Price Points: $47 … $67 … $97
Have you noticed the pricing of so many eBooks are $47, $67, $97 and so on. Why is that?
I guess it basically comes down to how any standard becomes the … standard. As with any product or service, many price points are tried and tested and once accepted they’re pushed hard onto the consumer. It eventually builds on itself and sure enough it becomes the standard by which everybody goes by.
Pricing the eBook was tried at various price points and for some reason these figures caught on. We’ve become conditioned into accepting such prices. In fact, when I come across one of those longish sales letter websites if I don’t see one of these prices my mind perks up straight away. And that should not be the case.
Personally, I think these price points are tired. They have been around for a number of years and with customers being more internet and marketing savvy the first reaction of many would be “oh, another one of those $47, $67, $97 product”.
But why not change that mindset with your information product? Start a new pricing point. One that is fair and affordable. Hey, it might even set you apart!
An example would be a 200-page ebook on a niche topic. Now unless it has some massive inside secret or is extremely timely then it really should not be selling for more than $19.95 to $29.95 - anything more and it becomes just a money grab in my opinion.
Obviously, for other eProducts that include audio and video and other special features you’d have to take that into account. The perceived value is really there in those instances.
Now let’s look at some hypothetical eProduct examples and see how I’d price them:
- a 200-page eBook delivered via PDF ($19.95 - 29.95)
- a 2-hour audio product (delivered electronically) ($39.95)
- a 2-hour video product (delivered electronically) ($59.95)
But at the end of the day, it’s what the market is willing to pay and quite often it’s the perceived value of a product that sets the price - price it too low and the perception could be of poor quality. If you’ve built up some decent credibility along the way in your field of expertize then you are entitled to get a premium for your thoughts and ideas. That’s fair enough. But don’t go overboard and get greedy would be my advice.
But the natural tendency for the majority of (usually unknown) eBook publishers is to try and get the most out of each sale. Good for you if you have hit on an amazing idea and want to be a one-hit wonder and then get out.
But from a information publisher such as myself who wants to be in it for the long term, this is the first step (going against the pricing norm) in showing your potential customers that you are a serious information publisher and not just after the quick money.
I’m looking at producing and selling 10, 20, 30 new eProducts over the long term and my main goal is to sell more than one eProduct (and hopefully many more) to each customer.
What’s your view on pricing points? On pricing on perceived value?
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Further Reading:
- Price points at Wikipedia
- Psychological pricing at Wikipedia
10 Responses to “Price Points: $47 … $67 … $97”
By HART (1-800-HART) on Jun 4, 2006 | Reply
I’m of the same view too .. anything with $47, $67 or $97 seems to be from another clickbank affiliate, and not the original source, so the stuff must be outdated. Personally, I’ve always thought that $9.99 should be the high point and I’ve never purchased any E-book over $4.99 USD. I’m one of those people who would Luv to figure out how to sell “A million copies” of something, for $1.00
By Mike on Jun 4, 2006 | Reply
I’ll have to be the voice that somewhat disagrees here, Martin.
You’d be surprised how people will buy a product more readily at a higher price and not at a lower price. Perceived value is a real, tangible part of the sales equation.
Also, the less somebody pays for a product, the more they complain and the more they return.
Lowewr prices bring in the tirekickers and those that buy and return within 30 minutes.
The 7 at the end of the price came from ” Pricing Psychology Report “. 7 sells more than other numbers.
That eBook is available on Clickbank, I have it. I’ll not include an aff link, but you can find it by searching pricing on their site
Personally, I’d rather sell 500 copies of an eBook at $67, than 1000 copies at $19.99. Fewer customer service issues, by far, and more profit.
It’s not the size or format of the eBook that determines the value, it’s the knowledge that it imparts, the problem it solves or the solution it provides.
You’re right that there is room out there for eBooks priced between $9.97 and $19.97, but after you do this for a while, you’ll want to include audio or Camtasia videos and raise the value to $27 - $67.
I had multiple sales this week on a golf eBook priced at $37. My cut is about $18.27 and the aff who sold it made the same. If I’d priced it at $19.97, we’d have made less than $9 apiece.
No affiliates really want to promote eBooks for you for that little.
Also, at $37, I’ve never had a return.
Just my 2 cents here….I agree with a lot of what you wrote, but without affiliates helping you sell, you’ll not sell near as many.
By Melonie K. Murray (SmallBizMentor.com) on Jun 5, 2006 | Reply
These are excellent points on both sides of the “fence”. I agree with you, Martin, that the perceived value has to be there; usually mid-range prices denote more quality while still appearing affordable, whereas going too low can imply a “cheap” product. (I’ve seen this time and again in regular brick-and-mortar retail situations.) It’s a fine line, because going too high does bring out the urge in me to scoff and say, “They want HOW MUCH for that?”
On the flip side, Mike’s got excellent points too…especially on the affiliate portion. The folks I know who are heavily into affiliate marketing (mostly homeschool moms like myself, but they are usually not working in addition to the affiliate attempts) want to bring in as much per sale as humanly possible. I’ve seen them jump all over eBooks where they get 66% of the sale…not realizing that the product was only $12.95 to start with. Others would rather go with one or two sales making “less” in percentage but more dollar-wise because of a higher priced product.
It’s all very interesting to me as I try to pull together my first eBook project. The others I’ve been involved with I contributed to and edited, but had a professional who was employed by the company to build it and make it “purty”. I’ve had pricing floating around in the back of my mind as I sat here trying to figure out all the technical issues…this discussion is a huge help!
By Martin Neumann on Jun 5, 2006 | Reply
Hart - Yep, if we’re talking about perceptions then I think those pricing points are starting to get tired but I notice Mike and Melonie above have chipped in (cool!).
a million copies at $1, eh - what about 100,000 copies at $10 or 21,276 copies at $47 - we all come to the same amount: $1m
By Martin Neumann on Jun 5, 2006 | Reply
Mike Firstly (and to all actually) please disagree. I want your point of view, even call me out for being wrong or offer an differing opinion. This blog will thrive in it.
I’m far from saying I’m THE expert - I’m just in the industry, love the whole business of it and offer up my opinions. And I expect to learn more in the comments from fellow travellers. :-)
And Mike … thanks! Reading over your comments a few times I’ve come up with 4-5 potential post ideas already.
Now …
100% in agreement with you on the perceived value, the tirekickers.
I’ve read up on the 7 psychology thing - and please, include your affiliate link here if you like (I don’t mind it if it brings value to the conversation).
I’m working on a post on this very issue and it’s amazing how much of an art pricing can be.
It’s not the size or format of the eBook that determines the value, it’s the knowledge that it imparts, the problem it solves or the solution it provides.
Very, very true. That’s why I like to call ourselves information providers or information publishers rather than writers or authors.
The idea behind why eBooks (and other eProducts) work is that they offer up timely, very focused answers to needs and wants to a niche audience - something the tradtional book publishers can’t do.
The issue of selling less copies at higher prices is where we can debate a little.
My ultimate goal as an information publisher is to sell every new product I create to the one customer - in other words, create a fan base - the returning customer who buys everything I produce.
If that means a lower price to “get them in the club” then I believe it’s a good way to build about a mass.
Obviousy from there the audio and Camtasia stuff is where you’ll get the best margins. And as your star rises you can charge more simply because of your name.
Also, if set up properly, in this day and age of automation it shouldn’t be too difficult to deal with 1000+ customers.
On some consutling gigs I’ve done I spent more time pre-planning the whole sales and customer service setup (after sales) than creating the actual product. There’s just so many ways to automate things these days (guess what: the topic of automation is on the cards for various posts here).
The Affiliate equation - that was my screw up. I approached this post without thinking about this aspect. I know from first hand experience that selling through an affiliate channel is no doubt the number one way to bring in the sales.
I guess the theme of my post was very simple: that the perception of the $47, $67 etc proced product may have passed its time.
By Martin Neumann on Jun 5, 2006 | Reply
Melonie - spot on … it’s a fine line with pricing and balancing the affiliate role.
Too low - and it’s perceived as being “too cheap to be any good”
Too high - and “are they kidding!!!”
Then you want to make your affiliates happy with a decent return.
But number one is getting the sale in the first place. If the perceived value and price don’t match then no one gets anything.
It’s a balancing act, isn’t it. When I figure it out I’ll let you all know :-)
By HART (1-800-HART) on Jun 6, 2006 | Reply
Well, Mike is certainly correct about the tirekickers. It’s the same with the accounting and income tax business. The ‘good clients’ are the ones that are more appreciative about the service don’t argue price, and utilize the advice better. The ‘tirekickers’ always want a cheaper price, and more service and, mostly will want to pay you for last year - when it’s time to do this year.
That’s why I prefer the low low E-Book price .. when I buy an E-book for $1.00 I would have to think I’m a total idiot to ask for a refund. A large cup of coffee at Tim Hortons is $1.65.
By HART (1-800-HART) on Jun 6, 2006 | Reply
PS: from a buyer’s point of view .. I keep remnants like ‘loose change’ in my paypal account so it’s easy to spend smaller amounts. When it accumulates, I transfer into a local bank account. If there’s nothing in paypal, and I buy something - paypal pulls the money out of my bank account. My wife opens the mail sometimes :) Another reason why I don’t buy large ticket item E-books.
By Brandon on Jun 10, 2006 | Reply
There’s another thought here, too. Your ebook could be one product in your “catalog.” It’s priced on the lower end of the ladder, serving as a standalone product and an entry point, pulling customers in who might be interested in your more expensive products.
You see this all the time online.
Price too low, you’ve got all the problems noted by other commentors. Price too high, they’ll never consider your other products because it took much of a decision just to buy this one.
By Martin Neumann on Jun 12, 2006 | Reply
Hart … same here, I leave some coin around in my personal PayPal account for little purchases.
Your wife and my wife should meet up - “not another $47 ebook” is all too common. :-)
Brandon - very, very common and a smart move. I like that sort of way of doing it: a low entry point product and up-sell.
But what’s a good price for say a 60-page entry point product? $5, $10, $20?
You’d of course be developing and packaging it as a high-priced product (to show yourself off) but at what point is it too low and too high.
I’ve had success at $19.95 and $24.95 for such products.
Below $10 has not worked for me.
It also depends on how much your big ticket items go for. Let’s say it’s for $295. A potential buyer might think too high for me right now on something unknown but the entry point product on the same theme is going for $19.95 and it’s hmmm….
What I would never do though, is give away an entry point product today. Those days have long passed and they don’t have the same effect.