member commitment

Terms that a new club member or a continuity member agrees to fulfill as a condition of membership, such as purchasing three books in two years; also called customer commitment, commit. This protects the marketer from losses incurred in selling the membership. For example, many book clubs will give new members three books for one dollar, at which point the new membership has cost the marketer the wholesale value of three books less one dollar. (Shipping and handling costs are typically paid by the new member.) The marketer begins to recover his costs and make a profit when the member purchases additional books at the full member price. See also book club; continuity; completed cancel.