How To Spot Infomercial Scams

Posted on by Forest in Saving Money & Finances

How To Spot Infomercial Scams – There are so many things being pushed to you on television and so many buy this minute or lose out options that it is very easy to be lured in and lose some cash on a dud product.

How To Spot Infomercial Scams

Infomercial’s, even for legit products, scam in a number of ways. As with avoiding all kinds of scams having a level of awareness is the first and foremost step to fighting back and avoiding getting duped yourself.

How To Spot Infomercial Scams

My number one rule is never buy on impulse from a commercial. In most cases you probably won’t want to buy from a commercial at all and will probably find the product in question in a store or even on Amazon at a cheaper price.

Is the pricing a good deal?

The commercials almost always try and lure you in with one-time offer, counting down timers and free gifts. Shipping costs are not always listed and some products even have recurring fees that will get charged to your cards. In these cases work out the full costs and read all the small details, know what you are being charged! A comparative research on the products price from a store or online can be easily worked out.

Does the product work?

Check online again for personal reviews and ask friends who may have picked up the product or something similar. Look at alternative options, for example say a pot cleaner says it wipes off grease in 40mins consider that washing up liquid may do the same job even if it happens to take 30mins longer. A lot of products over-claim so expect that a product will only do 50%-70% of what it claims as a due-caution.

Do you NEED the product?

The biggest thing they get you on is telling you how much you have missed this big thing in your life and how awesomely happy and knee deep in lovers it could make you! The thing is, often, you really don’t need these products. The 150,000 piece smoothie maker probably won’t be much better than your food processer. The mega mini vacuum probably won’t reach many more places than your hose on your current cleaner! You likely don’t need this product and it likely doesn’t perform as well as they claim?

Are the testimonies real?

Often actors are used to give product props. Read any small print on screen or at the end of a commercial plus any disclaimers about what people may be saying. Just like most people on TV in white coats are not doctors, many people claiming to be infomercial customers are not either!

Although these aspects are not scams as such some products out there are scams and are pushed by companies who are not going to be in business long. They may have repackaged some cheap product or be pushing something that costs literally pennies to make. Research and awareness will save you from this trap.

We have taken a look at some informercial scams and informercial products that do work in past articles.

I’d love to hear any tips and help you can give, especially if you have been scammed before.

Tags: infomercials, scams, tv scams