It’s a question that I know a lot of people in business struggle with, especially if you offer a service. ‘Should I publish my prices and packages online?’

It’s actually quite a personal decision and you’re not alone in wondering if it’s the right thing to do or not. So, to help you make the right decision for your business, there are a few pros and cons to consider. Hopefully this will help you decide…

Pros of publishing your price list

• It will cut down the number of emails you get asking you for a price. Therefore, those who do contact you are more likely to be more serious from using your services, or buying your products.
• You might hear from people who are very excited to find out that you are within their price range, when they thought you would be way out of their reach, financially.
• This is an important one – customers actually want to know your pricing. I know that in the past, when I’ve been looking to hire someone, I find it very frustrating if there are no prices on their website. Often, I’ll give up and find someone who does. So, transparency plays a huge part in publishing your price list.
• It might help allay the fear of your inbox! I know the panic feeling when you get an email asking exactly what you charge. You suddenly start overthinking everything! ‘Am I charging too much?’, ‘Am I not charging enough?’ Having your price list on your website says you are sure of your rates and happy to share them.
• Just as I may go elsewhere if there’s no price on a website I visit, so will other people. By having your prices visible, you may win out against your competitors.
• When you do get an inquiry, they’ll be less ‘sales patter’ as they’ll already know your prices, so less likely to haggle and more about what you can do for them.
• Having pricing will keep your bounce rates low and encourage potential customers to stay longer to browse.
• It can improve your SEO too as words like ‘pricing’, ‘prices’, ‘costs’ are popular google search words.   
• If you can’t give a set price for all your work, as I can’t with mine, you can simply publish a starting rate. It still gives potential customers a base rate to work from.
• You may have a customer who, now he knows how much you charge, can save up until he can afford to hire you. This saves him the embarrassment of ringing to ask costs, then having to say he can’t afford it at the moment.   
• Ultimately you’ll save time and energy!

Cons of publishing your price list

• If someone comes across your website and they don’t like your prices, they will move on without ever having been in touch, meeting you or getting the chance to interact. It may be a lost opportunity, in that you may have been able to do them a deal.
• Competitors can see your pricing and they may then choose to undercut your prices.
• Your website will need to be updated on a regular basis with any new prices, or special offers. You could forget to put your prices up online, and then have to honour the lower price on your website.
• Having a set price really leaves no room for negotiation and you could lose business because a client may have needed a smaller package than the one you have on offer.
• Limiting your prices or packages can be hard to do if you are the kind of business that offers bespoke work or services. But there can always be a clause at the bottom of your list for Bespoke Services. You can have a statement that says you also do bespoke work or offer customizable services, and ask them to contact you for more details. This gives the best of both worlds!

My personal preference is to publish my price list on my website. But I do have a clause to say that I also do bespoke work and to contact me for more details. I just know that for me, looking on a website for a price and not finding one, is frustrating and will be sure to have me leaving the site.

Places like Amazon list prices, but someone who sells very high end cars may not. This will, no doubt, ensure that they attract only the target market that they’re after…one that doesn’t have to worry about money, so can easily afford one of their high end cars.

Conclusion

To be brutally honest, there is no real conclusion and only you know what is right for your business. If you sell physical products, I would definitely encourage you to include prices next to everything you sell. But if you’re a service based business, you might find it hard to create a standard price list. You need to look at your target audience and decide what will be best for them.   

Like I said, I have a price list…you might want to swing over and find out how I approached this issue as I provide a service, not physical products.

Please feel free to ask any questions or you can email me in private if you prefer, at cindymobey@outlook.com