Buying Psychology: Understanding Why People Buy eBooks
Selling an eBook can potentially be a highly lucrative way to make money. In fact, there are many examples of people making thousands of dollars by selling digital products and even millions. In some cases an eBook can sell for over a hundred dollars and the cost for online seminars can soar into the thousands.
But when you really think about it, this makes very little sense.
Why would someone be willing to spend $30 or $100 on an eBook when that same information is most likely available online?
And why do people willingly pay for apps when they can relatively easily download them illegally?
Convenience and Delivery
One of the key benefits of buying a digital product through the legitimate channels is that it’s convenient. There’s no hunting around for anything and it’s far easier to learn to do something by reading one book as compared with reading up on lots of different websites.
Another key thing to consider is the delivery and the packaging. People are very rarely motivated by logic when it comes to buying and more often this will come down to an impulse decision based on emotion.
That’s why packaging your eBook nicely can make all the difference. That means paying a designer to create a striking cover and it means using beautiful images inside and excellent formatting. All this will make people really want your product and increases the desire greatly.
Trust and Authority
Another reason that people buy eBooks and apps is because of the relationship that they have with the creator.
We pay for apps because we want to support the developer. And that’s why we’re much more likely to download something illegally if we feel that the software is overpriced or if it comes from a large development studio rather than an individual or a small team.
As for eBooks, people are willing to pay for those rather than seek out the information themselves because they trust the author. In other words, they believe that the author knows what they’re talking about and can genuinely help to make their lives better. Compared with following the advice of a complete stranger on the web who they’ve never contacted before, this makes a lot more sense.
With all that in mind then, the best way to ensure your product sells is to:
- Create something that looks beautiful
- Price it right
- Demonstrate your expertise and knowledge in a free-to-access blog
- Make the whole process as convenient and easy for the buyer as possible
