Amazon will auto suggest $2.99 with a 75% commission. Awesome you say, but stop right there and research. Is your name Stephen King, or Rowling, or etc. Many well-known and better selling authors then you and I sell some of their titles at $2.99. So I have a medical thriller called “Still With Eyes Closed” on Amazon, say I list it for $2.99, and right next to my listing is a book by Michael Crichton; who is most likely to get bought? Now don’t start with the ‘ifs’ you know as well as I do who is getting bought at $2.99.
I have also seen some indie authors set their price at $4.99, $6.99 etc. What gives? I will NEVER pay that price for an unknown indie author.
Okay you don’t want to drop below $2.99 because of that 75% commission; we’ll get into that in a minute.
But I am not suggesting setting the price at .99 cents. Let’s think about this as human’s reason on appeared value.
When you run a free promotion, buyers are fully aware that is a sale, likewise with a countdown or .99 cent limited timed sale. Buyers know their time is limited. So this article is focusing on a fixed price.
A fixed price of .99 cents can give the impression that the author may not value his own work (there are many others who suggest the .99 cents but I believe it is counterproductive). Also a fixed price of .99 cents screams ‘cheap’. It will also be reflected in the feedback. It’s just how people sees something below the $1 mark.
Now $1.99, that is below the well-known authors and above the ‘cheap’ listing, it’s under the $2 mark meaning affordable and it’s in the ‘I think it’s worth a try range’. I have sold more books at $1.99 then at any other price point.
Now at $1.99 you will only make 35% commission that seems stupid when I can make 75% at $2.99. Well consider, you fix your price at $2.99 and you sell 10 books a month. Great! I set mine at $1.99 and I sell 200 books in the same time period. Who made more money? Its volume you’re after, if you sell more books at the fixed price of $1.99 then at $2.99 which is the logical price point?
I have also seen some indie authors set their price at $4.99, $6.99 etc. What gives? I will NEVER pay that price for an unknown indie author.
Okay you don’t want to drop below $2.99 because of that 75% commission; we’ll get into that in a minute.
But I am not suggesting setting the price at .99 cents. Let’s think about this as human’s reason on appeared value.
When you run a free promotion, buyers are fully aware that is a sale, likewise with a countdown or .99 cent limited timed sale. Buyers know their time is limited. So this article is focusing on a fixed price.
A fixed price of .99 cents can give the impression that the author may not value his own work (there are many others who suggest the .99 cents but I believe it is counterproductive). Also a fixed price of .99 cents screams ‘cheap’. It will also be reflected in the feedback. It’s just how people sees something below the $1 mark.
Now $1.99, that is below the well-known authors and above the ‘cheap’ listing, it’s under the $2 mark meaning affordable and it’s in the ‘I think it’s worth a try range’. I have sold more books at $1.99 then at any other price point.
Now at $1.99 you will only make 35% commission that seems stupid when I can make 75% at $2.99. Well consider, you fix your price at $2.99 and you sell 10 books a month. Great! I set mine at $1.99 and I sell 200 books in the same time period. Who made more money? Its volume you’re after, if you sell more books at the fixed price of $1.99 then at $2.99 which is the logical price point?
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