Profits that lie hidden in book tokens

publication date: Jan 11, 2008

Hi

It's my son's 5th birthday today and when Zac gets
home from school he'll be opening his presents.

This year we bought him a Nintendo Wii - it's a
video game console with wireless controllers that
are motion sensitive - so you can control the game
using gestures rather than pushing buttons.
But what amazed me is just how hard it was to get
hold of the console.

I can understand before Christmas that they might
be in short supply, but I would have thought 2
weeks after Christmas there would be loads. Yet
I've had to hunt high and low for one.

Nintendo supposedly manufacture 1.3 million units
worldwide per month and up to last year shipped
17 million - way outstripping the competitors.

I heard from a reliable source (my brother in law)
that the shortfall in units is some kind of marketing
strategy to keep customers hungry. Technically,
there's absolutely no reason why they can't
increase supply - I am reliably told that the actual
electronic components are relatively easy to
produce - especially for a huge company like
Nintendo.

OK, so I don't know all the ins and outs of supply
chain management, but it sounds more like
Nintendo is playing the scarcity card a bit too
much.

Interesting tip: I heard that there plentiful supply if
you go to the German or French Amazon!

Anyway, talking of birthdays . . .

I used to love getting book tokens as a kid - it was
that wonderful sense of freedom to be able to
choose ANY book!

Book tokens first appeared 75 years ago. Today,
the amount spent on gift token totals a whopping
£3.2 billion per year - half are used by companies
for employee perks. The other half is high street
shoppers buying them for friends and family.

The retailers love them as people often 'top up' the
token amount to get their desired purchase. But did
you know there's another reason why retailers love
tokens?

LAZINESS!

You see, I just read a report that revealed 7% of all
gift tokens annually go unredeemed - that's £225
million worth!

Now, retailers don't want to be lumbered with an
open-ended liability with people discovering
tokens 5 years later, so they put an expiry date on
them. That way they know that once the period has
expired (and unredeemed) that becomes pure profit
for them.

And that got me thinking . . .

If you have a business that would lend itself to
offering gift tokens, then you should definitely
consider offering them to your customers. It may
increase sales with top up purchases AND you get
a potential 7% built in profit!


*****************

Did you get a digital camera for Christmas?

*****************

Fancy making some extra cash? Then this is for
you . . .

Discover how cats, rubbish and ice cream could
pour over £600 a week into your bank account!

Click on the link below and see how a total "oops-
I-cut-his-head-off" amateur snapper could make a
tidy side-income by sending 'boring' pictures to
online photo libraries:

Click here

*****************

Pandora Closed

*****************

One of my favourite websites is
http://www.pandora.com/ - it's an automated music
recommendation and Internet radio service created
by The Music Genome Project. Users enter a song
or artist that they enjoy, and the service responds
by playing selections that are musically similar.
Users provide feedback on the individual songs--
like or dislike -- which Pandora takes into account
for future selections.

How do they make money? Well while listening,
users are offered the ability to buy the songs or
albums at Amazon.com or iTunes Store. So it's
essentially an affiliate site. However I heard
yesterday that it is to stop streaming music to UK
users from 15 January after failing to reach
agreement with record companies.

I just can't understand why record companies are
still finding it so difficult to change their mindset
on how music is accessed in the digital age. I mean
you can only listen on Pandora - you can't
download or share. I have bought dozens of CDs as
a direct result of hearing them on the site. So you
would think that the record companies would be
actively encouraging this 'listen before you buy'
resource.

The result of their backward thinking will
inevitably see an increase in illegal file sharing -
not by me of course! ;-)

*****************
January issue drops tomorrow  . . .

*****************
The latest What Really Makes Money hard copy
newsletter is out tomorrow and I must say it's a bit
of a humdinger! Inside you'll read:

-       How to buy property at 15-25% below
market value with no money down! This is
a cracking blueprint from a successful
property developer - a must read,
especially with the rise in repossessions this
year!

-       Seven easy steps to developing
unsuccessful info products - if you've been
put off creating your own info product, then
this reveals how you can put one together
without writing a word!

-       A simple each way betting strategy with a
70% strike rate that requires no knowledge
of horses

-       How to setup your own sales promotion
business

-       A review of the latest online business
opportunities including Google Assassin

If you're not a subscriber yet and want specific
step-by-step plans that will help you to make
money in 2008, then I urge you to give it a whirl!

Full details here:
http://whatreallymakesmoney.co.uk/

Right, that's all for now - I'm going to pick Zac up
in a few hours and will inevitably be playing with
his birthday present for the rest of the weekend!

Regards

Nick


PS: Two very exciting new launches coming up in
the next few weeks including the return of Don't
Tell The Professionals and Louise Woof's
Foolproof Earlybird Trader - both are getting some
great testimonials and I'll let you in on more info
next week.