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Do you want to save thousands of dollars on facials and costly visits to skin care specialists?

Reduce the look of puffy cheeks and nasal lines? Well, Cheryl did and she's 58.

That's the pitch for the Dermawand, a handheld radio frequency transmitter that is being hawked on U.S. television stations via the well-known infomercial.

And thanks to the magic of disclosure regulations, the publicly traded infomercial company International Commercial Television has published an amazing glimpse into the cash-hungry commercial world:

– The company filmed a 30-minute spot hosted by Lisa Varga, who won something called the 2011 Movieville International Film Festival Best Actress of the Year award. Her bio says she also appeared in something that was eventually released via DVD, and that she has three cats (there's little doubt she's lying, as they feature prominently on her home page).

– The commercial was aired for 12 weeks in a row, which cost $312,000 on stations such as Lifetime, E!, TV Guide, A&E and the Food Network.

– The $312,000 in media spending generated $698,000 in television-related sales. Another $200,000 of sales took place on the product's website, and about $60,000 at Amazon.com.

– Via a calculator, it can be determined that the infomercial led to $958,000 in sales. Via the same calculator, we learn that means there was $646,000 in revenue generated.

– Forty five per cent of those who bought the product paid their $120 in full, 25 per cent opted to pay in full 30 days after shipping. The rest? Presumably they plan to pay in full once their faces are nice and tight, thank you very much.

– Ah, but not everyone was happy. The initial return rate was 17 per cent, but the company thinks it has it under control. How? Better customer service, it says. But, it has also added a $10 handling charge for anyone who decides beaming radio waves at their face isn't for them.

– Even so, that 17 per cent means they only earned $795,140. So, $483,140 in revenue was generated on their $312,000 investment.

The performance may not have made kabillionaires out of everyone involved, but the company said the rate of return was enough to justify "major U.S. retail placement in late 2012 or early 2013."

That means you can get in now as an early adopter, provided you have a U.S. shipping address and the desire to point radio signals at your wrinkles. For those more thrifty consumers, they may want to experiment by pushing their faces up to their car radio for a few hours each day.

It probably won't work, but at least you will save yourself the $10 handling charge.

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Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 8:39am EDT.

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