Style Poll: How far have you gone for a good deal?

“I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more.  Just to be the man… who walked 1000 miles to fall down at your door.”   – The Proclaimers

Horse apples.  That’s a booty call two time zones in the making if there ever was one.  At least “the man” in question certainly wants to do more than only fall down at the door.

Humans put forth effort when there’s a reward.  That’s especially true in the world of retail.  And there’s a direct relationship between the amount of effort given compared with the reward that is expected to be received:

Or, Action = R > E.  An over simplification for sure.

Say you see a nickel on the sidewalk (R = 1).  You’re in a rush to get somewhere.  So even though it would take but half a second to get that nickel, R < E.  No action is taken.  But say that nickel is a $10 bill, and now the reward bumps it into the green area.  Effort is a go and you pick it up.

Obvious?  Absolutely.  Often forgotten by those who are hoping to get someone to do something?  You bet.

In another life, your humble Dappered.com editor used to work for some radio stations.  The salespeople would line up a live broadcast at say, a car dealer, a gas station, or a cell phone store.  The DJ would go out and stand under a tent, broadcasting live for a few hours, and maybe an extra handful of listeners/potential customers would come by.  The sales person and client wouldn’t understand why there wasn’t a flood of people stampeding into the store.  The graph above could be summed up into two words of brutal honesty after the failed promotion:  “Would you?”
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Forget simply jumping through hoops.  Can you cannonball through them?

Many of you probably got the above email from Bonobos yesterday.  It’s instructions for how to get a 50% off code that can be applied to regular priced or on sale swimwear.  Yes the discount is great, but it’s limited to just swim suits.  And it’s almost August.  And you have to take a photo, upload it… you get the idea.

I know, I know…  #partypooper #overthinking #rainingontheparade

But even if you were in need of a swimsuit at this point in the summer, would you want to play along, in a very public manner, for the savings?  If any retailer can get their customers to do it, it’s Bonobos.  All credit to them.

Question:  What’s the most effort you’ve ever put forth to score a deal?  And was it worth it?  Ever crash the doors on black Friday?  Get yourself in one of those “last person with their hand on the car wins it” contests?  Or do you think all this stuff, especially with retailers now taking to social media, is too much and just not your thing?  Leave it below.

That is, if you feel that the R for your comment is > than the E required to leave it…  Oh boy…