Comments on: A New Business Model… Priceless?

By: Bill McNeely

Bill McNeely — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:44:42 +0000

I read your blog about the Name Your Price phenomenon and was shocked that A) you thought this was a new concept and B) everyone else thought it was not substainable.

NYP is not new. The concept is practiced all over the world. In the Middle East it’s not unusual for you to go into a mall, try something on and then make an offer. The salesman (yes salesman not person!) generally has a 30-40% variance he can work within to make the sale happen. Judging by the amount of high end stores in the Middle East and the watches these salesmen wear it’s a substainable business model.

The rest of world finds it wierd that the US consumer are not able to negoitate thier own price.

By: Laura Beken

Laura Beken — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:24:31 +0000

I actually think it is a good idea, but I would not do it after the fact like the coffee shop. I would tell the client ahead of time to name a price they want to pay for the video they want us to produce (HandBookLive is a video production company focusing on video manuals designed for HandBooklive.com site).

Having them pay what they want after the video is already produced might be tricky because the creative team would not know how much time they can afford to spend on the video production, extra assets, graphics, etc.

And I agree with Carlos, that the owner needs to be involved in the decision making

By: Carlos Terceros

Carlos Terceros — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:20:52 +0000

That sounds like a really dangerous trend. And it could really be bad if someone other than the owner has to be trusted with making on-the-spot pricing decisions.

I’ve been thinking about automating part of my customer service back-end with something like SuFaq.

By: Alexander M Zoltai

Alexander M Zoltai — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 20:12:32 +0000

Being on the inside of this story–I’m a regular at Java Street Cafe–I can add three intriguing facts.

1) Since Sam began the “Your Fair Price” policy, sales are up 32%.

2) Naturally, before he began the policy, he’d fallen behind in rent due to the economic situation.

3) The landlord is not giving him a break and allowing him to recoup losses–an eviction notice is on the way…

For more detail, see:
http://amzuri.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/business-ethics/

By: GoEverywhere Team

GoEverywhere Team — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:25:22 +0000

I find this whole concept utterly astounding, to be honest.

It makes me want to run right out and give it a shot in some form or fashion and see what the results really are.

I have to wonder though, whether this business model would be REALLY hard hit in economic times like this, with so many people out of work and looking for a little bit of a break on price anywhere they can. Could/would folks really try to take advantage of this type of business…or just stay at home and eat as they probably should.

Hard to say, but I’d love to experience all of it firsthand. Thanks for a really intriguing post.

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:38:44 +0000

It’s just not sustainable — not generally, anyway. Music artists have tried it, a few with great success. Was it Radiohead that did it first? It worked for them, but they self-produced their stuff, so they got to keep almost every penny they generated.

When people are willing to pay you only an amount that doesn’t cover your costs, you’re screwed.