How to stop people stealing my $1000 product?

Hey Jonathon, I would agree that could be stressful. But don't let it prevent you from putting your product out there. Keep in mind, everybody is not going to refund the product. I don't know how long you've been working on your product. But, if it takes you a month and and you sell 500 units at $1000 and 25 people refund you still made $475,000. Not bad for one month's work! I'll take that all day long and won't even take a lunch.

Here is something that you may not have considered: you should get worried if they are NOT stealing it.

Why?

Because people won't steal it if they don't think it's valuable.

If you worry more about someone stealing it than about making sales, you'll stress yourself out. And you will find it that much harder to make money.

Good info Bill! Physical products are often less refunded due to the consumer having to go through the process of repacking and returning.

I think this is the best model for something that cost this much. I love the idea of shipping physical products. The problem is that people love instant gratification when it comes to purchasing things online in the IM world.

I personally love to be able to purchase something and have it digitally delivered to me instantly.

But I have thought long and hard about selling digital non-tangible products and shipping them in tangible form. If only people could be swayed to buy that way.....in the IM field.

One of the products I bought from one of the above mentioned marketers came as a DVD every month, iirc.

Unless the product is a daily delivery sending out phyical products is simply a function of logistics and not doabiity.

Another option would be to package the 'source' material, i.e. the starter material, in physical form and have the updates as downloads.

The off-shoot of using a physical product could easily be more sales over a strictly downloadable product in that price range. So when you do the math keep that in mind.

~Bill

The video products can be put on DVD. Membership sites do well. I still don't think the number of refunds or illegal downloads will come close to what you're going to sell. You may want to seek out other business in box sellers and learn from them. Stay Focused, Much success!

The above looks good, and I would also have an unadvertised download delivery for folks who are weeks away from getting their package by mail/UPS/FedEx/DHL. Anyone who remembers the Stompernet debacle will know what I'm talking about. Let them approach you on a case by case basis and have your customer service dept send them the files in a timely fashion. They'll appreciate the physical back-up when they get it and your refunds will be lowered.

The perceived value is in your customer's mind. What's in your mind is irrelevent. And yes, nobody want to work for practice.

Referring again to the Stompernet launch, some of those folks didn't get the materials for a few weeks. Don't put your customers in a situation where the refund clock is ticking before they get the materials. Any good shipping company also has good tracking stats to allow you to see delivery dates to your customers.

~Bill

Jonathan, every post in the thread has some good advice, but this one of yours made me cringe.

I always like to put myself in my customer's shoes - John Q. Public. The value of the offer - regardless of how remarkable it is dropped significantly when you said the words -

ONE CD (DVD)

This is only a personal opinion, but I am a professional copy and content ghostwriter. I thought and concluded - have I ever paid one thousand dollars for a single DVD?

Nope. Never have.

This is about perception. I have bought products that were $1,000 before and none were ever delivered to me on a single disk.

The product has more value to me as many megabytes of downloads or a SERIES of DVDs (or CDs).

So my advice is to consider the packaging carefully. Product makers spend MILLIONS just on boxes, bags, blister packs and plastic sheaths.

Whatever extra you spend on the packaging will reduce refunds, and also has the added benefit of making your product harder to steal and reproduce by the blackhatters.

Most thieves won't be willing to work as hard to copy 10 disks as they will to rip one.

However, as a copywriter, my interest is always on what makes more sales - not about refunds. Although I do study every product to reduce refunds by making sure the best approach is being taken to sell them.

Great packaging and copy makes more sales - which means you make more money.

You don't think Microsoft packs one CD that has MS Office on it in a box that takes room on the shelf (and costs more too) because it's prettier, do you?

They do it because you won't notice that CD in a jewel case, but you can't ignore that big blue display box with the colorful logo and their pitch, right?

Marketers often forget the positive illusions created by packaging and the colorful selling on the box - and how many more sales you will make.

It's a major mistake to overlook packaging.

Which offer is more appealing to you:

I will send you every piece of this high value membership site and all files and graphics on one simple DVD.

- OR -

This massive product will come to you on 10 CDs in a luxury slipcover case with each one clearly marked with the monthly content for each of the next twelve months. Every volume will have unique business-exploding content and graphics that will assure you will have happy and satisfied members for years.

The price is $997 - which offer looks better to you? More importantly, which would you buy?

You know you've got a great offer - one that exceeds a grand. But you have to assume John Q. Public doesn't know beans about your offer. You've got to tip that mental money scale in your favor - using everything you've got.

If it was me, I would break it up (into as many pieces as I reasonably could) and roll it out as the awesome product I am sure it is. It is clear to me this needs to be a physical product, not a download or series.

People understand value when they hold a thousand dollar product in their hands - it's much tougher when no one knows you and you want them to spend a grand for a download.

Make it "look" like an insane value, and refunds will become very secondary. People will be influenced by a real or perceived "preponderance of value."

One last thing - even in the goods sold in this forum, how many times do you see great 3D images and lots of disks, books, etc. in the sales offers?

Often, they are images and graphics for just one downloadable file, but the offer "looks" amazing, doesn't it?

Simply and psychologically - the imagery makes it register as an overwhelming value. Don't take shortcuts on the packaging. I think one DVD would be a huge marketing mistake.

Just food for thought - hope this helps.

Sure, it's wise to put measures in place to reduce the
chances that people will steal your works.

However...

Think about how it affects the experience of the most
important people of all: your genuine paying customers.

Focus on serving the people who DO want to pay you
rather than pandering too much to the people who want
to avoid paying you at all costs.

And by the way, the people who are determined to rip
you off will find a way to do that anyways.

Dedicated to mutual success,

Shaun

I'm getting quite good results selling some of my custom engine gear by Western Union. It's completely non refundable and the people ordering usually do not know what they are doing and love to abuse the money back warranty by abusing the hell out of their gear and then blaming it on the manufacturer.

The money back guarantee is a strong sales motivator, but its good to keep in mind when customers really want something they do not really care how they pay....

Whoa Paulie,

I see where you are coming from, but we don't have all the info regarding the product or offer. This may be a product for people Jonathan has been selling other stuff to for years.

A price tag of a grand makes it a tougher sale - almost for sure. But one of the key elements in a long-form piece of sales copy for the product is:

Risk Reversal/Elimination

The moment you place conditions on anything related to a product at $997 regarding refunds or making them conditional - your conversion rate drops multiple points.

In fact, it can actually bring sales down to zero or awfully close.

If anything, to make more sales, you eliminate conditions - not add them. And when you really want to tick a customer off on doing business with you online - charge them a restocking fee.

Restocking fees may work for Best Buy and others like them. Online, they are really bad ideas - you will never sell anything to those people again.

I agree completely that it is far tougher to sell a product - any product - for $997 in 2012. That's just the way it is - given the economy.

But people are still buying products for a grand. I see them, write copy for them, and hear about them all the time. The sales figures would surprise you.