Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk • Hacker News Board

Re: Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

#101

Post by looping__lui » Sat, Apr 08, 2023, 6:23 PM UTC

MichaelZuo wrote: post #94

chasebank wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’ve clearly never worked in direct response marketing. The cost of customer acquisition vs lifetime value of a customer is terrible compared to traditional retail. In 2007, you could print money. In 2023, you’re most likely barely breaking even buying digital ads. The OPs thesis is quite correct. I’ve been in the space for 14 years and have tens of millions, if not hundreds, in DR adspend across multiple platforms…

Nearly perfect competition does imply a profit margin near zero.

I don’t think this is a case of “nearly perfect competition driving prices down so nobody makes a profit” (e.g., you working for a social media company trying to argue how perfect competition this is ;-) ) - BUT potentially rather a case of “monopoly power of social media charging so much for customer acquisition that it drives profits to zero”; so rather a shift in profit from high prices from the manufacturers pocket to Zuck et als pockets…

Re: Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

#102

Post by sdfghswe » Sat, Apr 08, 2023, 6:24 PM UTC

TLDR: someone on the internet has just learned that advertising exists.

Re: Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

#103

Post by Matrixik » Sat, Apr 08, 2023, 6:35 PM UTC

rainsford wrote: post #21

sharkweek wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve got a take: I think the current gap in the market for a lot of product areas is “more expensive but high quality.” I desperately want to spend more money on a product that will stand the test of time but it’s so hard to find them at times. Sure there will always be a majority of shoppers who want the cheapest thing as fast as they can get it and they won’t mind if they have to buy 3 of them every year, but I thi…

I definitely agree there is a market for that, but the increasing problem is how consumers discover your product and sort through the trash heap of cheap alternatives. Google is useless these days for finding product reviews, Amazon largely just shows you keyboard-smash Chinese brands unless you already know what brand you're looking for, and legitimate review sites like Wirecutter have a hard time keeping up or cove…

Usually I spend time searching and reading comments on https://www.reddit.com/r/buyitforlife/

Till now it worked really nice for me.

Re: Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

#104

Post by symlinkk » Sat, Apr 08, 2023, 6:44 PM UTC

_fat_santa wrote: post #63

Swizec wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Running shoes are good for about 600 to 700km fyi. After that, the foam breaks down too much to provide adequate cushioning and the right sproing. Having the external hard rubber last longer than that is just unnecessary weight. You may just be in better shape than you were in college. Distance stacks up fast and running faster wears shoes out faster. sauce: I run marathons and go through about 6 pairs of running sho…

As a "non-runner" who just needs running shoes for the gym and walking around, I found great luck at Thrift Stores. What I found us a marathoner will buy a pair of Nike's and run that 600-700km until they are "spent" and give them to Goodwill. While they aren't good for running anymore, I found most to have plenty of sole left for 6-7 months of walking and going to the gym, all for around $10. This is probably not th…

[flagged]

Re: Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

#105

Post by Eisenstein » Sat, Apr 08, 2023, 6:44 PM UTC

rainsford wrote: post #21

sharkweek wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve got a take: I think the current gap in the market for a lot of product areas is “more expensive but high quality.” I desperately want to spend more money on a product that will stand the test of time but it’s so hard to find them at times. Sure there will always be a majority of shoppers who want the cheapest thing as fast as they can get it and they won’t mind if they have to buy 3 of them every year, but I thi…

I definitely agree there is a market for that, but the increasing problem is how consumers discover your product and sort through the trash heap of cheap alternatives. Google is useless these days for finding product reviews, Amazon largely just shows you keyboard-smash Chinese brands unless you already know what brand you're looking for, and legitimate review sites like Wirecutter have a hard time keeping up or cove…

Try specialty forums and subreddits for the thing you are looking for. Need a scooter? /r/escooters on reddit would be where I would start hitting the search box. Cabinets? Search for a woodworking forum. You get the idea. There is almost always a group of incredibly experienced and knowledgeable people on the particular thing you need that have found a place to hang out with each other. Find them and ignore the rest of the noise.

Re: Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

#106

Post by logifail » Sat, Apr 08, 2023, 6:46 PM UTC

fxtentacle wrote: post #93

cushychicken wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect targeted ads are a part of the phenomenon the article is talking about. Since targeted ads got so cheap, tiny little businesses could buy super targeted social media ads for less money than they could selling their products wholesale at a store. Net result is that they can flood social media with targeted ads for some geoarbitraged thing that tiny startup found on AliExpress decided to sell DTC, and end run…

Your argument breaks down as soon as there are economies of scale. Gillette can probably buy the same quality as Jeremy's at a better price, because they order larger bulk shipments. That means the new niche DTC companies will most likely be a worse value to consumers than the established big brands. Also, the article links to a study which found DTC to be 10% more expensive than traditional retail.

> That means the new niche DTC companies will most likely be a worse value to consumers than the established big brands

Umm, I bought a no-name (but Gillette-compatible!) razor last week while travelling due to having left my usual kit at home.

Having used the no-name one for a week, I can no longer see any reason to pay the extra for a razor brand ever again.

Re: Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

#107

Post by Eisenstein » Sat, Apr 08, 2023, 6:49 PM UTC

dukeofdoom wrote: post #91

hermitdev wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the case of a dishwasher, I wonder how much environmental regulations factor into that. Modern dishwashers use less water for a cycle, but they also do a poorer job of actually washing dishes. So, what do you do? Prewash? Run multiple times? It's also concerning that the regulations on dishwashers are going to get tighter yet in the US if the certain organizations get their wish. Likewise with toilets. Low flow to…

Just to add one more factor, what happens overtime in old toilets is that sediment stone develops on the inside, and causes enough friction for the toilet paper to catch and plug up. So you can probably except even shorter life span from the new toilets as they flush less water, so more likely for that stone to develop. So you're more likely to need to replace the toilet in the future. Also the flushing mechanism is…

> what happens overtime in old toilets is that sediment stone develops on the inside

An easy way to get rid of that is to go to the hardware store and get a jug of muriatic acid. Then research the hell out of how to use it safely before you even think of opening it. Then pour a bunch in your toilet.

Re: Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

#108

Post by Veserv » Sat, Apr 08, 2023, 6:51 PM UTC

spicyjpeg wrote: post #10

I consider this phenomenon part of what I like to call the "Amazon syndrome", even though Amazon is far from being the only culprit. As China started flooding the rest of the world with cheap but decent products mass-produced in a random factory in Shenzhen, people turned away from brands they used to trust and towards no-name options from the likes of "Kxbnheb" or "Ypknwoj" in order to save a buck. Eventually the bi…

One of the real problems is that essentially all advertising and marketing is a plague that is knowingly inflicting misleading information and insinuation on the public. It is not like they do not know how a ad will be interpreted, the entire game in almost every case is saying something that is technically correct but that the target audience will incorrectly interpret as better.

The standard of false advertising should not be: "There is at least one interpretation that is true." it should be: "Almost every member of the target audience will come to a correct understanding." If a company gets into a lawsuit and their lawyer defends the ad by saying, "Technically speaking, ..." they should lose. If a company can not accurately explain the nuances of the limitations of their product in a short time segment then they can just err on the side of caution instead of implying untrue statements.

This would absolutely devastate the bullshit advertising and branding that is used to prop up garbage products and make it easier to segment high quality products because it would be much harder for low quality competitors to make misleading me too statements without running afoul of false advertising.

Re: Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

#109

Post by ChrisMarshallNY » Sat, Apr 08, 2023, 6:57 PM UTC

> Specifically, stuff that's pushed to you via targeted ads costs an average of 10 percent more, and it significantly more likely to come from a vendor with a poor rating from the Better Business Bureau.

So, in other words, the venue that is being paid to present the advertisement makes money.

The advertiser makes money, too.

What's your point?

Re: Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

#110

Post by Matrixik » Sat, Apr 08, 2023, 6:59 PM UTC

germinalphrase wrote: post #19

sharkweek wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve got a take: I think the current gap in the market for a lot of product areas is “more expensive but high quality.” I desperately want to spend more money on a product that will stand the test of time but it’s so hard to find them at times. Sure there will always be a majority of shoppers who want the cheapest thing as fast as they can get it and they won’t mind if they have to buy 3 of them every year, but I thi…

“ I think the current gap in the market for a lot of product areas is “more expensive but high quality” Often those products do exist, but you need to become an “expert in X” to find them. Oh… you want to buy a high quality leather [whatever], better start learning about leather grades, leather tanneries, stitching thread, stitching types… so it doesn’t blow out in a year. Except we can’t all become experts in all pr…

Oh, with leather I consider it great luck that I started learning from someone that have a lot of years of experience. I'm an amateur and sew only for myself and family/friends.

Want really good and consistent quality vegetable tanned leather made in Poland? Then she said that there is basically one place (they produce it from over 110 years, and they are quite low in Google searches). Want chrome tanned leather with a lot of colors that are consistent and ALWAYS the same as on sampler? Also only one place.

I was later learning normal sewing with her mother. When asked about good quality cotton (or other natural) materials in small quantities she basically say: "well, it will be quite hard and when I want really good materials I order them straight from Italy, available only in wholesale quantities from few manufacturers that I veted over last 40 years". She later said that in textile industry you can't really trust anybody, because they can send you few batches of great quality and then suddenly lower quality and will be telling straight to your face that "quality was always like that"...