As a Creator, Are You Charging Enough for Your Work?

Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten

In 1938, Aldo Gucci (of Gucci clothing fame) gave us this memorable quote for the pricing of exceptional goods and services:

Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten

It appears Gucci borrowed from the original version of this quote, taken from Henry Royce, of Rolls Royce fame, who said, “The quality will remain long after the price is forgotten.”

Regardless, quality creators aren’t charging enough for great work and shoddy creators are charging too much.

Quality products make us feel fantastic. We appreciate the craftsmanship. We admire all the work that went into getting the product to our kitchen table. We respect the people behind the work. We like to brag to our friends.

The appreciation of quality is baked into our human nature.

As you begin your journey as a creator (or grow in your journey), you’ve got an important flag to plant — early in your vocation. Do you want to be known for high-end, quality work, or would you rather compete on price — for average work?

Price matters. A lot.

Not only will higher prices give you more room to do your best work, but the perceived value of high-priced work is much higher.

If you charge too little, the value (and quality) of your work will be perceived as lower than you maybe you want it to.

The sting of a high price fades fast

I recently spend a bunch of money on a new mattress. Maybe I didn’t need to spend as much, but I loved the bespoke story behind the project. The mattress was made domestically, and the warranty was truly for life.

This company made my mattress for me. The thing didn’t exist until I ordered it. The date on the tag is stamped the day they shipped the mattress. The lunch meat in my refrigerator is less-fresh than the place I sleep.

The price stung. I didn’t jump and sing — happy to pay well-over a grand for something I can’t enjoy while I’m awake.

An hour later, I was over it.

…but every night when I climb into bed, I think about the story behind the purchase, a mattress made just for us, and a guarantee I can return the thing any time I want during the 120 day trial period.

I wish cars came with a guarantee like that. It would revolutionize the industry.

I get it. When you stick your first price tag on something you created, impostor syndrome taps you on the shoulder. You feel like you shouldn’t ask for so much. Sure, there are high-priced options in your niche, but those are the big players — not you. You don’t deserve to ask for more. Right?

You do deserve it. Your customers secretly want you to charge more. Even us cheapskates. Why? So we can feel how it feels to own something of high quality. It feels great.

No you can’t slap a high price tag on a crap product.

You can, but you only have the opportunity fleece a customer once, then they’ll tell the others.

You don’t operate that way. You’re a craftsman. Little bits of yourself go into every product on your shelf. Like you ship a piece of your soul in every box. Let your pricing reflect that soul in your work.

You’ll have more time to do what you love.

Which is less-stressful: one customer that feeds you for a month, or having to earn four hundred customers for the same net revenue? We choose the second option when we don’t charge enough for our work.

Think of all the extra time you’ll have to hone to your craft.

We’ll remember your high-quality goods or service. We’ll remember the work behind it. We’ll tell the others. We want to feel great every time with admire the stitching in the wallet, or smile at the UI in your software. Quality sticks with us forever, or until your quality slips.

Price is a one-minute flu shot.

Price-conscious customers are more work

They will hassle you until your bleed from your ears. Only until they feel like they’re stealing from you will they walk away from the sale satisfied.

This doesn’t mean you should avoid discounting. We all love a good discount, but this is a perceived discount for a high-quality product, discounted-down from a list price.

You can still earn high margins and give your customers the occasional discount.

However, never compete on price. If you enter that game it’s a race down the drain. Your work becomes a commodity — like copy paper, toothpicks, and gasoline.

When you stop competing on price, you lift your work to the top. There’s plenty of room at the top, with little competition.

• Price shoppers aren’t loyal. All they want is a deal.
• Price shoppers don’t care about your well-being.
• Price shoppers won’t tell the others to buy your work. They’ll tell the others how they whipped you down to nothing, shook you by the ankles, and took you for every penny left in your product.
• Price shoppers shouldn’t be your customers. Leave them for the other creators.

This isn’t a garage sale.

This is your life and your craft.

Have respect for your vocation. This is the work you want to do for the rest of your life (or the next few years). Your price should reflect this self-respect.

How much do I charge?

Your market does have a limit for how much they’re willing to spend for your work. My market may be different than yours. However, if you’re worried about your price — and you think it’s too high — double it.

You now have your market-entry price.

Next year, double your price again. You need room to stretch and grow. You need flexibility to buy the best equipment so you can deliver the best product.

There’s a chance you’ll get a little excited and price your work too high for the market to bear. We can always lower the price until we’re satisfied with our sales. But good luck increasing your prices once your tribe is accustomed to a lower tier.

Will you enter your marketplace as the creator who charges $5 for a handmade coffee mug, or $55? I’d rather do the work of selling one mug instead of dealing with ten individual projects, ten customers, ten shipments, and ten times the work.

No matter what price we want to charge, we won’t sell a thing without a tribe.

Email is one of the best ways to grow and keep a group of buyers. You control the message. Email is more-permanent than social ads. Plus, email is more distraction-free.

If you build your list now, you’ll have a pre-built, rabid audience ready when you launch your next (or first) product. This should be a list you own (instead of relying on social media or some other big-business platform). Tap the link below. Enroll in my Tribe 1K indie email masterclass. I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 subscribers (and your next 1,000) without spending one hot nickel on ads.

We’re waiting for you.

Enroll in my Free Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers

August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indies how to make work that sells and how to sell more of that work once it’s created. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.