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Misleading listings?


Alistair

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FWIW I think the listings of your products is misleading, for example the current sale on the Word Biblical Commentary: 58-volume Set is listed as NOT $2299.00 BUT "$299.00 (Save $2,000.00 or 86.99%)" Then it says "Regular price $599" Which is it?

Maybe you should be clearer about the $2299 being the equivalent price for a complete hardback set of the series.
The customer is not saving $2000 on a set of books, but saving $300 on the digital files.
I just think you should be more clear about this.
In my mind these are two different products, and you aren't even selling the hardback books.
HTH

 

Alistair

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I'm sure Accordance staff will speak to this, but I wonder if the hard copy price is listed just as a point of reference, since that might still be a standard point of comparison folks are used to. Or maybe I'm missing the point of your post. Either way, the comparison to the print books is sort of apples to oranges anyway, since (in my opinion) the Accordance version of a given volume is significantly more useful and valuable than its print counterpart. But I think I see your point.

 

As a grammar/usage snob (I'm trying to quit), I do want to note here again (on the same topic of product listings) that set should really only be used for a commentary series that is actually complete, i.e., has a book written for every biblical book. I'm willing to be corrected on the usage here, if I'm wrong.

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I would have to respectfully disagree with the assessment that the ad is misleading. Unless there's an ad I haven't seen, both the email and the web advertising are quite specific.

 

From the email:

Not surprisingly, this highly-desired set, with a print value of $2,299, seldom goes on sale. Through a special, limited-time arrangement with the publisher, we are pleased to bring you the 58-volume Word Biblical Commentary set for just $299 - that's an incredible 50% savings off our regular low price! (emphasis added)

On the web:

Consider that if you purchased the entire Word Biblical Commentary series in print, you would spend well over $2,000. This makes the normal price of $599 for the Accordance version a bargain year round. However, right now, the entire set can be obtained for the incredibly low price of $299. (emphasis added)

As someone who does a bit of advertising, it can be difficult to reach a level of clarity where everyone understands exactly what you meant to say, but this is really quite good. The print, regular Accordance, and sale Accordance information is highlighted clearly. The only way I can see that the email could have been more clear would be to explicitly mention the $599 regular Accordance price, but given the limited space in the email layout, the text is clear enough.

 

Perfect? No. Misleading? No. Clear and honest with all the necessary information? Yes.

 

Mike

Edited by Mike Thigpen
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I was referring to this summary (see below) , not the email or the web information Mike mentions above.

 

[Edit; the $2299 should be crossed through]

 

 

Product Details
http://www.accordancebible.com/files/images/19167-custom.gif
Word Biblical Commentary: 58-volume Set
Category: Commentaries | Install Options: Download only
http://www.accordancebible.com/archive/products/images/product_separator.gif
$2299.00 On Sale: $299.00 (Save $2,000.00 or 86.99%)
Edited by Alistair
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I had not seen that particular listing of the set. Although the print price is referenced in the text below, that specific notation could definitely be clearer. A label such as "print value" before the estimated print cost would be quite helpful.

 

The text in the paragraph below does clarify it—

WBC Sale through July 21, 2014 (11:59pm EDT). Regular price $599. Cannot be combined with any other discounts.
This module includes 58 volumes (two modules containing the Old Testament and New Testament volumes) published by Thomas Nelson. The print value of this package is about $2300
—but adding a word or two to the text immediately below the graphic would be far better. This is why web and email advertising can be so difficult. There's always one more place/layout to be considered!
Thanks for clarifying, Alistair.
Mike
Edited by Mike Thigpen
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We try to be very open with our pricing, and I think that all the quotes above illustrate that we are succeeding.

 

We are changing our "List" pricing to reflect the Print price in many cases, to emphasize the great value you are getting. This does mean that the automatic listing on the Product page itself shows a huge discount. However, we are careful to always state our regular price wherever we write up a sale. We did this on the blog, in the newsletter, and on the notes on the product page.

 

Y'all seem to have worked that out pretty well.

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