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Clue #8 - Beware Of Gimmicks
Treat special offers with a healthy level of skepticism,
as they are often little more than hype, intended to get you to
make a quick purchasing decision. With plenty of genuine value on
Internet services in the market, there is no need for gimmicks.
When you receive an offer, make sure it is relevant to you.
With all the hype surrounding the Internet, it
could be easy to fall for a gimmick that seems to represent good
value, but does not. All you need is reliable Internet access at
a fair price and control over your domains, web and email hosting.
Everything else needs to be looked at closely to determine whether
there is value or not.
Look into special offers to understand their real
value, and in particular beware of anything that is presented as
‘free’ or ‘unlimited’. Sometimes these are
genuine offers because the provider can offer something for free
if there is no cost to them. But they are more often an overstatement
of the value of the offer.
If somebody is offering ‘two-for-ones’
or other gimmicks, it is usually in an effort to get you to buy
more than you need. Likewise, if someone is offering ‘half
price’, are they really saying that their Retail Price is
inflated?
Break the offer down and see how it fits with your
4 basic requirements:
- Internet access
- Domain management
- Web hosting
- Email management
Look for offers that meet these basic requirements at a fair price,
and that include genuine additions to these basics at no extra cost,
rather than gimmicks that you will never use. By being clear on
these basics, and what represents a fair price for them, you will
be in a position to recognise whether an offer represents real value,
or whether it is just a trick to get you to buy more of their product
than you need.
In this brief recommendation, we have suggested that there is plenty
of scope to avoid being ripped off by gimmicky offers if you focus
on the basics and know the market prices.
Ask your Internet supplier to explain any item
that you are receiving from them if you don’t understand what
it does, or how to get value from it. An email to their help desk
should suffice. When you receive an offer, benchmark it against
your basic shopping list and buy only if the intrinsic value is
right.
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