Why finding your price point feels like threading a needle blindfolded — and the surprising research that makes it easier

Every product maker faces the same pricing paradox.

Price too high and crickets chirp while your revolutionary new thing gathers dust.

Price too low and you either go broke or customers assume it’s cheap junk. (Maybe both.)

The problem with breakthrough products:

There’s no comparable pricing data because nothing like them exists.

This week I was reviewing pricing strategy with a client whose product eliminates a 70-year-old problem that millions of people experience daily.

Finding the right price point required understanding the cost of inaction.

What does the problem currently cost your customer in time, frustration, workarounds, or subpar alternatives?

For BzzzzKill, guitarists were spending hundreds on pickup replacements and noise gates, or even thousands on new guitars to stop Stratocaster buzz. The solution costs a fraction of either alternative.

Ring doorbell founders could have priced their smart doorbell against traditional doorbells ($20-40). Instead, they positioned it against home security systems ($200-500 monthly) and charged accordingly.

In I Need That, I explain how our dog brain doesn’t process absolute price — instead, it processes relative value compared to our current pain.

A $200 solution feels expensive until you calculate what the problem has been costing you.

Start with this: Before setting any price, document exactly what your target customer currently spends solving the problem your product eliminates.

Include not just money, but time cost at their hourly rate, opportunity costs, and frustration factors.

That’s your pricing ceiling.

Your floor is what you need to build a sustainable business.

The sweet spot lives somewhere between those numbers — and you find it by testing, not guessing.

As for capturing contacts? BzzzzKill offers $10 off for email signups and bulk savings that increase order value. Smart discounting drives both leads and larger purchases.

What’s the most surprising thing you discovered about pricing your product?

Pop that reply arrow and share your pricing breakthrough moments — or the mistakes that taught you valuable lessons!

Or reach out to my team of product marketing strategists at Graphos Product.