
Knowingly, being the key there.
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If you bring it to their attention they will refund the difference, if they drop the price of something you bought from them within 30 days of you purchasing it from them they will refund the difference if you bring it to their attention, know any other retailer that does that?
Ps I don't work for them :-)
Matt
 
MatBin said:
If you bring it to their attention they will refund the difference, if they drop the price of something you bought from them within 30 days of you purchasing it from them they will refund the difference if you bring it to their attention, know any other retailer that does that?
Ps I don't work for them :)
Matt
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Indeed.
But I wonder the percentage difference between those who are letting JL know the difference, and those who can't be arsed.
Don't get me wrong...I like JL. Never had an issue with them.
 
Guess it would be interesting to know, when I have asked I was refunded, so if you ask you get, up to the customer to ask.
 
JL are my retailer of choice. Always helpful and well priced (even if you have to tell them!) and extra warranty too.

What's not to like?
 
MatBin said:
If you bring it to their attention they will refund the difference, if they drop the price of something you bought from them within 30 days of you purchasing it from them they will refund the difference if you bring it to their attention, know any other retailer that does that?
Ps I don't work for them :)
Matt
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But if you bring it to their attention that a competitor is selling a product at a cheaper price, you can just get a shrug and no adjustment made. CBA trying to get any difference refunded - I'll just buy from the cheaper place to start with. Have had difference refunds from other retailers in the past, including when they dropped the price themselves shortly after I purchased something.
 
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