DealDotCom has been live long enough now to start getting an idea of what it’ll be like.
Frankly, I’ve been disappointed.
The initial offering was EasyMemberPro, software for running a membership site. The pricing was at about half off the price on the sales website, around $150.
Half off sounds great, but that was half off the version of the script that allows you to run unlimited membership sites. The version that allows you to run one membership site cost around $150.
As a programmer, I know that the price difference between the two versions is purely a sales tactic. It’s a bit like one-time-offers. If you don’t know that the software will work for you and make you money, why buy the version that works for unlimited sites?
On the other hand, if you can make money with a single site, then financing the purchase of a second license is no big deal.
So I don’t consider the price on DealDotCom to be much of a deal.
Other products were similar. $1 for a membership to Nicheology.com sounds good, but then after that it’s full price ($30 a month, I think). So basically you’re getting a trial membership and paying for it. Another product included master resale rights at the same price that you would buy the regular product without resale rights for…well, you know my opinion of resale rights.
Lots of no deals.
There have been a few gems. WPAffiliatePro is a nice system for cloaking and tracking affiliate links in a WordPress blog. You can do the same cloaking and tracking for free, but not so nicely integrated with WordPress.
BayRSS integrates various affiliate programs such as Amazon and Ebay directly into WordPress blogs, making it trivial to link to suitable products to monetize your blog.
Overall, though, the basic strategy at DealDotCom seems to be to offer the higher, overpriced versions of products at a more reasonable price, and call it a “deal”.
The combination of time pressure and scarcity mentality that DealDotCom uses is inspired, and a great tactic for selling to Internet marketers.
Just do your homework, and make sure that you’re really getting a deal.
I, personally, think it has been a very good money maker and I don’t even have that many referrels. I did buy the Affiliate pro and LOVE IT! I did research it and saw a free plugin that was very similiar but I opted for the paid version. They have stated that they would be expanding their products in other genres of the blogosphere so I look forward to seeing that.
Hi Lori, I don’t doubt the site’s made a lot of money for a lot of people. But the deals just haven’t been as compelling as the pre-launch hype made them out to be. The Affiliate Pro was one of the better ones, so I’d say you made a good choice there.
Part of the problem is the daily deal model. It’s a bit like writing daily blog posts…some of the posts are just going to be filler because you need a daily post.
Hey that’s a well written analogy:) I think any new program/product will always be hyped up, that’s how you get the word out and almost all the time, it’s a let-down. It’s just like this whole Wiki page thing…so much hype from a couple of __ow’s but people are already complaining that their not making money with it. I think people need to be smarter in what they buy and promote. I think it’s important to do research on everything–if it doesn’t look like something I can make work, then I don’t get involved. Too many people are hoping for a quick get rich opp.
Not as compelling?
I am sorry you are so disappointed but it is obvious you are certainly a “my glass is half empty” kind of person. As for the 1 trail for nicheology. Hmm $1 instead of 27.. sorry but how is that not a deal. You got 100% access to everything for a $1 and could download everything and quit.. or even refund you little $1.
How about some examples of “compelling” deals, that you would like to see and their prices?
[quote post=”373″]How about some examples of “compelling” deals, that you would like to see and their prices?[/quote]
I thought this was pretty clearly stated in the post, but obviously not, so:
EasyMemberPro, the one-site version, for $75
Nicheology.com, for $15 a month
True deals, not either overpriced versions at the regular price, or trial memberships.
Well let me see what we can do for you 😉
I do agree with you that DDC had used the tactic of combination of time pressure and scarcity mentality to great effect.