How To Sell An Ebook For $2,995

[Jay Jennings]

Want to know how to sell an ebook for thousands of dollars?

Here's the flip (but correct) answer...

Make it worth thousands of dollars.

Want to see a 39-page ebook that sells for $995? That's $25 per page! Check out this site: https://store.cmpgame.com/category/64/Research

On that site are ebooks for sale from a "low" of $995 all the way up to $2,995. And I'll bet you the people who buy them are glad to pay for the information in them.

Most people think of "high ticket products" as big courses with DVDs and 3-ring binders full of information -- it has to have that "THUD" when the box hits your doorstep, doesn't it?

But this is an example of a high-ticket product that doesn't require inventory, shipping, or anything other than a download link.

The next time you're thinking of making an ebook, try and come up with some ideas that will put you on a plane above all the $27 and $47 ebooks. There's information out there that people will pay THOUSANDS of dollars to access.

And if you look at that page you'll notice most of the products were created by surveying a group of people and collating their answers.

The "author" of the reports wasn't even an expert, just an asker of questions!

Just some food for thought.

Jay Jennings

[LF09]

Jay, thanks for the reply. I checked the website you mentioned but to be honest I think those ebooks are in a completely different league then what I (and probably many others) have to offer. It is like writing an ebook on where to find WOMD in Iraq, 7 years after the invasion. I'm not claiming that my ebook is going to change people's lives drastically, in the end, which ebook does? I'm trying to provide some sound advice, tips and tricks to people.

[Jay Jennings]

Originally Posted by LF09

Jay, thanks for the reply. I checked the website you mentioned but to be honest I think those ebooks are in a completely different league then what I (and probably many others) have to offer. It is like writing an ebook on where to find WOMD in Iraq, 7 years after the invasion. I'm not claiming that my ebook is going to change people's lives drastically, in the end, which ebook does? I'm trying to provide some sound advice, tips and tricks to people.

Right, I didn't mean you should charge $1000 for your ebook -- I was just trying to point out that if the information is valuable to people they will pay for it -- and a $4 price tag says something to most folks...

...and I don't think it says, "Great Information Here!" =;)

Of course, there are reasons for a low price some times (such as lead generation), just remember people will pay good money for good information.

Jay Jennings

[LF09]

Originally Posted by Jay Jennings

Right, I didn't mean you should charge $1000 for your ebook -- I was just trying to point out that if the information is valuable to people they will pay for it -- and a $4 price tag says something to most folks...

...and I don't think it says, "Great Information Here!" =

Of course, there are reasons for a low price some times (such as lead generation), just remember people will pay good money for good information.

Jay Jennings

Thanks Jay, you are right, I get your point.

[Mark Riddle]

I've Personally paid thousands of dollars for a 10 page report back in the ice cream shop days.

It was worth every penny, actually it was a bargain for the price.

It is a great suggestion to focus some of your effort on high value projects.

Mark Riddle

[mikeyman120]

Pretty cool stuff. I never thought I would see an ebook over $97. I just never thought of it. I have thought of high ticket video courses for $1997 or higher but never an ebook for that much.

Mike

[ramone_johnny]

this thread delivers!

[Lunar]

Yes, this is in my industry. I know these guys, they are the de facto media company for the games industry. So they also publish our industry trade magazine and organize all our trade shows. You could view all of those as capital-intensive lead-in products.

As someone else already mentioned, the high price comes from a few things:
- This is a product for institutions, not people
- This is a product for absolute experts
- This is selling absolute DATA, pure numbers. Far different from most information products people here are selling.

But yes, it is possible! Thanks for sharing!

[Dan Sherman Marketing]

All my products are worth $3,000 (in my mind at least). : )

[marciayudkin]

Jay,

Thanks for opening people's eyes to high end digital products.

Let me point out something very important: At those prices, one does not use the word "ebook."

If you want to charge anything above $49 for your digital product, you should not use the word "ebook." Instead, call it a manual, a report, or in some cases, a course.

Marcia Yudkin

[jacktackett]

In our industry check out Marketing Sherpa - they have plenty of reports on various activities and they charge a pretty penny as well. But these are actionable items and to be honest as one poster pointed out above - really not aimed at the same market as most beginning IMers.

Most beginners aren't interested in ratios and metrics.

They would be interested in how tos and what works etc. Dr. Wilson provides some similar reports for more modest amounts - still more than $39 ;-) but its good stuff.

As a Datacenter manager I've paid a lot of money for research reports from firms like Forrester and Gartner, the Aberdeen(sp) group and others. And the information is 90% spot on - if a bit slanted. If you know your market, and talk with others! you can usually see through the slant and BS.

But as the OP points out - you can definitely sell information for more than $97 bucks.

--Jack

[Patrice Le Vexier]

Jay,

It's a very good point. I wish I could see what looks like a $2995 ebook, I'm sure there are a lot of things to learn from...

Patrice

[Adam Bshero]

One thing you have to take into account is your niche. If there are hundreds or even thousands of competitors in your market, then there is no way you'll be able to charge that much for an ebook.

Just take a look at the internet marketing niche. There are so many high valued ecourses and video tutorials out there, that an ebook has lost its value.

For god sakes, even video courses these days are selling for $47.

[casinojack]

Kepe in mind this page you ref is a report with marketing data...many of these type of reports sell for thousands, but they are from reputable firms with great sources...

But yes i agree, there is a great way to make money in this field. Here is a my tip

"ebook" = 29 bucks, call it a "system" is $997.00..

[MichaelHiles]

I remember in the early days of the internet, everyone couldn't wait to get their hands on the next $5000 Jupiter Research market study report. Billions of dollars in venture money hinged on those damn things.

[Zachary R. Skinner]

It's funny that the more you charge for something the more what you're selling is perceived as being truly valuable!

If you charge more for something, people will want it more

[Lance K]

Originally Posted by marciayudkin

Let me point out something very important: At those prices, one does not use the word "ebook."

If you want to charge anything above $49 for your digital product, you should not use the word "ebook." Instead, call it a manual, a report, or in some cases, a course.

Frankly, I've never liked the word "ebook". It conjures up too many mental pictures of printed books. You know, the ones you pick up at Amazon or B&N for $5 to $30 and they have hundreds of pages.

It's hard to meet people's expectations of a "book" when your product is less than 100 pages and you're chargint $47+ for it.

I much prefer "guide" as well as the alternatives Marcia mentioned above.

You have to do everything in your power to maximize the perceived value in your prospect's mind. Because perception is reality in every individual's mind.

Calling your product an "ebook" will summon people's expectations of a "book" which will almost always lower the perceived value in their eyes.

[Peter Adamson]

Sometimes we just don't know how much our knowledge is worth. I learned this sitting on a plane between Paris and Nice. I was next to an American from California. His company was setting up their European operation in Sophia Antipolis, just outside Nice. He seemed to make a big thing of their choice of location, as though it were some amazing decision. I said:

"Let me guess. You wanted a nice location with a California atmoshpere, and a pleasant climate where you could attract and keep the right people. That means the Mediterranean coast. In Europe there are four countries on the Mediterranean, Spain, France, Italy and Greece. Greece is half way to China. Forget Greece. Italy and Spain are a little too third world for a business like yours. That leaves France. There are only two high tech addresses in the south of France, Montpellier and Sophia. Montpellier only makes sense if you are closely tied to IBM. That leaves Sophia by process of elimination."

His jaw dropped. He said "We paid a LOOOT of money to find out what you just told me."

What I just told him was common knowledge that anyone I mean ANYONE in high tech in France could have told him. It had never occurred to me that anyone would pay for such information.

And the crazy thing is that everyone has information that other people don't have and would pay for.

P.S. don't take it personally if you are from Spain or Italy. At that time (late 80s, early 90s) telecoms infrastructures were very poor in those countries. They have come a long way.

[Ricardo-Acosta]

What! thats insane, pretty interesting information. Still ccant get over the fact that ppl will pay that much for an ebook.

[Ashley Wright]

Them ebooks are cheap aren't they I always knew the saying content is valuable but $2,995! i don't even sell my courses for that price!!

[Kevin AKA Hubcap]

I agree with Marcia and Lance. In fact my printed "books" are not books. They're guides, manuals, reports, and systems.

Kevin

[zapseo]

Originally Posted by Patrice Le Vexier

Jay,

It's a very good point. I wish I could see what looks like a $2995 ebook, I'm sure there are a lot of things to learn from...

Patrice

Actually -- OLD ones shouldn't be too hard to find.
What makes the information in such reports is the TIMELINESS of the reports.
Think of it as reports on "where the money is flowing now" -- for whatever reason.

Live JoyFully!

Judy Kettenhofen

Proudly appearing in "Warriors For Hire"

[MichaelHiles]

Having been partnered with companies like Harte-Hanks, Ipsos, and SAMI Burke in the past, I can assure you that industry market niche research costs a hell of a lot of money to conduct, and the information contained in those reports is a pittance of the actual cost of the effort.

A lot of high end marketing research companies get contracts with major corporations to conduct marketing research into an industry niche segment. When the client is finished with the project and gets the data they are wanting, many times, the research firm retains the rights to publish the information.

If you think $2-3K is expensive for a copy of one of these reports, you'd choke on your own saliva at the invoice to the client firm for the actual project.

In some cases, millions.

One example I can think of is P&G (nice local folks) trying to make moves in the reflect.com debacle. The focus study came back and told P&G that the retail distribution network would not tolerate a direct-to-market brand effort that competed directly with the other lines. The brand division ignored the several million dollar study and launched a major consumer brand push to sell cosmetics directly via e-tailing.

Crash and burn.

Why pay millions for a study and then ignore the results because you want to be teh coolness? lulz

[Paul Coleman]

Jay, what you're talking about is an extremely important issue. And I honestly believe that 90% of marketers just don't get it. They are trapped in the downward spiral of pricing.

Paul