HN Explorer

Ask HN: How to test price variations?

4 points by callmeed ↗ HN
We have a product with a setup fee and a monthly fee (currently $399 + $20/mo).

I'd like to do some testing of variations on the setup price. What's the best way to do this? It seems unwise to simply randomly show different prices A/B style.

- Should we try a higher price for a time period, then a lower price for a time period? Or vice-versa?

- What's a good time period to test? 2 weeks? 1 month? 2 months?

- Other ideas for testing price changes?

2 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 11.7 ms ] thread
tucaz
From what I've seen, unfortunately the best approach is to use your gut feeling and try different prices over different time :(

I can't confirm this technique (is it?) myself, but I'm in process of publishing something for money and will have to figure this out soon enough too.

Good luck

colin8chSE
I recommend trying a lower price first, then gradually increase.

1) Your early adopters/ customers will feel like they got a deal. (if you drop the price later they'll feel ripped off) 2) You will get a "baseline" for adoption at a price point, and you can use that for comparison as you increase your price. If your sales decrease significantly, you've hit a value perception/ pricing problem.

We've seen our Vendors successfully test their pricing models this way at Simplified Ecommerce (I'm the Founder)- they can start billing from day one without any coding and easily revise their pricing models in realtime.