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Why Downselling May Lower Conversions

by junkofdavid2
15 replies
Hi guys, this is my first OP (although I've been reading you guys for quite a while).

I noticed that among "main" or "big" players (as opposed to IM "gurus"), downselling seems to almost never be used and instead they use some sort of "Pricing Grid" or "Price Plans" where all the pricing options are clearly and crisply laid out for the consumers to see from the very beginning.

So my question is, has anyone tested a comparison of this? Are the "big sellers" selling better with this style (which inversely may imply that the downselling style sells less)?

Comments will be appreciated and beneficial to all here, I believe.

(Oh, and before chastising me for not testing it myself, LOL, I have a peculiar situation where it is not possible and/or super difficult coz my "goal" is "off-page" in an external site, cheers!)

Cheers!
David
#conversions #downselling #lower #pricing #pricing grid
  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    David,

    When you have one single price listed it is very hard for someone to gauge the value of that price since they have nothing to compare it against. They could go and look at competitors prices to get an idea but if they do that it's very unlikely they will return to your page.

    Let's take a real world example. If we were standing outside a restaurant that was half full and I asked if you thought that restaurant was any good, you would probably um and ahh and tell me you were not sure. Now imagine instead we were standing out the front of two restaurants side by side. Again one of those restaurants was half full and the other one only had two diners inside it. If I asked you if that same restaurant was any good you would probably say yes because now you can compare it to the other restaurant that has no one inside it.

    Price comparisons work much the same way.

    The moment you add other price options (if done correctly) it gives your customers some way to gauge the value of each offer and they can now more easily select the offer that logically has the most value.
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  • Profile picture of the author junkofdavid2
    Thanks Will, so you're one of the believers in a pricing grid instead of "one-price then downsell?"
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by junkofdavid2 View Post

      Thanks Will, so you're one of the believers in a pricing grid instead of "one-price then downsell?"
      I use both. Different horses for different courses.

      For some products with multiple license options or standard and premium versions it can make sense to use the grid prices. For other offers where the upsell/downsell are addons to the front end product then it might make more sense to lower the front end price a little and have those options appear as upsells/downsells after they have purchased the front end product.

      I don't think it's a case of one being better than the other. I think they both have their uses in different situations... there is also nothing stopping you from using both grid prices and upsells/downsells in the same funnel. I've seen that many times.
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      • Profile picture of the author junkofdavid2
        Interesting, thanks!

        So I guess I'll put the grid on the last downsell page.

        Assuming customers have reached there, they already know all the "options" (including previously hidden cheaper downsell options) so I might as well make it easier for them to decide with some kinda grid/table..

        Whatya think?
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  • Profile picture of the author shane_k
    No you wouldn't put your price grid on the last downsell page

    You would want to put it on the first page.

    This way you can get the maximum amount of people who visit your site to see your price grid.

    Why?

    Because there are going to be people who will say yes to one of the prices you have on your price grid.

    For example if you have $17, $27, $47 in your price grid you will have people who are willing to buy your product for $27. They are saying YES to your initial offer.

    And you want to maximize as much as those yeses at that price as possible.

    But if you had your downsell prices on your price grid also, some of those people who were willing to pay at $27 might now only pay at $20 (and you'd lose $7 per sale.)

    So you only want to show your downsells to people who have already said no to your initial offer.

    EDIT: I hope I explained this properly. I have a huge headache right now and can't think straight, lol.

    Maybe I will revisit this thread tomorrow and explain more.
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    • Profile picture of the author junkofdavid2
      Waaa?? :confused:

      I think you do need your sleep, will wait for your explanation tomorrow, LOL
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        It's one of those subjects that traditionally cause a little confusion in the Warrior Forum. Part of the reason for that is that different people here apparently understand different things by the word "downsell": some are instinctively thinking of "selling the same product at a lower price" (known in some circles as a "discount"!), while to others the word usually means "selling an alternative, lower-priced product".
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    • Profile picture of the author junkofdavid2
      So @Shane, care to re explain what you meant? ?
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      • Profile picture of the author junkofdavid2
        Here's an update..

        I DEFINITELY am selling more now that I use ExitSplash instead of a price grid. Just thought you'd like to know.
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        • Profile picture of the author WillR
          Originally Posted by junkofdavid2 View Post

          Here's an update..

          I DEFINITELY am selling more now that I use ExitSplash instead of a price grid. Just thought you'd like to know.
          What is in the Exit Splash?

          Do you mean when people go to Exit the page you offer them cheaper license options?
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          • Profile picture of the author junkofdavid2
            Originally Posted by WillR View Post

            What is in the Exit Splash?

            Do you mean when people go to Exit the page you offer them cheaper license options?
            It's a WP plugin which has a popup directing them to stay on the page to see the cheaper options (which were not originally seen on the first page).

            My popup tells them that there's a freebie as well as cheaper options if they click "stay on page".

            In the past with the pricing grid, only 5% would get my most expensive $97 option and most would get the 'mid-range' options of 19.95 and 29.95. Now around 50% get the $97 option.
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            • Profile picture of the author WillR
              Originally Posted by junkofdavid2 View Post

              It's a WP plugin which has a popup directing them to stay on the page to see the cheaper options (which were not originally seen on the first page).

              My popup tells them that there's a freebie as well as cheaper options if they click "stay on page".

              In the past with the pricing grid, only 5% would get my most expensive $97 option and most would get the 'mid-range' options of 19.95 and 29.95. Now around 50% get the $97 option.
              That's not necessarily just because you are not using a pricing grid. You could be using a pricing grid that isn't as effective as it could be.

              There are good pricing grids and bad. The idea of a good pricing grid is that it makes one option (the option you want people to buy) seem like ridiculously good value compared to the others. I think if you originally had a pricing grid and most people were choosing the two cheaper options it means you were not making the more expensive option seem obvious enough.

              If you have 3 licenses at $19.95, $29.95 and the $97, there is far too much of a price gap between those 2nd and 3rd options. A much better pricing setup would be something like $27, $67 and $97. You would then make the $67 option the best value by giving them much more than the $27 option gets but not much less than what the $97 option gets. So it makes it the very obvious choice.

              If $97 is the price point you are wanting people to take then maybe you might instead have licenses priced at $47, $97, $147 and make that middle option the best value.

              Pricing tables do work very well but it's all about how you position each option. From the sounds of the price points you were using your pricing table was only ever encouraging people to buy one of the cheaper two options.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexchan338
    Guys WillR is the person to listen to!
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  • Profile picture of the author junkofdavid2
    Oh, in my case I mean selling a similar but lower priced product... Kinda like "The Works" package, "Medium" package, and "Lite" package.

    Is it better to just initially offer "The Works" at a higher price and then introduce the medium/lite packages after customers click the "No Thanks but Give me a Freebie" button? Or should I lay out all packages in a grid-like thing? Sigh... :p
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