Why Growing Bundles are AWESOME!

 

Have you ever seen a growing bundle and wondered what they are , how they work and if they are for you? Are you a seller wondering if you should be offering growing bundles? This blog post is for you!

Growing bundles may be the best kept secret on Teachers Pay Teachers. There are advantages for both buyers and sellers! Read on to see why Growing Bundles are so awesome!

For Buyers:

Sellers list items that are meant to be in a series but are not fully completed. This way the buyer gets to buy in at a lower price and the seller gets to pre-advertise their product. It’s a win-win for both!

Once the product is complete the price goes up but anyone that bought early gets to download each additional file for their original buy in price. This means you are getting those additional products for FREE! When I list my growing bundles I only have about half of the products listed and price it accordingly. For instance in my Animal Habitats growing bundle I know and promise that the final product will have 12 files. Right now it has 6. Each file is $2.00 so I have factored that into the buy in price. My 6 listed files would cost $12 if bought one by one but the bundle is listed at $8.50 right now giving more than 2 of the 6 files free on top of the files that are to be listed in the future.

If you are a buyer wondering if a growing bundle is for you I would say that if you look at the bundle and find that more than half of what is listed would be useful to you then go for it! Once bundles are complete they are generally about ⅓ less than the overall cost of each file alone. You will always pay less for the growing bundle than purchasing the files individually.

You want to buy in as close to the initial release as possible to get the lowest price. Even better if TpT is having a sale at that time to get you additional savings. After my initial release I will up the price every time I add a file so your best bet is not to wait for more files to be added.

What are the risks with growing bundles?

Seller doesn’t complete the bundle: I have never bought a bundle that didn’t get completed. I had one where the seller missed a promised date due to an emergency, she was so apologetic, offered a freebie to make up for it and had it out just as quickly as she could. From then on I decided to add a date range to my bundles in order to ensure I have more than enough time to complete without disappointing my customers. After all we are only human, I believe the majority of the TpT sellers have every intention to do right by their customers.

New files are not the same quality as the original ones or not as promised: I have not had this issue either but I can imagine it could happen. In this case I would contact the seller to let them know your issues and give them time to correct it. Leave feedback after contacting the seller to see if there was a mistake or anything they can do to correct the issue.

For Sellers:

Why would I want to give away so much for FREE? How does this benefit me as a seller?

1. More exposure for the products early and reviews that could lead to more sales.
2. Excellent value for other teachers means you are still supporting education and still making money.
3. Growing your audience and encouraging more followers.

Buyers are looking for value, remember you are selling to other teachers who are often spending their own money. If you are like me you want to continue to support education even if you are not in the classroom any longer. By giving such incredible value, even when the bundle is complete you are saying, "My products are here to save you time and money." Which we know teachers value.

I do my best to give a timeline for completion so that buyers can plan for the upcoming activities. I also list what those items will be for the same reason. It is only fair to give as much information as possible for buyers to help them decide if the bundle is right for them. Buyers don’t want to waste their money and sellers don’t want bad reviews, so again, a win-win in my book.

If later I choose to add more files than I listed I will change the description and thumbnails to reflect the change. I never take a file out of the bundle, even if I decide to update the files. I will leave the original so the buyer can then print out any matching items they need.

I now add a bonus file to each bundle as a little surprise and place advertisements and links to my store, blog and other products that the buyer might be interested in. I am in the process of going back to my completed bundles and adding a bonus to each of them. I think my sellers will enjoy hearing that something has been added to their file and it reminds them of who I am and what my products have to offer. It might just get them to revisit my store or blog.

I have bought some growing bundles that sellers have put surprises in. It adds a bit of value and creates a better connection with buyers.

I have had great success with the growing bundles and completed bundles throughout this blog post. Each time I sold quite a few before they were complete. I have started grouping like products together that are already in my store to give teachers even more value. I am finding that I am making more from my bundles then from my individual products.

As a buyer or a seller growing bundles and completed bundles are a great way to encourage more sales, attract more buyers and encourage repeat buyers. I hope this post is useful to you and encourages you to take a look at growing bundles!

Happy Teaching,

Christine