Yet another "How Do I Price My E-Book?" thread

by 10 replies
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I've seen a few hundred threads asking "How do I price my E-Book?" and I figured it was high time for another one!

Thing is, I've read through probably thirty of those threads and not found an answer to my specific question. Forgive me if I haven't dug deep enough...

I get it; testing, testing and testing some more is the way to arrive at a functional price. My question has to do with differentiation from the rest of the $27-47 pack.

See, I'm working on a book in a particular niche that will allow people to expand their current floundering service businesses and take advantage of pending legislation. As it's a great idea, and part of a national dialog, I'm not the only one with such a product. But, from what I can tell, I am the only one who has rock-solid experience in the field. On top of that, I was hired by the DOE and the Small Business Network in my state to develop and present the curriculum for training people to expand into this field.

The squeeze and sales pages of my competition don't mention a thing about who has put the products together, no bio, no experience, etc. Digging deeper into their WhoIs and the like, I can see that they're almost all IM and SEO companies that saw an opportunity and grabbed it.

So that's the backstory. My question is, how high is too high? I'm thinking of pricing the package at a few hundred bucks. That way it'll stand apart from the rest of the pack in terms of its value and usability.

Let me add that it will be incredibly useful information that will save the reader many thousands of dollars in trial and error, should they choose to go the route I'm laying out.

I know that personal values shouldn't play much of a part in marketing. BUT, my personal feeling is that a $27 product that's supposed to change your life comes across as disposable garbage.

Is there a tipping point? A target? A threshold?
#main internet marketing discussion forum #how do i price my ebook #thread
  • That is the key, how much it's going cost him if he does'nt take up your offer.

    You need to break it down, dollarize it and put it in a dimension he can understand for his personal situation.

    Example...Joe Polish was holding a workshop for carpet cleaners.

    He told his prospective list that they will be losing x number of dollars because that was the average figure the past attendees made after attending!

    If you can, find a way so the prospect can't compare you with an alternative.

    Example...Selling a set of c.d's would be compared with another set.

    You go in and compare them with the cost of a live seminar at a much higher price point because it contains the same information and what a bargain because he doesn't have to pay for travel, hotel and gets to stay home with his family.

    Price is higher than other c.d's yet still a bargain compared to live training.

    So to recap...
    Dollarize
    ROI
    What will be lost
    Compare it with a high price alternative

    All the best,

    Ewen
  • Although it is a lot of extra 'work', why not set up 3 websites, each with a different price, & try advertising the different prices? That way, you can see what works best for you.
    • [1] reply
    • Great Ideas and thoughts, folks. Thanks for the input.
      • [1] reply
  • I price my products in a very serious manner.
    First, think what your customer is getting. Will you for that price if you were the customer of this product. Secondly, will customer be happy after reading the product (ebook) after paying this price and third one, will this price meet your financial targets?

    That's it!
  • In addition to the questions from avenuegirl - here is a REALLY important question to answer honestly to yourself...

    1. Do those in your market KNOW about the avenue you suggest they take - or will you have to educate them?

    If they already know or sense that they can expand their business and are just looking for THE way to do it, then you are at the tip of a very lucrative market and packaging something for a couple hundred dollars should be no problem. However, if your market don't already have in their head the great opportunity you are about to help them realize, then selling to them (at any price, but especially at a high price) will be like pulling teeth.

    Let's say (for sake of argument) that they consult in an area where they suddenly know a new regulation has come into place - they KNOW this is a great opportunity to expand their business AND they are ACTIVELY looking for information on how to do that - then you could easily put a training program in front of them that will promise to get them there and charge a couple hundred dollars (or even more)

    In this case, you are 110% right in trying to differentiate yourself from your competition by putting out a higher-priced product - add more of a "course" or training program spin, add some video instruction, put in some pre-designed forms that make life easier for them, arm them with a checklist they can use to get better results, offer 1 or more teleseminars with experts as part of the package, etc...

    Jeff
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • GREAT question, Jeff. And one that i really need to take the time to find the REAL answer to.

      And the rest of your comments are gold. Thanks!
  • Here's what I would do.


    Figure out what I think my product is worth..

    Research what OTHER product owners are selling their (similar) product for.


    Split test the 2 prices.


    Start there. Once you have a winner, maybe split test the price again.


    Then split test the offer.

    i.e. Ebook now for $47 VS. Physical product for shipping, if you don't like it return it. If you like it, do nothing and you pay only $147 in 30 days.



    They key is finding the right way to structure your offer to get the highest profitability. In the above, you might only sell half of the units that you'd sell as an ebook, but you'd make 56% more revenue..
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Great responses, all. Give me a minute to digest them...

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