You may have encountered a lot of online businesses offering this packaging model in recent months. The reason is because it has been proven to boost sales rates by as much as 1600% using a well-planned, well-timed approach that would have people talking.

We are talking about fire sales, of course, and the sheer prowess they wield can spell the difference between sales at pathetic levels and sales with blistering hot success.

But what are fire sales and how, exactly, can they benefit your online business?

Simply put, fire sales make good use of the panic trigger. The panic trigger is a psychological marketing component that makes your prospects feel alarmed if they do not purchase your product or package at the soonest possible time. This is accomplished quite simply. By running an offer for a limited period of time, for example, at a price that is greatly lower than normal, youll have people scampering to place an order. Its urgency marketing at work. A sense of urgency, after all, is a great way to call your prospects into action.

There are many kinds of fire sales which you could run.

Basic Fire Sale

The basic model calls for an offer involving your product, packaged with amazing bonuses which you could gather from JV partners, and promoting the same for a low, low price for only a certain period of time. You need to include a warning that your prospects will never be able to purchase the very same product again after the said period has elapsed.

This would most certainly encourage them to act and act fast. They wouldnt want to miss out on the very limited offer. They wouldnt want to let the bargain pass them by.

This model is also called as a onetime offer (OTO) or a special offer.

Dynamic Pricing Model

Dynamic pricing simply means that you will be selling your product or package for a low price, initially, and you will be increasing the same by stated increments after the lapse of a certain period.

A product or package that originally sells for $47, for example, can be sold for as low as $15 using this model, with the warning that after 5 days, or after 20 people have purchased the same, the price would increase by $5. The process would continue until the price settles at its original selling rate.

Again youd be able to generate urgency to ensure a lot of purchases during the earlier stages of your offer.

The Offer To Collate Approach

There are some marketers who have fire sales planned out even before they offer their individual products. This approach is risky, but it can pay off if you manage to calculate and minimize the dangers.

This approach consists of offering individual products to the members of their mailing lists at a rather steep price. Their aim is not to bag a sale, but to create the impression that such products are indeed very valuable.

Once a certain number of products have been promoted this way, theyd collate all of them into one package and offer a fire sale. The immediate impression about the fire sale would be outstanding. The prospects have been conditioned to believe that each component of the package have a very high value, and that the fire sale is indeed a bargain that should not be missed.

Ethical Considerations When It Comes To Fire Sales

Of course, youd have to value the trust of your customers so that theyd order from you again. This is the reason why fire sales should be carried out with a great deal of ethical considerations. Do keep in mind the following guidelines:

* If you say that the same package wont be offered again, you have to mean it.

* If you say that the same package will be offered to only a certain number of people, you have to remain true to such words.

* Exaggerating a products value is an expected, and accepted, marketing practice. But gross exaggeration (i.e. assigning a $500 value to a $5 product) would be too much.

A perfectly ethical fire sale campaign will not only ensure immediate sales, but sustainable success as well.