From: reynard@romeo.caltech.edu (Reynard, Gregory J.)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.infomercials
Subject: Re: Reason Not to Buy from Infomercials
Date: 26 Jan 1993 03:18 PDT
Organization: California Institute of Technology
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: romeo.caltech.edu
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

In article <parvin1.728006397@husc.harvard.edu>, parvin1@husc11.harvard.edu (Douglas Parvin) writes...
>Being a small-time entrepreneur with some big-time friends, I've encountered
>the almost universal economics of infomercials.  Basically, the item is
>almost always sold for four to five times cost, or $20, whichever is greater.
>Or, if the item appears to be of indeterminate value, they'll just run
>several tests, and may wind up selling a $4 cosmetic for $29.95, or a $3
>car wax for $19.95.
> 
>If you feel that you can find a similar item through conventional means, such
>as stores or catalogs, you'll probably pay much less.  And, of course, be
>wary of "miracle" items which seem to work so much better than anything
>else on the market.  If the items are truly that great a value, they'd be
>out of the small-time infomercial marketplace and in the department stores...
> 
>Of course, you may be a satisfied customer... Infomercials at least let you
>know about a product you might not know exists.  But it may well be worth
>the effort to find it someplace else.
>-- 
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Douglas Parvin
>parvin1@husc.harvard.edu                  "Homercles cares not for beans"

I agree.  I was  able to find "Colorcoat 2000" at a Pep-Boys (automotive
supply store) for $6.90, as opposed to $19.95 or whatever it cost on T.V.
As embarrassing as this is, their infomercial was persuasive enough, and
my car is just crappy enough that I actually shelled out the seven bucks
to try this "miracle of modern science".  Turns out it actually does a 
decent job.
Given the choice, however, I'd much rather see a return to the days of
late night Gilligans Island reruns instead of spray-on-hair and fifty
different juice extractors.
I've read that there are several reasons these shows are everywhere nowadays:
	1)  The Reagan administration did away with previous rules regulating
	    the amount of time per hour that could be used for commercials
	2)  Late night T.V. spots are incredibly cheap, as are spots on cable
	    channels that the local cable company only occasionally uses.
	3)  The markup is so high that it takes relatively few suckers, uh,
	    I mean shoppers making purchases to offset the overhead.
For the most part these shows seem pretty shady, and I'd be content if they
would just disappear (or be reregulated away).  I can remember being annoyed
by the repeated 30 second Ginsu commercials of the seventies, and now they're
half an hour long.  Oh well, more reason to turn off the box and read a little
more.

  *********************************************************************
  *                            * "As kinder, genltler bombs explode   *
  *       Greg Reynard         *    in a thousand-points-of-light"    *
  *  reynard@romeo.caltech.edu *                 -- LARD              *
  *********************************************************************
Newsgroups: alt.tv.infomercials