sdr’s strategy seems quite rational, time tested, effective… and obvious. for the same reason that the auction sold homes at market or higher, for the same reason that car dealers use the same tactics, for the same reason that churches use similar tactics. get the people in the door and you’ll make money.
assuming that some percentage of people are lookie loo’s, some percentage are non-competitive and some people are simply obstinate. the rest is your market. so, the more people you draw in, the greater the percentage of potential buyers. if it turns out that only 1% of your exposure is a buyer, you’re obviously going to be better off with 100 heads than you are with only 10.
now, taking that 1%, you manipulate their psycology. of 10 heads, only one makes an offer, they aren’t going to budge if they know it. if, on the other hand, you have 100 heads, 10 of which are buyers, they’re going to be anxious if they see other potential buyers. they don’t know whether or not those others are serious, they just know they’re there. and an anxious (or panicked, as in the last “houses are going away and never coming back” chicken little scenario) buyer is more likely spend than a calm and in-control buyer.
and of course, the house (car, tv, game console, cabbage patch kid, etc) still has to show better in down times than in up…
as for discount or “honest abe” minimal marketing/effort services:
“you get what you pay for”, meaning anything that goes wrong will be blamed on you resulting in bad word of mouth.
people want everything for nothing, meaning they’ll bargain hunt services, try to milk you for additional work and cut and run if it is opportune.
low price = cheap. people perceive value in dollar signs.
they couldn’t afford it anyway; they’ll just suck your time and energy dry.
lack of long term stability in cut throat markets. when a market is defined only by price, name brand loyalty goes out the window.
