That got your attention didn't it?

I followed the link to when I got an offer of a free listing at http://www.birthdaypartypro.com . When you get there you find out that this so called "free" listing will cost you $9.95!

http://www.birthdaypartypro.com/listing.html

Am I the only one getting annoyed with the way in which magic markets and using more and more dodgy spam techniqes to sell their wares?

I got that too, and what free listing? Oh there is a small set-up fee. To me it just makes the company look less credible.

Nothing is really for free is it?

"If the listing is FREE, why do I have to pay $9.95?
We charge $9.95 for two reasons:

"We have to pay our employees to set up your listing.
We want to make sure you are a serious performer. We don't want to advertise just any magician. While we understand that anyone with money can post a listing, we believe that the $9.95 setup fee WILL turn off a lot of "wannabes" and "tire kickers".

WHAT!? They charge for their free listing because they have overhead and they feel the listing will have more value if you pay for it?

Isn't that why anything costs money? Heck, groceries could be called free with that kind of logic - the food is free, but the stores have to pay their employees and overhead and feel they should make some profit from the "added value" they provide.

I think they may have misspelled their web address. It should be birthdaypartyPOO instead of pro.

Thanks,
Richard

Glad its not just me

$10 to be listed is small price to pay, it is free, no monthly fee like with their Standard or Elite listings. $10 and you are getting FREE leads for LIFE. Sounds like a good deal to me. How many other places can you advertise for $10 for the rest of your life?

But why do they call it a "Free Listing?" Just be honest and say, "Lifetime Listing for only $9.95." Then I wouldn't feel cheated when I responded to the ad. Incidently, though this is a small-time thing, they way they are advertising is technically illegal. It is not allowed to advertise anything as free when it has manditory costs associated with it. The law came from people feeling it was unethical for car dealers to advertise free vacations when you purchased a car and then adding money to the price of the car to cover the cost of the vacation.

Thanks,
Richard

I sent them a big email with lots of swear words saying that I am sending off their info to the false advertising claims department of America and their web server

But I don't think they care

Although I don't necessarily agree with Tim calling something "free", and then charging an administration fee, there is some misleading information in Nicholas' original post on this thread as well.

In the original e-mail from Tim (I got one, too), he stated within it that there was the small fee, even though it was a "free" listing.

I didn't have to click any links to find that out. (Although Nicholas implied that you had to click a link to find that out, and implied that Tim enticed him by using the word "free" and not making it clear FROM THE OUTSET that it wasn't actually "free".)

So, Tim stated outright in his ORIGINAL e-mail that there was a small administration fee, even though it was a "free" listing.

There was nothing misleading in the e-mail, saying it was a free listing with NO CATCHES, if you read the WHOLE THING.

Did any of you actually read the whole e-mail, before you set up your lynch mob?

Again, I don't take Tim's side, but I also am not happy that Nicholas didn't share the whole truth either. Two wrongs don't make a right.

- Donald

I agree with Donald, there was nothing misleading in the e-mail at all. I read it, and the email said, “there IS a small set up fee.” Yes the IS was in bold too, and it wasn’t hidden in the fine print.


Can’t understand why folks can’t just delete it if they’re not interested in it. That’s what I did.

No need to try and make a big deal out of nothing. If anything we should be thanking Tim for being honest up front.


Tom

Hey... what is common sense and sanity doing here? Donald, Tom... you have to leave now, no level headed thinking allowed! Hehehehehehe!























By the way… for those who didn’t GET IT, that was a JOKE!

Dean, you seen those ole western movies where they shoot the rope into just before they hang the wrong person. We just rode in to do that.


Tom

Sheez... I guess so!

THANKS!

Another success life saved by good people!

I've gone back and read the email again and there IS seven words near the end.

I read the word free (or F`R-E-E as written in the original so that my spam software wouldn't delete it) appears several times before the link is given.

And then we have the phrase "Also, there IS a small setup fee." tucked between several links.

This is DODGY marketing and the reason I mention it is because we are not selling *** enlargements, cheap drugs or cut price software. We are a small community and we should be mislead like this.

Here is the whole email....





Dear Nick,

I'm finally giving in.

I didn't want to do it, but they begged and pleaded and cajoled me into it.

So I'm offering F-R~E-E magician listings at birthdaypartypro.com.

I KNOW that you'd get FAR more bookings
and more benefit from the Standard and
Elite Packages - That's why we're still
offering them.

But we'll also offer this new f`ree package and see what happens.

To get your listing, visit:
http://www.birthdaypartypro.com/listing.html

REMEMBER: This is a line ad ONLY, and
you won't get any access to the Members
Site, Discussion Forum, or any of the
Downloads, Teleclasses, Products, etc.

Also, there IS a small setup fee.

For all the details and to get your listing:
http://www.birthdaypartypro.com/listing.html

Thanks,
Tim David
Founder, Birthday Party Pro





But if you, like me, believe this sort of marketing is crass, dishonest and beneath our industry then let Tim know.

If you don't agree that feel free to click and spend your 9.95. It might be a great service.

Nicholas I will agree, there is a lot of crap out there, and it is getting worst. I understand what you are saying, but to single out this email and call it that, I just can’t see it.




I just can’t see how this is all that misleading. How could he had been more honest.


For the record, I know nothing about Tim or the program.


Anyways, thanks for rereading it and posting the whole thing.


Tom

Re: Toms Quote

"I just can’t see how this is all that misleading. How could he had been more honest."

Let me fill you in. I know sometimes the english language can be confusing. I often have problems with it myself - I therefore resort to the good ole' dictionary.com- (I did not include all 19 definitions as they didn't apply - but..):

free - Pronunciation Key (fre_)
Costing nothing; gratuitous: a free meal.
Publicly supported: free education.

I further went and looked up the definitions of both "costing" and "nothing" just to be sure I was on the right track...

cost ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kôst)
n.
An amount paid or required in payment for a purchase; a price.
The expenditure of something, such as time or labor, necessary for the attainment of a goal: “Freedom to advocate unpopular causes does not require that such advocacy be without cost” (Milton Friedman).

noth·ing ( P ) Pronunciation Key (nthng)
pron.
No thing; not anything: The box contained nothing. I've heard nothing about it.
No part; no portion: Nothing remains of the old house but the cellar hole.
One of no consequence, significance, or interest: The new nonsmoking policy is nothing to me.

I couldn't find anywhere in those definitions where a $10 charge would fit in.

Is $10 NO THING, or No Part, or NOT ANYTHING? If so - please send me a lot of NOTHING in the mail so I can go on vacation - for free!

If the product is all whomever says it is (and I have no idea about it or the people involved) why not just say we have a KILLER product for you for ONLY $10! If I was in the party biz I'd probably be like SWEET $10 for ALL THAT!? Sign me up! But instead, it sounds kind of like he is playing off his customer base like dolts or something.

But hey - this is "magic showbiz" - right!? We lie for a living! Why not do it to ourselves!

Keith

P.S. - YES - this is jocose! Yet it is also the truth!

Imagine if you read an article where, for the first one hundred words or so, the author libel you and insulted you in every imaginable way. They accused of the most revolting and heinous acts.

However, after these one hundred words was a breif sentance saying "none of this IS true."

Would this be honest? Would this acceptable?

I looked around Tim's site. On top of the monthly fee for the regular member packages (two options, which include priority listings and other benefits), there is a one-time set up fee of $35.

For the free listing, you are listed for free, and the one-time set up fee is under $10.

Hardly a rip off for the set-up fee.

And the listing is free. He never said at any point that the set-up fee was free.

However, I have seen lots of ads on tv and in magazines for free diet pills, etc. But you do have to pay shipping and handling. Pay attention to the fine print.

I have seen ads for free cell phones, but you do have to pay a monthly service fee and sometimes a one-time set-up fee.

I know of a local electronics store giving away free soccer balls right now. Wait! You have to buy a tray pack of batteries.

This is hardly anything new or revolutionary.

BTW, it is interesting to note that I see no one commenting about how Tim got your e-mail addresses. (Hint - I bet that your "free" membership at the Café has a price.) No one is complaining that the Café isn't really "free" and without "cost".

It is also interesting to note that no one is hassling the magicians who do donated shows, but charge a small fee to cover gas and some expenses. They aren't really donating the show, are they? I have seen this discussed on many threads, without the slightest comment about it being "unethical" to charge the customer for a donated show.

- Donald

P.S. Nicholas, you never really apologized for misleading people with your statement in your first post.

Ladies and Gentleman...

My book, "The Festival Entertainer" is now FREE*!

*free + $45 to cover shipping and handling, and for the time it takes me to drive it to the post office.

And on another note - if you "donate a show" to a charity and then charge for gas - you're a cheap chump.

lol! Seriously guys! Are you actually READING what you are writing!?

Keith

BTW, I didn't say I did these things. I was saying they are out there. It's a part of everyday life all around us.

I made it clear earlier that it bothered me, but it also bothered me that Nick misled some people in his first statement.

With regards to Tim's e-mail. You don't have to click on the site, to find the condition of the free offer. That's a good thing. It would bother me MUCH MORE if he didn't tell you in the e-mail at all.

- Donald

P.S. Keith, you aren't allowed to advertise on the forums. Good thing you are giving away your book for f-r-e-e!

LOL!

Thanks Donald!

I didn't mean to imply YOU said it was OK about the charity thing. I'm sorry if it read that way. Not my intent.

And point taken about "up front-ness" of the "set-up charge" being stated clearly up front. But it does seem kinda - I dunno what the word is.. "Ookie".

Keith