I recently worked for an ecommerce brand that sells watches.
During my research I discovered some interesting things.
Some of which may be useful to copywriters and marketers.
For example, why are Rolex watches so expensive? After all, there’s almost no functional difference between a $20 watch and a Rolex.
Both do exactly the same thing…
….so why does the Rolex go for $100,000 or more.
Before we can answer this question you have to understand the following.
You see, is a Rolex expensive, costly, or simply over-priced? People usually describe items with a high price point as being “expensive.” This generally refers to things which cost too much and do not justify their price. A lot of the time this is because people don’t know why that thing is expensive. If you don’t know why a Rolex goes for 6 figures, you’ll probably think that it costs too much. You may even see it as being “overpriced.” Not only that, you’ll view the price as a negative thing, and may even be put off from buying it. On the other hand, someone else may see that item as being cheap.
But why is this?
There are several reasons.
To start with, it mostly comes down to how someone perceives value.
If the person thinks the item will provide them with value, they will naturally see it as being cheap. The exact opposite is also true. If the person sees no value in the item they will view it as being expensive. For instance, some people won’t spend a thousand dollars on a watch, but will happily spend that same amount of money on wine.
Why?
Simply because they see value in the wine.
It ultimately comes down to this:
Does the person see value in the item…and…does this value reflect the price? If they don’t see any value in the item, they will see it as being expensive. If they do see value, they will see it as being cheap and worth the cost.
So the real question is this…
How do you create this perception of value?
There are a few ways:
1. Time and effort
It takes watchmakers at Rolex 12 months to build one of their timepieces. This time and effort is reflected in the price. This is why you should always mention the time and effort that goes into building your product. If you’re a service provider, talk about the length of time that it took to learn your skills. After all, someone with decades of experience can always charge more than a rookie.
2. Availability
Rolex only produces a limited number of watches – around a million of each model. It’s this exclusivity and unavailability which really drives up the price. If you cannot have something, you simply want it more. This is why you should never seem too desperate to take on a job, or work with a client.
3. Complexity
Putting together a luxury watch is an extremely complex task. Some of these watches have more than a thousand parts. It takes a highly skilled person to perform this task. Once again this is why the price is so high. The lesson here, is that you should always talk about how difficult it is to build your product. Also talk about the quality of your materials and so on.
4. Branding
You pay six figures for a Rolex because…well…it’s a Rolex. The fact is that Rolex has spent more than a 100 years building their brand. People know that it’s a high quality luxury watch, and that it will last forever.
This is also why you should work hard on building your own brand, and developing a reputation for quality and trust. A big part of this again, is exclusivity. Instead of focusing on selling as much as possible, you should concentrate on building your brand and making it more exclusive.
Ultimately, this will allow you to charge higher prices…
…and also make selling products straightforward, painless, and trouble-free.
Alastair Walton