It’s easy to miss a valuable idea in a fast-moving social media feed. To make things easy, I’ve gathered all of my pricing insights from my Substack Notes & LinkedIn posts over the past month right here in their original order.
(Note: What Substack calls a Note, LinkedIn calls a post. I share pretty much the exact same quick tips on both platforms.)
I now publish full articles only on Substack. If you subscribe to my free Pricing Pointers newsletter, these articles are sent directly to your email inbox so you never have to actually visit Substack to read them.
This is exactly why you might miss my “Notes,” as they only live on the Substack feed and are never emailed. That’s where this monthly Roundup comes in.
Stop capping your growth by offering only one price.
Give customers multiple ways to say yes to your offers.
Offering multiple prices increases both your sales volume and total profits.
❓Can you add a second price point to your main offer?
Breaking the "Buy-or-Don't-Buy" Constraint: The 8 Cornerstones of Differential Pricing
Build customer trust by making every discount an earned choice
Base your lower prices on buyer actions instead of who they are.
Buyers will feel better about your pricing when everyone has the same chance to save.
❓ Can you link your next discount to a specific customer action?
Is Differential Pricing Right for Your Small Business? 10 Things You Must Consider
Many small businesses fall prey to pervasive myths about pricing that hurt their sales and profits
How many of these common beliefs have been quietly shaping your pricing decisions?
Pricing should be based on the cost of the product
Every buyer is willing to pay the same price for the same product
You must choose between charging a higher price or selling more
Charging a single, uniform price maximizes sales and profits
Charging a lower price will always lead to an increase in sales volume.
❓Curious to learn more? Read my article.
Don’t overlook the ripple effects of a price change
Pricing decisions can have ripple effects across your entire product line.
Lowering the price of a product might increase its unit sales. But it might also decrease the sales of something else you sell. This happens when two products or services are used in place of one another.
And, at the same time, it might increase the sales of other things you sell. This happens when two products or services are used together.
All together, these ripple effects can either magnify or dampen the effects of a change in the price of one of your products or services.
There’s a masterclass in pricing strategy hiding in your local convenience store
It has to do with how they sell donuts.
The secret? Different buyers are willing to pay different prices for the same exact thing. Even stranger? The same buyer is willing to pay different prices for the same exact thing.
Examples of this are easy to find if you look around you.
Take my local convenience store: They sell donuts for $1.70 each or two for $3.00.
Notice that:
(1) Buyer A purchases a single donut for $1.70. Buyer B purchases two donuts for $3.00 total. That’s a price of $1.50 each. Buyers A and B are paying different prices for the same exact thing.
(2) Buyer B pays $1.70 for the first donut but only $1.30 for the second donut. Buyer B is paying different prices for the same exact thing.
Why not look at your current offer and ask yourself: “Am I pricing my product or service as if it has a single, fixed value? Or, am I giving different buyers different options to pay what it’s worth to them while keeping my margins healthy?”
Tired of haggling over price with your customers?
Turn your pricing into a self-selection system instead of a negotiation.
Build a price menu that requires clear trade-offs between what they pay and what they get in return. For example, they might sacrifice a faster turnaround time for a lower price.
When a customer picks your no-frills offer, they tell you they value price over maximum results.
When they buy your premium offer, they show you they value results or a great experience more.
And if they can’t decide between paying more or getting less?
Give them the opportunity to select something in between—not too basic and not too premium.
Stop guessing who needs a deal
Let your pricing structure do the work for you.
Instead of willy-nilly discounting, use a tiered price menu that incorporates price-value trade-offs.
When you offer options at different price points, customers reveal their own budget and willingness to pay through the offer they choose.
This self-sorting mechanism ensures you capture more profit while still serving price-sensitive buyers.
You can start with just two tiers.
For example,
𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝟭 (Off-Peak times): A lower price for budget-conscious buyers.
𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝟮 (Peak times): Full price for everyone else.
Have you tried a tiered price menu in your business, or are you still relying on across-the-board discounts?
Too much demand at some times and too little demand at others?
Analyze your demand patterns. Does it vary by time of day, day of the week, month of the year, etc.?
Raise prices during peak periods. This will moderate usage and capitalize on the willingness of less price-sensitive buyers to pay for prime time access.
Lower prices during off-peak times. This will shift demand to your slower periods and attract budget-conscious customers who are happy to plan their purchases in advance.
By analyzing your demand patterns and adjusting your prices based on when your product or service is used, you can improve both your bottom line and your capacity utilization.
Simplify choices to boost sales
Too many options can overwhelm buyers, leading to indecision and the fear of making the wrong purchase.
Here are two ways you can reduce confusion and make it easier for buyers to say yes.
1️⃣ Make it easier for buyers to select the right level of “quality” for their needs and budget. Use price points and descriptive labels that communicate a clear value hierarchy. E.g., Gold, Silver, Platinum.
2️⃣ Don’t just draw up a list of your products or services and leave it to buyers to figure out what they need. Create problem-solving packages or bundles of your products & services, clearly labeled to deliver a specific result.
Consider a lawn service company that leaves a flyer at your house with this: “We offer Core Aeration ($80), Overseeding ($120), and Dethatching ($150).” Some of us have to use Google to figure out what these even do!
Contrast that with: “Ugly Lawn Rescue Bundle ($330).” Hey, I got an ugly lawn! This is what I need.
💡 When buyers have to work to understand how to buy from you, they tend not to. Design your offerings so it becomes easy to make the right choice.
Most price discounts are just profit leaks in disguise. The best discounts aren’t given; they’re earned.
Most business owners think a discount is a tool to win business.
In reality, across-the-board price discounts are often just silent profit leaks.
When you offer discounts as a reflex, you are handing your margin to people who were perfectly willing to pay you full price.
To protect your bottom line, tie every lower price to a trade-off. A buyer should only get a lower price if they sacrifice something in return.
Examples include making a larger purchase, accepting a slower delivery, or choosing a no-frills version.
This trade-off acts as a natural filter, ensuring only truly price-sensitive customers opt for your deal.
What trade-off could you add to your next price discount to protect your margins?
Does your tiered pricing make these two mistakes?
If too many buyers are choosing your lowest price point, it usually comes down to one of two mistakes:
1️⃣ The contrast between your tiers is too blurry. If buyers can’t instantly see exactly what they sacrifice by downgrading, they tend to default to the cheaper option.
2️⃣ Downgrading feels too comfortable. You’re offering so much value at the lower price point, buyers don’t feel like they’re sacrificing anything by spending less.
💡Remember, your objective in designing your price tiers is to make downgrading feel like a major loss. Or, to put it another way, to make upgrading feel like the smart decision.
Ensure your premium tiers remain the clear choice for your best customers: protect high-end value.
Build deliberate value fences so your entry-level products and services focus on core needs.
Reserve peak performance, maximum ease and convenience, or an elevated experience for your higher tiers.
This prevents your most profitable customers from downgrading to a “good enough” tier that erodes your profit margin.
❓ Audit your product or service today: Is there a feature you can diminish or eliminate that premium buyers will notice but economy buyers won’t care about?
Not getting enough conversions?
Try this pricing approach.
Stop trying to find the one perfect price.
Value is subjective and changes based on context.
This means a single price is always too high for some and too low for others.
Start offering a range of options at different price points that reflect your customers’ unique perceptions of value.
Pricing tiers allow you to capture more profit by giving customers choices that fit their specific needs and budgets.
The "Perfect Price" is a Myth: Why You Need a Menu, Not a Number
Most small businesses leave half of their potential profit on the table
Here’s why:
Their pricing treats all of their customers the same.
When you charge the exact same price to every single buyer, for every single unit, you miss two profit opportunities:
The Underpriced: These are people who would have willingly paid you more if they had to. Your product or service delivers a great result or experience for them. But your price doesn’t reflect that, so you’re leaving money on the table.
The Priced Out: These are people who like your product or service, and you could still serve them profitably at a lower price point. However, your price is a bit too high for their budget, so you’re losing out on their business.
The fix is simple: forget about nudging your price higher or lower.
Instead, create a range of offers at different price points that will appeal to different segments.
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Want to create an enticing upgrade path?
Look at the elements of your core offer, and use the “More, Better, Different” framework to make them more valuable.
More: Increase the quantity of a core element.
Better: Increase the quality of a core element.
Different: Add another product or service that solves a related problem.
Used alone, or in combination, they help your customers find an option that matches their desired results and budget.
Which of these value levers—More, Better, or Different—could you apply to your core offer today?