The Art Of High Ticket Selling (and 3 Reasons for Tripling Your Prices)
In a time not so long ago, there was an old lady who opened an Indian Jewellery store.
She didn’t know anything about marketing, or starting a business. But she decided to open a store and that it would be successful.
After a couple of months, she was struggling.
Struggling to sell her jewellery. She tried all of the traditional sales tactics.
She tried discounting items, moving them to the window.
Re-arranging the layout of the shop, and giving gifts away to new customers.
Her efforts weren’t paying off, and she built up a pile of debt. One day, she had to leave town for 2 weeks and put one of the assistants in charge.
As a last effort, she wrote a note for her assistant before exiting the shop.
Change the prices, 1/2 every item in the store.
When the lady got back from her 2-week trip, something magical happened. She sold EVERYTHING. Not because everything was cheaper.
The assistant misread the 1/2 for 2, and she doubled the price of everything in the store. Not only did she earn drastically more by increasing the prices, she sold more too.
Most product creators have no idea what to charge. They invest all their time and energy into creating a product or service, with no idea what to sell it for. A lot of the time people charge what they think they’re worth.
The reality is, you’ll almost always make more money by charging double, triple, or ten times what your competition is charging for the same thing. Higher pricing is always a better model, for several reasons.
1. Expensive = Elite/Exclusive
The fact is, expensive products give off an aura of being more valuable. Naturally, we equate price with value. If something is cheap, we assume it’s worthless. Like it has no value.
A classic example is the guy who buys the $300 suitcase that’s the same as the $100 suitcase. The guy walks into the store to pick up a suitcase, he’s presented with three options.
The suitcases are all pretty much the same. The first suitcase is $100, and it’s a little more generic than the other two. Made of the same material, has the same amount of space.
Suitcase two is $200, but it has a leather strap on its side. Suitcase 3 is just like suitcase 2, but it has 2 leather straps and a ‘special’ handle on top. The situation applies to all products and services.
The guy walks into the store, and walks out with either suitcase 2 or 3 most times. He realizes the $300 suitcase must have magical powers of some kind, or be more sturdy or more durable.
Maybe he thinks $300 is a little too much, so he walks out with suitcase 2; not because the leather strap is worth an extra $100. Just because of the perceived value.
Perceived value is a powerful thing, and it’s what drives buying decisions. Not so much the price, people always associate a higher price point with a higher value.
When you raise your prices, people start thinking you’re an authority. They automatically assume you’re an expert, without questioning how or why.
When you get that ‘elite’ high-end label, selling becomes easy. People suddenly start buying your stuff and hiring you when they think you’re an authority. You show this by your pricing.
2. It’s Easier To Make More Money Working Less
For years, I spent 12+ hours a day working to make 5 figures a month in my business. The problem was to make 5 figures, I needed to sell 100s of 1000s of products.
I was selling stuff that was priced at $20 to $100, earning 40% commissions. If I had taken the same products, the same information and sold it for $1000 to $3000 – I would have made 6 figures a month overnight.
It’s just as easy to get someone to spend $3000 as it is $2000. This means you can sell fewer products, make more money, and work fewer hours. By raising your prices or the price of the stuff you sell.
If you’re going to sell high-end, top-quality products at low prices, it doesn’t matter. People won’t buy your stuff and you’ll never achieve the ‘authority’ status.
3. The Customers Complain Less
One of the magical things that happens when you raise your prices is you get fewer refunds and fewer complaints. People who spend lots of money tend to complain less.
When you’re selling products for under $100 you get hordes of customers asking stupid questions, complaining and demanding refunds.
A lot of the time because the customers don’t actually go through the products. They don’t pay attention. When someone invests $3000 for the same information, they pay attention.
They see the value, and if it’s not there they’ll find it somehow.
People who question high ticket selling don’t see the big picture. Women will pay $5000 for a purse that has a certain logo on it. Not because the purse is any nicer than the $40 purse across the street. Just because of the exclusivity and ‘elite’ status of the brand.
People want to feel special, exclusive, part of the ‘elite’ group. They do this by buying expensive stuff.
Higher prices motivate you to sell and over-deliver. Higher prices also attract big spenders. People who are likely to spend more money, without thinking about it.
It makes more sense, period.
P.S. Leave me your thoughts, comments, and questions below.
Comments
Robert
This is such an eye-opener! I’ve been underpricing my products for too long. Time to rethink my pricing strategy. Thanks, David!
Alice
I’m not sure if doubling prices would work in my industry, but the concept of perceived value definitely resonates with me. I’ll have to give this a try.
Michael
I’ve tried raising my prices before, but I got fewer customers. Is there a specific strategy for maintaining customer trust while increasing prices?
Sophia
This post was exactly what I needed! I’ve been hesitant to raise my prices, but your insights have given me the confidence to go for it. Thank you so much for sharing this valuable advice, David. Keep up the great work!
Lucas
I find it hard to believe that raising prices can actually lead to more sales. Do you have any specific examples or data that could back up these claims? I’d love to see some evidence before making such a drastic move in my business.
Emily
This concept of perceived value is new to me. Could you elaborate more on how it works in different industries? I’m curious if it would apply to services as well as products.
Oliver
Honestly, I’m not entirely sold on the idea of tripling prices. It feels like it could backfire if not done carefully. Perhaps a more gradual approach would be better? I’d like to see more perspectives on this.
Isabella
Wow, David! It’s been a while since we last connected. I hope you’re doing well. This post was insightful as always. Let’s catch up sometime soon. Maybe over coffee?
Ethan
Funny thing is, I was facing a similar problem with my pricing strategy recently. I lowered my prices to attract more customers, but instead, I got fewer sales. Now I understand why. Time to rethink my approach!
Liam
Great post! I recently came across a tool called Pricing Optimizer that helps businesses analyze their pricing strategies. You might want to check it out for further insights on pricing models.
Ava
I never thought of pricing this way before! I’ve learned so much from this post. It’s time to reevaluate my own business pricing and see how I can apply this. Thanks for sharing, David!
