This Site Getting To Big

HappyIdiotTalk

This is from the Blackheads thread:

pennymakespounds wrote:

h
There is a danger of it becoming “too big” and losing some of its’ benefits ….
Eg….when a goodie is spotted and lots of people dive in to it ,,,, either sell out very quickly and / or supplier will suss the rush and may shut the door.
Eg….the more word spreads the more savvy the suppliers will become and think twice before offering something silly in the first instance. !!

Didn't want to go off topic again so thought I'd copy the above and start a new one.

Anyway, just wanted to say that I think this site could actually make things go the other way. When I did a bit of marketing at collage they took us through 'Demand And Supply'. The idea being that you can charge loads for a product if the demand is there, but only a little if demand is low.

On paper I think this is correct, and an accountant would probably agree too. But in real life I think things are different. Suppose Martin or someone makes a post about some great product thats going for a song and then loads of members go out and buy it...

Is that not giving the supplier another signal? Come up with a product that is worthwhile, priced fairly, and is genuinely a good deal for MSE users. Then MSE users will probably buy it.

Its already happened. Cant remember what the product was, something financial. They asked Martin what it would take to get this product as Martins 'best buy'. He told them, they did it. And I'm sure it paid off for them. As far as I'm concerned the bigger and more powerful this site gets the better.

It exposes the rip offs and unearths the genuinely beneficial. The more people who come to this site and have their eyes opened to whats going on the better. Natural... or in this case educated selection will help destroy those things that are hurting us. Take Barclays for example, I've been with them since leaving school many many years ago. I still would be too if I hadn't of come across this site. Not now though, I have an account with Alliance & Leicester. If more people do what I've done and vote with their feet, Barclays will have to do something to stem the flow. Shame they 'll wait until that happens though. Imagine what they could do if they put the customer first and made Martins no 1 recommendation... They'd clean up and everyone would be happy.

I know its not as clean cut as I'd like to imagine, and I probably haven't explained myself as well as I could. But I think I'm on the right lines.

Pink.

Hi HappyIdiotTalk,

You should get more replies on the Site Feedback: Questions & suggestions board, so I'll move your thread over there.

Pink

jo_b_2

HappyIdiotTalk wrote:

Is that not giving the supplier another signal? Come up with a product that is worthwhile, priced fairly, and is genuinely a good deal for MSE users. Then MSE users will probably buy it.

Its already happened. Cant remember what the product was, something financial. They asked Martin what it would take to get this product as Martins 'best buy'. He told them, they did it. And I'm sure it paid off for them. As far as I'm concerned the bigger and more powerful this site gets the better.

It exposes the rip offs and unearths the genuinely beneficial. The more people who come to this site and have their eyes opened to whats going on the better. Natural... or in this case educated selection will help destroy those things that are hurting us. Take Barclays for example, I've been with them since leaving school many many years ago. I still would be too if I hadn't of come across this site. Not now though, I have an account with Alliance & Leicester. If more people do what I've done and vote with their feet, Barclays will have to do something to stem the flow. Shame they 'll wait until that happens though. Imagine what they could do if they put the customer first and made Martins no 1 recommendation... They'd clean up and everyone would be happy.

I know its not as clean cut as I'd like to imagine, and I probably haven't explained myself as well as I could. But I think I'm on the right lines.

I think you're right as well. This site isn't intended to be about keeping a select few in the know about good deals, but making consumers in general better informed about how to spend their money to better effect.

If you've read the Money Diet (Martin's book), there are whole sections about being aware of the marketing tactics employed by companies to get more money out of consumers. There is definitely power in numbers and the whole beauty of this site is the community spirit - where we all want to promote good deals and insider knowledge for everybody's benefit.

There may be some short-term disadvantages, such as the number of freebies etc being harder to get hold of but the long-term advantages of becoming savvier consumers should outweigh them.

nearlyrich

I understand the frustrations of the freebie hunters, but sometimes you win and sometimes you don't, overall the advantages of lots of users being privy to the information on this site far outweigh the disadvantages of missing the odd freebie. There are loads of people who are working their way out of debt or aspiring to pay off their mortgages early just because they found the site.

Edinburghlass_2

I replied on a different thread about this very thing...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=3009640&postcount=42