Google Glass! On sale! One day only! Just $1,500! Get ’em while they’re hot!
It looks as if Google is embracing a sales tactic that has been perfected by used-car dealers.
In a post on Google Plus, the company’s social network, Google said that it would sell the Google Glass augmented-reality glasses for one day only, starting at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
Google said it gets requests every day from people who want to become Glass Explorers, as first-generation Google Glass wearers are called. With Tuesday’s event, “any adult in the U.S. can become an Explorer,” the company said, though it also noted that “the number of spots available is limited.”
The one-day offering through the Google Glass website is designed to reach people who want to try the glasses but have been unable to get a pair.
As any good used-car seller knows, you have to promise customers something special to entice them even further. Google is choosing style as its sales tactic. “It now comes with your favorite shade or frame, thanks to feedback from our current Explorers,” the company wrote in the post. “The number of spots available is limited, so mark your calendar if you want to get in.”
In the comments section of the post, some people voiced their frustration with the price tag on Google Glass.
“Over the past several months, we’ve been trying out different ways to expand the Explorer program,” wrote Joe Betsill, a student at Northeastern University, quoting Google, then asked, “Did you consider lowering the price?”
Matt Conn also took a jab at the price in the comments. “Still $1,500?! You’re kidding me right,” he wrote. “Apple is right around the corner, and you’re not making this a loss-leader?”
“Ugh…. $1,500?” read another comment.
“Many people would like to try Glass, only a few are willing to pony up the $1,500 required,” another comment noted.
But Google seems confident that people can afford Google Glass at that price. In the post on Google Plus, the company said current Google Glass users include “moms, bakers, surgeons, rockers.” (Though it’s unclear what a “rocker” is.)
For those who seem hesitant, maybe Google can try another user-car sales tactic: dropping the price. Or a variation on what anyone who has purchased a car has heard, “What’s it going to take to get you in Google Glass today?”