Iconsider myself to be pretty savvy when it comes to being a consumer. I’m always on the lookout for a bargain and I have a keen eye for a good deal. If I’m buying a car, then throw in a servicing contract, and a full tank of fuel, and that may just sweeten me up enough to sign on the dotted line. Offer a buy one, get one free at my local supermarket, and I’ll definitely consider whether it’s something I need; give me a good discount, with no strings attached, and it’s as good as sold! The same is true when it comes to shopping inworld, and it used to tbe the case that I’d have considered fatpacks as a great way to get a bargain. Times have changed though, as has the way in which this particular marketing ploy is employed.
Back in the day, a fatpack was simply a package containing all the colour variations, or parts of a set, sold at a discount to buying each item individually. It was a convenient way to get a bit more bang for your buck, and for sellers to make a better margin. Say, for example, a cute skirt was on sale in 6 different colours but you only wanted red, yellow and blue: You could either spend L$200 on each and get the colours you wanted, or you could buy a fatpack with all those colours, for a discount, and effectively get the other colours on top for free. Bargain! And a great way to secure customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. However, fatpacks have changed and now, more frequently than not, they’ve become a cynical means of extorting customers. The approach now, is to offer a small selection of items individually, usually just a few plain colours. Other colours and designs are available, but all these other cool designs, colour variants, and more interesting textures can’t be bought separately and are only available in the fatpack. This is particularly noticeable at fairs and events, where ‘event exclusives’ are being offered with limited choices to buy separately, with all the most desirable items only available as ‘bonus’ items in expensive fatpacks, (I find it bizarre that the ‘bonus’ items also often outnumber the standard ones!). The customer is effectively being blackmailed… ‘Spend a packet on the fatpack, or when the event is over, you can wave goodbye to that killer outfit forever!’
Now, if you’re of the same mindset as me – and having had discussions inworld on the topic, I know that many of you are – it’s usually just one or two designs that appeal, and inevitably, they can only be bought in the fatpack. So, rather than pay a reasonable price for one item I really want, I have to buy a dozen for a lot more, most of which I don’t want and won’t use. However, I’m certainly not going buy a pile of items I don’t want, for way more than I’m prepared to pay, or can afford, but I’d be more than happy to pay maybe a little more for a particular design that’s more than just a plain colour. I’m not even being offered the opportunity to do that – so I end up walking away and the creator loses a sale. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve not bought something because I’m being coerced into buying a fatpack – it annoys me and it leaves me with a bad impression of the brand.
For example, take these trainers I found at Cyber Fair. See that amazing neon green design on the left? I really wanted them, and none of the other designs or plain colours really appealed at all. However, there’s no chance of buying just the design I want – it’s only the 4 basic colours that are available to buy individually – for L$220 a pair. If I want those cool cyber shoes, I’ve no choice other than to buy the fatpack, which is going to cost me L$800 landing me with 9 other designs that I’ll never wear. Why should I spend an extra 600 bucks for what is, for me, essentially just a single pair of trainers? I can pretty much guarantee too, that if I do buy the fatpack it’s going to be exactly the same pair of trainers as the plain ones, just with the addition of a HUD to change the texture. There’s no reason at all why the seller can’t do the same with the cool designs as they do with the plain ones – set the texture and take away the HUD, I’ll even happily pay more for the ones I want… although not L$600 more!
That would mean, of course, that the seller has lost their leverage: By allowing me to buy only what I want, they remove any incentive to spend a lot more and grab the fatpack – or do they? The simple fact is, if I want the full set, or if I’m interested in buying more than 3 designs, I’ll buy the fatpack, it’s cheaper, but if I just want a single pair and I can’t buy it on its own, I won’t be spending anything – you’ve lost a sale. I’m pretty certain that having the option to buy individually would result in far more sales than demanding people stump up for fatpacks, because everyone I’ve questioned has told me exactly the same thing.
Frankly, this approach – particularly for event exclusives where the buyer is pretty much over a barrel – is just plain greedy; it’s taking advantage of customers and, you know what, it’s a rip off. And, while you’re at it, by all means, give buyers a bit of an incentive to buy in bulk, by adding a bonus item, but when the majority of a fatpack’s contents is bonus items, that’s simple extortion!
I’ll find other more reasonably priced trainers, somewhere along the way, and whoever makes them will be getting my money instead. Although, you know what… I can always make my own at a fraction of the price!
But, you won’t have to buy a fatpack to get them!
s. x
All I wanna do is ///
And a /¦
And take your money
MIA – Paper Planes
Serendipidy Haven's Musings 