Thread by @IndieHackers

Gumroad challenge. Day 8: pricing. @philip_kiely chose pay-what-you-want for his new eBook - Cold Email for Interesting People.

Why?
• Pay-what-you-want is simple
• Customers set what price the market might support

Other models the Gumroad's Head of Marketing also considered:

@IndieHackers 1/ Fixed Price

The simplest model. I charge $X for the product. With tiers, I charge $X, $Y, and possibly $Z for various components of the product.

• Pros: Easy for the customer to understand, lots of control
• Cons: Have to pick a price

@IndieHackers 2/ Fixed Price Increasing

Similar to fixed price, but I start the price low and raise it after every N sales until I reach some final price.

• Pros: Reward early supporters, give a sense of urgency
• Cons: Extra work, still have to pick a price

@IndieHackers 3/ Variable Price Minimum

Let customers pay what they want with a minimum price.

• Pros: Price discrimination, guaranteed minimum value
• Cons: Suggested and minimum prices anchor customers, negating some flexible pricing benefits

@IndieHackers 4/ Variable Price No Minimum

Let customers pay what they. With tiers, some tiers could have a minimum price.

• Pros: Simple, perfect price discrimination, market discovery
• Cons: People might just download for free, makes tiers complicated

@IndieHackers His secret weapon?

Gumroad launched this challenge using the pay-what-you-want model, explicitly saying that it was free. Even though, ~10% decided to pay

"This gives me confidence that if I ask people to pay, they will, and generously."

indiehackers.com/post/pricing-t…