What do you call too expensive?

I think the use of the internet, not only as a business portal but as a source of information has become so global that I was wondering just recently, what constitutes value, and more so, what are people prepared to pay.

For example, I have a membership site and it's becoming increasingly obvious that geographically, the source of my members is expanding rapidly.

Now I don't sell my own products, but I do sell other's and it occured to me that these products prices are aimed at countries that value their dollar lower.

For example, where I live, US$15-20 an hour is about the standard wage, where as in SE Asia, there are some regions where it will be a lot lower, and therefore you would have to assume, someone from SE Asia is going to value US$1 far far more than someone from say Australia or the US.

So this begs the next question. If you live in SE Asia, and you see a book/course etc that is being sold for US$99, how do you percieve that? Is it too much to pay? Here in Australia, that is about 5 hours worth of wages, where as if you're going rate is US$5 per hour in your region, that same course is now worth 20 hours worth of wages.

If you're going rate is only $1.50/hour, and I've seen this on elance, then that same course is now worth 66 hours worth of wages, which in Australia, equates to two whole weeks worth of work.

I would just like to get a gauge of where you stand in relation to this, in that if you see a product that everyone else throughout the world can see, and it is being sold for the exact same amount, regardless of where you are geographically, then where do you draw the line?

So for this example, let's just assume that there is a product available that will teach you how to create a better business. It makes all the crazy claims that they all make etc, but we are going to assume it get's great reviews, and is seen as a legitimate course/book that has a lot of positive feedback. People in the US are paying US$99 for this course.

Now let's say that the author of this course allows it to be resold, gives other's resale rights. Now we're not concerned with the cost of the resale rights, but let's say someone in your geographical region is now selling this course. What are you willing to pay this person who is in your geographical region and demands similar value for their dollar as you?

Remember the whole point of this is to gauge the value of one US doller, so if you live in the US, don't go choosing $1 - 10, because that is not what your fellow countrymen and women are paying right now so you're simply not going to get it at that amount. I hope this makes sense

 

nice read tridean

 

In bangkok you can buy copy books - i.e someone has typed the book into Word and printed it out in A4 black and white. You can either buy the english version or they translate it into Thai.

I just asked my staff (Thai) is they would buy a book valued at $99, and they replied with the same answer as I would - They would check the reviews/recommendations before hand, if the reviews were excellent, they would buy. I also just fount out that 2 guys have already bought Arron Walls SEO Book, which is priced around 70-80$

 

you can bootleg everything nowadays, why pay?

 

Hey thanks guys,

fade you make an interesting point and very valid, but just for my purposes the question is based on a truly hypothetical situation and therefore would just assume complete honesty.

or

For example, my friend has made an ebook, but unless you register and and am on the internet at the time of reading, you can not read it. Let's just say for this example, that you can't bootleg, copy, redistribute this ebook. The only exception is that someone in your county (area) buys a license and is allowed to sell it in their own currency but is still unable to distribute illegally.

I know it sounds fanciful, but the main point to this post was to gauge how someone in the US values one US dollar compared to say someone who lives in China.

Cheers

 

in some countries for $10 a family of 4 can eat for a week. For them buying a book at that price is a luxery they can't afford at all. For some of them $1 spending for a book is too much.

 

That's the point of the poll!

 

Education should be free included books and other material required. State should be responsible for that.

 

State can't be responsible of teaching Search Engine Optimization (just a crazy example *g*)

Regards

 

Maybe I should have put FREE in the poll too.

What about gnethosting? Should that be free too?

 

Well, this will depend largely on the topic and what you get for the money. If it's a comprehensive authoritative book on a topic then I'd be willing to pay a max of around $50. Thats around 50 hours worth at minimum wage over here.

 

So for this example, let's just assume that there is a product available that will teach you how to create a better business. It makes all the crazy claims that they all make etc, but we are going to assume it get's great reviews, and is seen as a legitimate course/book that has a lot of positive feedback. People in the US are paying US$99 for this course.

Thanks,