Can You Charge More?

What would happen if you charged more for your product or service? Would sales drop? Would you experience backlash from your customers?

The makers of the party game Cards Against Humanity decided to find out. So on Black Friday—one of the biggest shopping days of the year—instead of discounting the price of the game, they raised it.

For one day only.

That’s right. On Black Friday—and only on Black Friday—you could buy the game for $5 more than the regular price.

What happened?

Sales went up.

Compared to the days leading up to Friday as well as to Black Friday the previous year, sales actually increased slightly. They increased again on Saturday. Dramatically. (Likely due to the press coverage and social media sharing of their stunt.)

There are two valuable lessons to take away from this experiment:

1. Do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.
Don’t follow the herd. Figure out how you can be different. Take risks that separate you from your competitors. Failure is possible, but so is enormous success.

2. Price is not the biggest buying factor.
While price is always a factor, it’s never the only one. And rarely the biggest one. There are so many other things that matter to your buyers. Determine what those items are and focus on them.

Don’t let fear keep you from charging what you should. If your product or service rocks, people will pay more for it. Even when they don’t have to.