It’s Take Control Tuesday, and Mansa Musa and I are continuing our “Why We Buy” series.
This week, we’re talking about one little word that can get our attention fast: free. Free shipping. Buy one, get one free. Free gifts. First month free. Who doesn’t love a good deal?
The problem is that “free” can sometimes encourage us to spend money we never planned to spend in the first place.
Mansa explains that retailers understand how powerful the word can be. Businesses want to make their offers attractive. As consumers, our job is to recognize what’s happening and decide whether the deal actually works for us.
Consider free shipping. You have $42 worth of merchandise in your cart. Shipping costs $6, bringing your total to $48. Then you see an offer for free shipping on orders over $50. Suddenly, you start looking for something else to buy.
You find a $10 item and add it to your cart. Now you qualify for free shipping. The problem? You just went from spending $48 to spending $52.You saved $6 in shipping, but you spent $4 more than you originally planned.
That extra item might be worth it. The important thing is making that decision intentionally.
Highlights From Our Conversation
- Free gets our attention. Consumer psychology calls this the zero price effect. We tend to react differently when something is free.
- Look beyond the free offer. Ask yourself what you have to spend, buy or commit to in order to get the “free” item.
- Do the math. Compare what you originally planned to spend with what you’ll actually spend to qualify for the deal.
- Question buy-one-get-one offers. If you were already going to buy one, getting another free could be a great deal. But if you weren’t planning to buy either one, the offer may have created the purchase.
- Take “free” out of the equation. Look at what remains. Would you still want the product or service without the freebie attached?
- Make the free part add value. A good deal should enhance a purchase you already intended to make. It shouldn’t convince you to make a purchase you never planned to make.
I’ll admit, I’ve fallen for this more times than I care to admit. Sometimes that little word free is all it takes to make me start adding things to my cart.
Mansa’s strategy is simple. When you see “free,” don’t just focus on what you’re getting. Look at what you have to spend to get it. Then ask yourself one important question: Would I still be buying this if there weren’t something free attached to it?
If the answer is yes, you may have found a great deal. If it’s no, take another look before you buy.
The goal is to be an intentional buyer, not just a consumer.