4 Pricing Strategies for Online Courses
Today it’s free, but next year it will be $397
I’m building an online empire that will make me $100,000 within the next 365 days. I’m transparent and shared my blueprint with everybody (for free) here.
One of the keys to success is to sell an online course. The content is still a secret, but I already worked on the pricing strategies.
Since I am always willing to learn something new, I ask you to answer a simple questionnaire at the end. But first, let me deliver some value-packed insights to your eyeballs.
The supermarket special offer combo: $49.99
Look around next time you go to the grocery store, and you’ll see the special offers ending with 9 everywhere. It’s because $49.99 sounds so much cheaper than $50. The mathematical difference might be one cent, but psychologically, it’s worth $10.
$49.99 is classic and reliable. You know you won’t get life-changing content, but you’re also confident you’ll get value for your money.
The power of 7
- 7 days a week.
- 7 wonders of the world.
- 7 dwarves for Snow White.
- 7 deadly sins.
Seven is a powerful number, but using it all the time would be a big mistake. Seven works best in the few hundred dollars price range.
Would you pay $7 a month to read everything on Medium? Nope. Seven isn’t a good number for small amounts. You want to go with 5 or 8.
- $5 because then you can offer a yearly membership for $50, which sounds great and is less than $1 a week.
- $8/month because it’s less than $100 a year ($4 less, to be precise, but who’s counting?)
Would you pay $7,777 for a used car? I don’t think so. It sounds fishy — like a casino jackpot.
But $397 sounds wonderful, and the same goes for $247 and $817.
- It’s not ending with 0 or 5, which gives your price more credibility. $400 sounds random, but $397 is a carefully crafted offer.
- It has three digits, which makes it solid and trustworthy without being so expensive people can’t buy it.
- And the 7 at the end brings power to the table without imposing itself. That’s why you never start your offer with 7. Go with $697 or $817, but never use $745. It’s a shitty price.
Round numbers (ending with 0)
”Wait! You just said round numbers sounded random and decreased your credibility?!”
That’s true, but sometimes, it’s worth trading a bit of credibility for simplicity.
Simple means understandable, which translates into warm and fuzzy feelings of pleasure.
People have so much complexity in their lives that they often crave simplicity. And I say, give them what they want. Give them a $1,000 product or a $500 one. Even a $10,000 one, as I do for my exclusive VIP coaching clients.
Make it easier for your future clients to click the ”I want this” button.
Simple is beautiful.
Fancy numbers
Fancy numbers appeal to emotions. They usually make you smile and bring back good memories.
Classic examples include $420, $69.69, and $777.
It could also be $42 for science-fiction fans or $888 if you’re selling to an Asian audience that believes 8 to be a lucky number.
For Halloween, $13 is a must-have in your online shop.
Remember that numbers can also be fancy in context. $5 isn’t usually a fancy number, but on Medium it is because that’s the price of the monthly membership fee.
The same goes for $2,022. It’s fancy (and therefore attractive) for a few more weeks, but soon, you’ll have to switch to $2,023.
Feedback is a gift
I’m good at what I do because I always seek opportunities to improve.
Which pricing strategy is the best, in your opinion?
- If you think it’s the supermarket strategy, send $9 to my ko-fi account.
- If you think it’s the power of seven, send $7 to my Paypal account.
- If you think it’s the round numbers, send $10 to my buymeacoffee account.
- And if you think it’s the fancy numbers, send $42 directly to my bank account.
Thank you in advance for your vote. It means a lot that you want to help and share your knowledge with me.
In exchange, here’s an inclusive invitation to the Smillew Top Hat Seminar. (You can share it with your friends.)