"xyz is worth the asking price ALONE!!"

[Shodan]

This is a funny little phrase that keeps on cropping up all over the place. You read a review on a book, or set of lecture notes, or a DVD, or an instant download...and in many instances you will get someone saying:

"wow...effect/technique/sleight/whatever XYZ is so good, it's worth the asking price of the product all by itself!"

Doesn't this strike anyone else as a little bit..odd? Is this over-enthusiasm on the part of the reviewer? Or possibly a public justification for forking out the asking price in the first place? Do we maybe feel a little guilty about spending money on these products, to the extent of announcing what an awesome bargain we actually ended up getting?

"Magic Consumer Subconscious Guilt" - symptom number one!

I wonder what other symptoms there are...

 

[Krash]

This is a funny little phrase that keeps on cropping up all over the place. You read a review on a book, or set of lecture notes, or a DVD, or an instant download...and in many instances you will get someone saying:

"wow...effect/technique/sleight/whatever XYZ is so good, it's worth the asking price of the product all by itself!"

Doesn't this strike anyone else as a little bit..odd? Is this over-enthusiasm on the part of the reviewer? Or possibly a public justification for forking out the asking price in the first place? Do we maybe feel a little guilty about spending money on these products, to the extent of announcing what an awesome bargain we actually ended up getting?

"Magic Consumer Subconscious Guilt" - symptom number one!

I wonder what other symptoms there are...

Okay, I do admit that most of us just have a bit of a high whenever we receive are packages in the mail that have our newest peice of magic inside.

But, basically, we mean that we agree with Dan and Dave Buck when they appeared on the intro video saying that while you can find most of the information you need on the internet finding GOOD information is (now for my phrasing) worth it's weight in gold.

So, if we say something like what you are describing in your post. We are just putting a red flag out to our friends here saying. "Hey! This product isn't a waste of money!"

Hopefully this is making sense.

Shane K.

 

[BlueBackedBikes]

I do believe that this phrase is thrown around too much. I've seen people say (about Elluisionist's How To Do Street Magic), "Trace Unseen is worth the price of the DVD alone!". No. Shut up. If they were offering that ONE trick for $50 and you bought it, you would not be happy with your purchase. It may be a good trick, but not worth $50.

Honestly, there is only one trick that I can think of that would truly be worth the cost of the entire book it was in. Actually, I probably would of paid double the cost of the book for that one trick and still be very happy with my purchase.

 

[buitenstaander]

We are just putting a red flag out to our friends here saying. "Hey! This product isn't a waste of money!"

Hopefully this is making sense.

Shane K.

Right! How many times do we purchase a trick to find out that the secret was just how we imagined. This has kept me from buying a lot of effects, because I figured it out beforehand. There are a lot of effects on the market that the secret is a pass, a double lift, a card cull, or any method of bringing the selected card to the top or bottom of the deck then performing a color change move to bring the card either to the spectator's hand or to the performers hand secretly in a palm to produce the card from most everwhere. When a review of a trick states that there is a new sleight introduced, then having that sleight added to my repertoire of sleights IS worth the money.. not only is it showing an application of the sleight, but I will be able to find other uses myself - which is worth MUCH more than just the one effect they are selling.

 

[y2john]

I don't think it's odd at all, if someone considers an item to be worth the overall cost on it's own then that's that.
I have felt this way before, not often, but there has been times where one item was worth the purchase price.

 

[Shodan]

I just find it to be an interesting quirk!

Oh, and Jazz Fusion from John G's Brainstorm DVD's...definitely worth the asking price just on it's own