"DM for price" is Killing Your Business

DM for prices illegal — DM for prices is annoying to consumers

Imagine walking into Shoprite, grabbing 4 bottles of coke, and being told to contact the manager for the price. You go to her office only to find that the cost is way more than your budget so you leave without buying anything.

You then go into Game Stores looking for a TV but the same thing happens. You have to jump hoops just for you to be told the price and if you’re really ‘lucky’ you find that the manager isn’t even available to attend to you.

Would you go back to the same shops if you had the option of buying from somewhere else? No. Don’t even think too hard. The answer is NO! You would take your business somewhere else.

This is exactly how I feel every time I see an advert for something I want but with no price. It’s like a wave of “DM for price” or “WhatsApp me for more details” amongst business. Oh my goodness. It makes me cringe. Like seriously, why should I send you a private message just to find out how much you’re selling that fake Gucci shirt?

The normal business etiquette demands that you display your product prices for potential customers to see. This applies to both online and brick and mortar stores.

What’s so hard with indicating the price? I don’t need to go through a complicated process – I’m not trying to buy nuclear weapons. What this tells me is you want to charge people different prices depending on whatever crazy reasons you have. And to me, that’s dodgy.

It’ is common knowledge that some of the people who do this are middlemen and they do this to try and make as much of a markup as possible – in that case, get your hustle on.

But if you’re selling your stuff then it’s best to be upfront about the price. It saves both you and your potential customers’ time. Let people weed themselves out before bothering you with a phone call or message you’re going to reply to 2 days later. Make your life easier.

Plus, people are generally lazy (yes, according to the survey I’ve done in my head) so you’re losing out on potential sales by not indicating the price. When someone posts an offer and asks me to contact them privately for the price I know that they are not ready for business. But this is just me hey.

I don’t know who came up with it but “DM for price” isn’t cool at all. Don’t just copy everything you see others doing.