Hi,
A short update on HAGGIN, and then something about pricing I've been thinking about all week.
This week
There are 6 Haggins published now. 5 are from other founders, and 4 of those went live in the last seven days. On Sunday I also closed the first deal, which I'll tell you about below because it fits this week's topic well.
Most of those founders said yes after I changed my first message. I stopped talking about HAGGIN and started asking one question about their product. The day I switched, 7 people replied.
The price is not you
Last week a founder told me "I'm not going to sell it short, even if that costs me customers".
I get it. After months building something, the price stops being just a number. It starts to feel like what the product is worth, and a bit like what you're worth too, so lowering it feels like admitting something.
But the person who leaves at $49 doesn't think less of you. They just don't pay, and you end up with the same price and one customer fewer.
A discount for nothing is the real problem
There's one thing they're right about. If you drop the price because someone asked and you get nothing back, it does cheapen it.
But a lower price can come with something. A year paid upfront, a case study, an intro to two other customers, etc. If that's worth more to you than the difference, it's a good trade, and if it isn't, you say no.
It also matters who moves the price. If you lower it, everyone sees the lower price. If one customer makes you an offer and you accept it, your list price stays the same for everyone else.
My own number
My price is negotiable too. Anyone can make me an offer for Pro, and on Sunday Jeremy, the founder of NexArt, offered $0.
I accepted, because he's paying in something else. NexArt now certifies every deal accepted on HAGGIN, up to 1,000 a month, and ours was the first one. For me that's worth a lot more than $29 a month, and a normal pricing page has no way to offer it.
My founding discount, on the other hand ($9 a month instead of $29), got nobody in three weeks. So price does matter, just less than I thought.
What I try to ask now is what this person would have paid, and what else they could have given me. Most of the time we never find out, because the page only lets them pay or leave.
If you've lost someone over price and wondered about it later, reply and tell me. I read all of them.
Luis