Sales is a great idea for testing, but how do you make a sale to increase price? My current customers know the price. Word of mouth customers know it too.
For your scenario, you need to start at a higher price point, no?
Re:Ask HN: How do you set prices?
by hayksaakian on Friday March 10, 2017 @11:39PM
(#13844260)
'sales' is a really cool idea
i think someone else in the thread made a comment about 'pissing off' existing customers, but a 'sale' is the perfect solution.
Re:Ask HN: How do you set prices?
by lettergram on Friday March 10, 2017 @11:59PM
(#13844314)
Yup, you do sales with it listed like: ~$60~ now only $35!
Re:Ask HN: How do you set prices?
by gingerlime on Saturday March 11, 2017 @01:56AM
(#13844576)
That's a good approach overall. Thanks for sharing. There are a couple of problems with sales however:
1. In a way they address a different psychological need for people. It's about getting a good deal or a discount over the "normal" price, rather than considering the price itself... So you're testing different things that in some way conflict.
2. Over time, if people see there's always a sale, they might hold-off from buying?
3. It just gives a slightly "cheap" reputation (think shared hosting as a rather extreme example that comes to mind, or any site that always has tons of coupons on coupon-hunting sites).
After I get ~50 - ~300 users, I tell them I'm going to set pricing. I usually do this with a pop up or email. They then have a drop down with "how much would you be willing to pay monthly for this service"
Usually you get some range, say $5/month to $100/month. I usually pick one standard deviation above the average. So in this case, let's call that $60/month.
Then, I usually will A/B test pricing by changing it month by month with "sales" so my current customers don't get too angry.
I've done this three times on my products and several times for others. Thus far, it's worked very well. You don't always want to capture the most customers to make the most profit. This method has you start at the top of what people would be willing to pay and work down.
Plus, you start with a user base for free that share you with their friends. Seriously, this has been the best way to jump start the business.