Don’t Make These Costly Shopping Mistakes "As seen on TV" Products
Perhaps you have succumbed to the urge to buy any “Seen on TV” item? If that’s the case, you’re not the only one. Whether it’s the half-hour TV infomercial or the shortest direct marketing commercial, DRTV (as it’s called in the industry) generates more than $150 billion in orders each year.
However, as much as these products are sold, television advertorials have an undesirable image among a significant percentage of the public. Most of this stems from their bewildering or misleading offer terms. Explore message boards and you’ll find countless complaints from outraged shoppers who phoned or went online to buy a product they saw on TV only to find that this product they thought was $19.95 ended up costing over $100.
However, you can avoid a nasty charge on your credit card bill by learning specific mistakes to avoid when getting any “As Seen On TV” item.
Mistake #1: Forgetting to include the total number of payments
High-priced “As Seen On TV” items typically display their cost as a series of “easy payments” to cushion the impact of the total price. Therefore, you should definitely add the number of invoices and the amount to have the actual amount you will pay. If you don’t have a calculator nearby, round the total amount to the nearest dollar and do the math in your head.
Bluder #2: Not Realizing Shipping and Processing Fees
Handling charges (also known as S&H or P&H) often run up to 70% of the item’s cost! You may even receive many different charges from S&H. Most “Buy One, Get 1 Free” deals frequently hit you with additional shipping costs for your extra “free” product, and sometimes include it for any sort of “free” bonus items.
Bluder #3 – Pick Any Upsell
A familiar method advertisers use to get more funds from shoppers is to show multiple “upsells” every time people place an order. “Upsell” is the term for additional products that a person will be told when they purchase the product over the phone or website. Obviously, each additional sale you accept increases the total amount of the order. Also, each additional sale usually comes with an additional shipping and handling charge. Therefore, please refuse to collect any type of additional items with your purchase.
Bluder #4: Believing that a “free” or “risk-free” trial is really free
A different way that TV infomercials go to great lengths to disguise the cost of an expensive unit is by providing a “Free Trial” or “Risk-Free Trial.” These types of lawsuits require processing and handling fees to be paid immediately. A “no risk” trial will not be free, but will charge you to try the merchandise for the duration of the trial, and then you will have to pay the full cost of the merchandise. “Risk Free” simply indicates that you can return the merchandise and receive the funds you gave for the “proof” (shipping and handling charges are not typically refundable).
Mistake #5: Not writing where you purchased the item
It is a good idea to make a note of the contact number or Internet location where you purchased the product to ensure that you will be able to contact the company in the event of a problem with shipping or products. Be sure to write down the exact contact number or website! The website may not send these records to your email, so be sure to save your purchase number, phone number, address, and any other contact information and keep it in a safe place.
You can avoid virtually all of these problems by buying through an online or offline retailer instead of directly from the phone number used in the TV ad. However, if the item is brand new, it may not be available anywhere else, and many products will never be available in stores.
If you avoid the mistakes mentioned in this article, you’ll have a chance to enjoy your infomercial product without getting an expensive surprise when the charges come.