A modest proposal (not that type)
11Much sturm und drang has been seen over the subject of IRK pricing, difficulty of acquisition, and lately, accounting. Raising the price of the IRK above the original traditional $5 level failed to blunt demand until it had reached levels guaranteed to infuriate many of the recipients. Making the IRKs pretty much free but only after a substantial minimum purchase, and exorbitant otherwise, denies them to the contingent of Mehtizens who find nothing of value in the main merch on offer in the Mehrathon. Reducing the number of batches but making them larger, so that those who were quick on the trigger and awake when the IRK went live had a better shot at one than was generally the case in 2021/2022 didn’t reward those who’d spent a lot on the other Mehrathon merch, which is undoubtedly a goal that the Mehnagement feels is worth advancing.
So, is there a way to please more of the Meh crowd, more of the time, without trashing the bottom line?
Consider this as a suggestion:
Continue the most recent practice of the exorbitant price that’s refunded in whole or in part (preferably immediately), up to the one-cent-short level, but also preannounce the number of IRKs that will be available in total. The current interface tracks and displays the number of orders currently received, so this potentially gives the on-the-fence Mehtizens most keenly interested in an IRK an extra impetus to Make Up Their Minds if about (for example) shelling out more dough for Yet Another Solar LED Robotic Vacuum Knife Headphone Bug Zapper Expired Snack Bundle. Preannounce that when 10PM ET is reached, half of the then-unsold IRKs will get allocated for sale to Mehmbers-Only (or even VMP for the first ten minutes, and then Mehmbers in general) at $13.37 (because Leet) with NO refund for other purchases, and then do that again at 11PM ET for anybody who wants to take a swipe at it. If they don’t sell out, then the blanket “get it for reduced cost by buying Mehrathon crap” deal inherits whatever quantity is left for the final hour. If they completely sell out during the 10-11PM ET hour because people Made Up Their Minds, then the 11PM IRK round just doesn’t happen.
I think this might work.
Further suggestions are encouraged, not that I think that either mine or any others will have much chance of being adopted without enough tweaking to file off the serial numbers for the usual end result.
What say you?
- 6 comments, 3 replies
- Comment
Thanks for prompting yet another nostalgic brainstorm on BOC evolution. Solid ideas. I threw a couple new ones @dave’s way too. Honestly, nothing beats the first few times where selling something called Random Crap on the internet was sufficiently derogatory — but having fun with it is still a great marketing puzzle to ponder. Better than starving and pitching baby consumption.
@snapster I’m digging my heels in until I can replenish my supply of Priority Pucks I got in BOC II back in September, 2004.
There used to be people bragging about how all they bought was irks. That’s not how loss leaders are supposed to work. A fan base that doesn’t add to the bottom line isn’t going to keep a business afloat.
@snapster knows how to do math. Or at least he employs someone who does.
@sammydog01 Enthusiasm has its own kind of value, though. And I’m sure he understands this, or the BOCs, Fukus and IRKS would never have existed to begin with.
@sammydog01 @werehatrack oh I did not realize fukuboro bags abbreviated to that. That seems self deprecating to say the least.
Not all of us are rich and can afford the $50 a month. I’m 200% below the poverty level. Not bc I want to be but bc I got hurt at work years ago and can’t work. So while $50 to some may seem like nothing, it’s really a lot to others.
I also think think there should be a members hour irk bc I pay my monthly dues every month and I know a lot of people have dropped it.
I’d be happy with a $25 IRK with a refund of up to $20. That way there’s incentive to buy more stuff, it’s not priced too far out of range, and the IRK final price still covers the Bag and shipping (not including whatever you clean out of the warehouse.)
I’m not sure that there even needs to be a limit on the number of IRK’s with this formula, since the extra purchases should make the process at least self-supporting, if not profitable (once again, not including cleaning out the warehouse.)
On a side note, the 99¢ bullshit needs to go away forever. I thought @snapster said somewhere he didn’t like that type of pricing. Don’t complicate the math to obfuscate the price. K.I.S.S.
Just my contribution to the bedlam…
I’m hungry.
Throwing out something that randomly occurred to me… What if the incentive on the IRK was behavior based, but not a behavior you could do that day? Say for argument’s sake it’s $100, and Mehtizens can get a discount commensurate with their level of Meh purchases, or forum activity, or whatever metric you like. You’re in the 90th percentile, congratulations, you get 90% off. 50th percentile, half price for you. You don’t buy anything else or talk in the forums or joined today, full price for you.
Granted, that does take away the incentive to sell $100 per person of other goods the day of, but it’s another thought. And if you do it, I’m sure you’ll blame me in the writeup and my notifications will subsequently overflow with complaints.
/showme nobody’s perfect