Hurry ... Only one left.

Hurry ... Only one left.

Many marketers from all walks of life have used this before with great success and are still doing this to this very day.

Not necessarily. This does not get more refunds.

"Hurry One Left" also implies half the world has already gotten on board...only the reader is left.

There's nothing wrong in using the scarcity angle to get more sales and do the dime sale thingy as far as a seller is concerned.

What I don't really get is why don't buyers use their common sense when buying such products?

If "hurry one left" means half the world has already bought it, there should be buyer reviews and if those are good indicating its a supercool product a buyer wouldn't probably mind paying an extra cent to get a copy.

So again at the end of the day 20% IMers (sellers) tell the rest 80% (buyers) what to do and they just comply!

Yes, that’s the weird part I notice when many people use this tactic. There could be a number of reasons why a person could say only one left (even of a digital product). But when no reason is given, it smells made up.

I'm sure your assessment fits most situations. But ironically, I've seen two products where the marketers use the ... "Hurry only one left" tactic and the products were pretty good. So, I imagine if they got the person to order, their refunds would be minimal. It's just the numbers of observant prospects he'd turn off using this tactic alone would make it seem risky to me.


I agree. It takes a little more to make it believable with digital product, than a physical one in most cases. But most of the cases where I’ve seen a digital product accompaning this tactic, no reason is given. So, the seller leaves it up to the prospect to give them the benefit of the doubt, seems very risky … even suicidal. But maybe not, judging by the number of times I’m seeing it now it’s at least working for the short-term.

I've seen marketers using the principle of scarcity with physical products for decades (ex. only a few left ... in our warehouse, at this price, of this model, of this size, slots open for some kind of service etc. But I've just recently noticed the growing number of digital products using this tactic (or ploy, if it's made up).
It’s just when this tactic is used and no reason is given, I think one of two things. It makes the seller look stupid or maybe the seller thinks the prospect is.

I have no problem with the Scarcity approach if it is truthful.

You might have a digital product but want to keep its value relevant so you decide to issue only 100 copies to the public. Well...there is nothing wrong with that because you are being truthful about it.

But many unethical Marketers use this approach and then go way beyond the established deadline number.

Just plain bad business


- Robert Andrew

That's a textbook example of how to apply the scarcity principle to an intangible product/service.


He, He. What about the marketers who have only one left, and you come back two weeks later and they still have that same one left. It's like the first 1,000 or more flew off the shelves, but their having a helluva time selling that last one, yea right.

The flip side of "Only X left" marketing is "Here's the reason why".

One without the other usually doesn't work well - at least over the long haul (a.k.a. repeat business).

And there are MANY ways to do it right.

I think the foundation to the "Only X number left" tactic is to make sure you give a believable reason why. Even s-p-e-l-l-e-d out for the prospect, whether it's a physical or digital product or service.

If not and you just assume prospects can guess or figure it out ... the B.S (smell) meter will go way up to most of your sane thinking prospects.