I find it to be an extremely distasteful bait and switch style tactic that always turns me off when another company tries it on me.
IT is not bait and switch.. It is upselling.. Completely different.
from web.
Bait and Switch...
a dishonest sales practice in which a business advertises a bargain price for an item in order to draw customers into the store and then tells the prospective buyer that the advertised item is of poor quality or no longer available and attempts to switch the customer to a more expensive product.
Upselling...
Upselling (sometimes 'up-selling') is a sales technique whereby a saleperson induces the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale. Upselling usually involves marketing more profitable services or products, but upselling can also be simply exposing the customer to other options he or she may not have considered previously. Upselling implies selling something that is more profitable or otherwise preferable for the seller instead of the original sale. A different technique is cross-selling in which a seller tries to sell something else.
Ask and most businesses will tell you. The key to their success is upselling. It is one thing to get the sale. It is far better to super-size that sale.
successful upselling,
make up-selling automatic,,, successful upselling, make up-selling automatic
Real profits come when you get the customer to buy a larger, more expensive, or more comprehensive product or service. The guy going into a pet store to buy a fish is a classic example.
When the clerk sees Sam looking at the budget-priced gold fish, she leads him over to the much more impressive tropical fish.
"As you probably know, you will need a fish tank," she says. "These beautiful fish only live in salt water. We have these $75 salt water tanks on sale for just $49.95."
By the time Sam exits the store, he has purchased much more than the twenty cent gold fish he originally came in to get. He is proudly carrying home several exotic species, a $50 fish tank, fish food, a light, and other accessories. The sale went from a tiny twenty cent transaction to nearly $100. The store's profit margin rose right along with it.
Same goes for our selling of Magnetics for $19.95. Or, a cheap banner for that matter. That low price is merely a way to get them into the door. Our job is to upsell. If he asks for the $19.95 deal then give it to him. He is now a marketing lead for future business..
Refusing to honor the 19.95 is bait and switch. That is illegal.
