The coin is ‘clad in gold', gold I tell you ---- .999999999 pure. My friend, a Ph.D., no less, does the math. Given the area of the coin, there’s no more than 1/2000 of an ounce of gold. Yes, let me spell it out, one two-thousandths of an ounce. Even at $1,500 an ounce (approximate value of gold at the time of this writing), that’s about 75 cents worth of gold on the coin.
And you can get this wonderful ‘investment’ for just $15. The old DR rule of thumb comes into play: charge at least 10 times product cost, packaging included. These guys must have another quarter in the coin itself and then 50 cents to package.
As I keep saying: these spurious products poison the water for all of us. It’s getting to the point where you couldn’t give away dollar bills via DR because no one believes a thing we say.
But then again…
Cosmetics from iconic brands like L’Oreal or Dior or Olay aren’t marketed any better, more honestly, are they? Imagine selling a cream that costs $5 in the tube for $135.00. I did that, I’ll admit it; and cosmetics companies do it everyday of the week. But at least they do it with some style, panache, story, exquisite packaging and first rate service that must count for something.
At the risk of being crude, at least they kiss you before they…
I’m conflicted. If Estee Lauder and Clinique can sell miracle face creams for 20X to 40X cost, why can’t I sell a miracle salad spinner via DRTV, or a gold-clad coin, for that matter, without appearing sleazy and having the FTC on my case?
The history of DR works against us, I think.
Here’s a test. How many cosmetics have you used or purchased (men and women) that actually met your expectations? I can think of a few right off the bat:
- Original Rachel Perry -- great stuff
- The yellow Clinique moisturizer in the glass bottle
- Shaving cream from Wild Oats -- Kiss My Face
- Queen Helene mask -- from the 1930s, I swear
- St. Ives apricot seed scrub -- not as good as the original, but still good
- Idebinol -- face cream that's off the market, unfortunately
Now, how many DR products have you tried or purchased and have found to work as promised?
- Paint roller – terrible, still finding drops on the floor years after
- Magic Bullet – not too bad, really
- Proactiv (for my teenage children) – no better than a $3 tube of benzoyl peroxide
- Orthotics – waste of time
- Scratch remover for the car – stupid purchase on my part
- Hercules Hooks – sorry, Billy
- Swivel Sweeper – worthless
- Knives from anyone – I have no need to cut a Coke can in half
How’s this for a solution... a way out of the DR decline?
- Sell better products
- Make sure what you say in the ad copy matches what’s said online (to the best of your ability)… better products should make this easier… and spend some money on social media to defend your products, for goodness sakes
- Change the tired DRTV format, for example:
- Give the actual price upfront
- Forget BUT WAIT and triple your order tricks
- Give a full guarantee, shipping and all
- Avoid the tired Guthy Renker model (or should I say “trusted Guthy Renker”?). Look, they’ve made a lot of money at it, good for them, but GR has burned out the format here in the U.S. (which is why their sales are increasingly coming from other countries)
- Avoid automatic renewal – the #1 reason why most consumers will not buy anything DR
