If it wasn't, it should have been. In this blog, i want to detail what I experienced because it could be a very niche, long tail type, marketing tactic. On the 23rd, I saw an ad for a $300 brand new MacBook Air. My trusting Catholic nature holds out 70% hope that it was a legit offer that I just missed out on.
True story. I love Macs. Actually, I love Commodore Amigas but that battle was lost over 15 years ago. Recently, my family computing backbone took a hit when my iMac 17" G5 passed away. It had survived a power supply transplant but died seven months later for good. That left me with my Macbook and a Mac Mini I had purchased mid year. With 3 geeky daughters who are all Mac/Internet literate, I often find myself without a Mac to use. Plans are to buy a fully loaded iMac in March when my company bonus comes in. In the mean time, I have added to my weekly human internet surfing routine an activity to scan craigslist philadelphia for Intel based iMacs and MacBooks.
In my past scannings, I noticed some patterns of folks who would be selling Intel based computers hacked to run Mac OS for a slight margin on the cost of the PC. Others were selling older technology Mac models. Others were selling more recent models but needed the money - i.e. students. I have not yet bought anything from Craigslist but have heard people with good experiences. I've also heard stories of people having anxiety when going for the pick up having in the back of their mind a Craigslist killer or scam based scenario. You get to see certain patterns and forms opinions as to which ones are legit.
Christmas Time Urgency
If you hadn't noticed from going to the local malls or strip malls, the day before Christmas is crazy and the prices are not really all that great. Well, I bet that pushes a whole lot of people to scan online for bargains. I bet it creates a great urgency for people who are hardwired by our culture to respond.
The Bait
So I find this Craigslist ad for a $300 MacBook air. It looks legit. The guy won the thing but doesn't like Macs. He'd rather have quick money and you can pick the computer up in Philadelphia. MacBook Airs go for $1499 on the Apple website. It's a too good to be true 500% discount over retail. I did what any good American would do.
The Switch
The next day, I receive a response back from a real guy. You can read the response below and judge for yourself. Notice the redirection to a website that collects my email with the promise of winning a computer. They guy already had my email but of course it's important to redirect to a site that has an email collection / submit button that can prove I submitted something with the express written consent for receiving all sorts of additional spam. Here's the response.
Hey what's up, I got hit with tons of replies and the computer's gone...sorry The guy is on his way over to get it now, Sorry... I'm telling you what I've been telling everyone else... I know it's not gonna help you out for x-mas but...if ya can get a free computer out of it who cares right, I won it online a couple weeks ago, they might still be running it, I don't know...you'd have to check it out It was some kind of market research thing or something and...all I know is I put my an email in and some shipping info, and when I got home from work 2 weeks ago, there was a Fed-Ex Box on my doorstep, and there it was in the box. Check it out if you want, that's all I can tell ya... It might be worth a look...It's up to you. http://www.mytrax.info/tracking202/redirect/dl.php?t202id=278&t202kw= Good Luck and Happy Holidays,XXXX
The Cleanup
The ad was removed from Craigslist so I couldn't show you the original. It fits every pattern of being legitamate. I even have the guys email address and it looks normal. If any of my friends don't know, one of my side committments is to help my friend Sushant as COO of 3Touchpoints.com. I'll have to add this one to our advanced 3Touchpoints.Com playbook of things we might help web marketing agencies test and measure - a real looking, niche based, long tail themed, holiday timed marketing campaign.
