Are Your Prices Too High?

I work with a lot of authors, and it always surprises me when first-time authors are selling their books for $25. In my opinion, $25 for a book is very expensive - especially when people have never heard of you. Even $20 is just too much.

I've also seen people selling their independent DVDs, CDs, etc for just way too much money. Sadly, these people lose so much on sales because people just don't feel the item is worth that much.

What about the prices for your services and products? Are they too high? Are you losing customers because they feel you are too expensive?

The best way to price whatever it is that you're selling is to look at your competition, and go lower. If your competition is selling books for $15, sell your book for $12. If your competition is selling DVDs for $20, sell yours for $15.

Don't get so hung up on the idea of only making a tiny profit per sale. Which would you prefer - to make a $1 profit on thousands of individual sales, or to make a $0 profit on no sales?

Go with the Walmart method. Underprice your item, and take the lower profit. You'll make up for it in volume.

Make sure to do this the first time around - before you launch your promotional campaign. If people visit your web site and feel your prices are too high, they won't be coming back after you realize your mistake and decide to lower the price. You have to capitalize on their initial inquiry.