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RE: ⚠️ Rip-Off Alert ⚠️ @jerrybanfield Is At It Again To Rip People Off
That seems like a lot of money to have an account created. Wouldn't that put people off Steemit? Surprised people would actually pay for that! On the other hand, he does spend a lot of money on Facebook ads promoting Steemit. Maybe he doesn't see what he's doing as a rip off? Who knows, I could swear he's already making a packet though? Hmmm
Not many users are aware of the alternatives ways to create accounts, he's capitalizing on that to swindle them.
"he's capitalizing on that to swindle them."
You are assuming intent. He could've just done something rather ignorant.
Does the prosecution have evidence to offer?
He 'capitalized' on the fact that top 20 witnesses 'make money', so he could sell his $180 courses, and he pushed on that a lot in the past, in posts and youtube videos. I see he was trying the exact same thing here, but he got caught very early this time, and I felt it must be stopped.
I can't argue that this was also a dumb plan. Maybe it was malicious. I can't really speak to that one.
I think it's a different situation however.
You could also say he's simply a better marketer. He's filling market demand, either created by himself or by a network that's doing a lousy job at closing deals.
Sure, 50 bucks is... pricey... But if that means one more satisfied customer, maybe it's not as bad as it could be.
Let's hope Steemit Inc and others here learn the lesson instead so we can get the products to customer better.
I agree with this, as long as he mentions the fact that there are other cheaper alternatives. Then people can choose what they want. If some, fully informed are willing to pay that much for this service, then ... why not ?
Many people are not technically inclined. The people he is suckering is your grandfather for example. Do you think this is morally correct, even if your argument is sound logically
"Then people can choose what they want. If some, fully informed are willing to pay that much for this service"
Well...
"Do you think this is morally correct"
Yes. Could it be any more obvious that it is?
(Doesn't make it not stupid, fyi.)
So this is moral and the grandpa is stupid. The not tech-savvy are ignorant, not stupid. Taking advantage of someone because of their ignorance is morally wrong in my opinion.
Lets make a more clear cut example. Ripping an old person off by charging him 5x the market price of medicine because he does not know any better, he can't 'google'
You're being disingenuous.
He can't be both:
" the grandpa, not tech-savvy are ignorant "
and
"fully informed"
Do you see the problem?
I said I think FULLY INFORMED customers are willing to pay that much, then it is not immoral.
I don't think this service would have had (hardly?) any fully informed customers. So it was a dumb plan.
" because he does not know any better, he can't 'google'"
This person would not qualify as "fully-informed", and thus, has no bearing on my comment or on this discussion.
PS - Again, I think this service was a very dumb idea. But not a scam. Just dumb and a PR nightmare.
Dump?
If Jerry can do such a dump act twice, then he is not trust worthy either.
So, whether the act was unintentional and dump or intentional and malicious, this person is to be questioned and not fully trusted.
Why do we keep supporting the stupid and unhelpful above the smart and helpful?
Not quite sure how I am being insincere or not candid, but I agree the service was a bad idea. Individuals can only decide for themselves what they perceive his intent to be
Thank you @boontjie. "FULLY INFORMED customers" would never pay $50 for something they could get for free!
yep
How "satisfied" would they have been when they found out they had been ripped-off?
You mean once they realized they paid above the average market price for the product? It would depend on how highly they valued access to the network.
If someone does really well at marketing it, I don't think a higher price is necessarily a bad thing. In the long run of course, that's probably not gonna work to bring in ordinary users. In other words, it would be a short term strategy in the case of Steem.
In this particular case, Jerry is obviously doing a lot for the network already and without selling accounts on the side. Apparently he thinks this is still worth it and once he realized how high above others he had priced his product he even decided that it would be best to withdraw it entirely.
What I wish he would do now is to consider partnering up with those already existing services, or if he has better ideas, pursuit those.
Mrs. Banfield?
He thought he could rip people off before they were any the wiser - period!
Once he was told to, he withdrew the product. I don't care either way. It's not as bad as you are trying to make it sound. It wouldn't be even if his reason for withdrawing it was false, which would obviously still be bad.
That speaks volumes for me. However, it was the fact that he knew beforehand that it was possible to get an account created for nearly free, or TOTALLY free (as I did). I also suspect that if the money was rolling in at $50 a pop for account creation, he'd be gladly accepting it. That's extremely sleazy, but that's just my opinion, of course. We all have a different set of values. Some call it marketing, I call it being a con-man.
If you watched his 'apology video,' he laughed when he started naming all the sites that he's banned from. There's just something shady there. Again, just my opinion.
This is definitely one of those, 'agree to disagree' situations.
Have a good one.
I'm not saying he's a good person. I don't know the guy.
Be well.
@the-ego-is-you his marketing is just like the dollar vigilante's: "look at me, I made $X,000 on my first day/week on steemit" "don't you want to too?!"
What is implied is that you, jane/joe ordinary, can just blog and get rich on steemit. This is disengenuous.
It may draw in 10,000's, but I think leaves 9,000 leaving with a bad taste in their mouth.
It would be better to get 500 or 2000 realist to join and stick it out, than 10,000 that will mostly leave.
And steemit.inc doesnt get it either...with their "Steemit=Money" banner right now. But I digress
I came to Steemit via YouTube after seeing bothe thedollarvielante and jerry's videos. 2 days after arriving at steemit I have not once read another of their Posts or watched their youtube videos because I found their marketing to be misleading and harmful. Just my 2c
To that extent, I do agree that these are not good methods. I've said it before myself, many times. I'd like to see someone else try their hand at it though.
There's a sucker born every minute and Jerry is smiling about it.