Losing money is a good strategy

Today I bought a $20 sofa at IKEA.  The sofa is worth $300, so IKEA is losing money.  I’m so proud of my cleverness, deceiving IKEA into selling me such a large sofa at less than their cost.


The sofa required legs of course, which were an additional $20.  No problem, because $40 is below the manufacturing cost.  Also, the sofa requires a cover, which costs $250.  And I needed to transport it.  And pay interest to the credit card company.  So I only paid $350 for a $300 sofa.

Giving away your art for free is a stupid idea.  But selling it for an alluring price, with necessary but expensive add-ons, can sometimes be a good strategy.

Amazon sold kindle devices at a discount until their ebook format became a way of life for people like me.  Now I frequently buy ebooks.

Does your career have a device or institution or element which could tie customers to you?

Published by Brock Stout, PhD


One thought on “Losing money is a good strategy

  1. Update: the box contains a completely different product, and did not contain all of the parts for that product, so it is worthless. Should I spend two hours in line (plus 10 hours in driving) to return the item?


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