Every day, each and everyone of us is persuaded in some way or another. Low-ball technique is when the seller of a product starts by quoting a price that is below the actual sales price, but once the buyer agrees to buy the product, there are all of a sudden needed "add-ons."
We've all been guilty of falling for these persuasions, whether it was as simple as agreeing to help a friend out and then doing WAY more than mentioned, or purchasing a car, then having to add extra features.
I am currently guilty of this technique; I recently booked a spring break trip with my friends because it was so cheap (figures). And what do ya know... soon enough i'm paying $200 more than I was supposed to because of extra, probably unneeded, features. Cheers to that, right?
What are your best examples of the low-ball technique?
This is definitely true. It's frustrating because I feel as if we are getting really cheated out of valuable information. Putting a disclaimer on the way bottom of a page in miniature font just so they can prove that it is on their website is ridiculous. It happens a lot at my job at Target, as well. Sometimes we have special sales in which if someone buys a certain product, they will get a gift card of sorts to spend on their next visit. Of course, there is a catch with even a petty sale like this (which I don't think it is even a sale to begin with). Customers are forced to buy several forms of the product in order to receive a gift card with, most likely, only 5 dollars on it. These customers are falling victim to what they think is a profit gain, but in reality it's just a way for the company to make more money and to sell more of a certain product. Even when people are aware of possible hidden catches, I feel like we try to put at least a little faith into the hope that a company that wants to gain trust with their customers will be straight forward and not feel the need to hide additional fees. Good post!