In Brazil, books sold through vending machines at pay-what-you-want prices

Brazilian company 24x7 Cultural recently launched an initiative enabling customers to choose the price they want to pay for the books sold through its subway station vending machines.

We’ve seen pay-what-you-want pricing implemented in a variety of product categories, including restaurants, advertising services and hotels. Recently, however, we came across another new effort — Brazilian company 24×7 Cultural recently launched an initiative enabling customers to choose the price they want to pay for the books sold through its subway station vending machines. 24×7 Cultural has actually been selling books through vending machines for years already in São Paulo subway stations and other locations. Spanning a wide range of subjects and interest areas, books in the company’s vending machines are typically priced at BRL 5. In December, however, 24×7 began testing out a program whereby consumers can decide how much they want to pay for the books sold this way. The pilot began in the Anhangabaú and Trianon stations on the São Paulo Metro and will be expanded depending on its success, according to a report in PublishNews. The machines only accept notes as currency, and the smallest denomination commonly found in that form is worth BRL 2, PublishNews points out. According to Brazilian blogger Marcelo Duarte, sales at the promotional machines had already more than doubled within just over a month after the program’s launch, and most purchases are indeed paid with a BRL 2 note. Do consumers like to have it their own way? Without a doubt — and perhaps more in pricing than anywhere else. One for inspiration! Spotted by: Denise Kuperman