Risk and fraud
Bait and switch
Last updated by The PanelCompare editorial team
Why does bait and switch matter to a buyer?
It works because of the wallet model rather than in spite of it. The decision to deposit is made against one number, and the money becomes non-refundable store credit before the number is tested. Once the balance is in, the cost of walking away is the whole deposit, which is exactly the leverage the tactic is built on. Depositing the price of one order rather than a bonus tier neutralises most of it.
It is worth distinguishing from an ordinary loss-leader, which is a real price on a real row that the panel genuinely honours in order to win “cheapest panel” searches. The loss-leader is a marketing choice you can exploit by buying only that row. The bait and switch is a row that cannot be bought at all, and the difference is testable in one minimum-size order before any larger deposit.
How does bait and switch show up in a price list?
The pattern is one or two rows dramatically below every neighbour on the most commoditised metrics, which then return “service disabled” or an error at order time while the rest of the catalogue sits at or above median.
A related version is a rate that is real but gated behind a minimum order far larger than the advertised entry point, which is a volume ladder presented as a headline price.
Think this definition is wrong?
Terminology in this market is set by the panels that use it, and it moves. If a panel uses bait and switch to mean something other than what is written here, send us the listing and we will either correct the definition or record the variant. The process is on the about page.