Ebook pricing advice please

Hi Philip,

My opinion on pricing has gradually changed over time....

Two common business strategies are:

* High price, low volume
* Low price, high volume

I think you should decide which type of business you would prefer:

* A business where people pay MORE, but you have fewer customers to deal with (and they end up getting better service), or...

* A business where people pay less, but you have more customers to deal with, who may end up getting worse service (since you're spreading yourself more thinly)....

I like the first option better. I'd prefer to charge more, but offer more in return for it (to ensure I have happy customers).

I think the high price, low volume type of business is probably easier for the "small guy or gal" to succeed in as well. However, it depends on your product.... I think the more unique your product is - as long as that uniqueness is beneficial to the customer in some way - the easier it would be to succeed this way. If there are many others selling something similar to what you have, but they're selling it cheaper, then it's probably harder to survive....

If I were you, I would set a "high" price, but then also make sure that when people buy it, they feel that they are getting value. Add more products or extra service to what you offer to ensure that....

Well, there's my two cents.... I'm interested in knowing what others think about this topic too. (Feel free to disagree with me.)

- Dien Rice

P.S. Like many others here, I've learned from Bill Myers. He seems to be a big believer in the "high price, low volume" type of model...

One thing he seems to do is that the higher the price is which he charges for a product, the better the service is which the customer gets as part of the "package".

For example, he's selling some expensive software nowadays - Membergate. It was $30,000 (I'm not sure if it's still the same price). But for their money, in addition to the software, a company also got installation, and training for their staff on how to use it, plus one year of free support (if I remember right).

So, while companies did pay quite a price for the software, in reality they also got a lot in return. These companies felt that the software plus these extra additions was well worth the $30,000 they paid. The goal is to have happy customers, and make a profit too.