Latest / The Modern Etsy Seller Podcast / EP 8. Should I Price Low When Starting on Etsy to Get Sales? | Etsy Tips for Beginners

Transcript

EP 8. Should I Price Low When Starting on Etsy to Get Sales? | Etsy Tips for Beginners · The Modern Etsy Seller Podcast

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there, welcome to the Modern Etsy Seller Podcast and What You're Wondering.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: This segment where I answer one specific Etsy question in under five minutes.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Melissa, a busy working mom with two profitable Etsy shops, and I'm here to help you build yours.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get to the question.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: So today I'm answering the question: should I price my products low when I'm just starting on Etsy to get my first sales?
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Some will say otherwise, but I say no, at least not in a drastic way.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of new sellers assume that if they're cheaper, people will choose them.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I see a lot of sellers starting out priced so low that they're barely breaking even and even losing money.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to do that to get sales.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't match how buyers behave, especially on Etsy.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: People aren't looking for the cheapest option.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: They're looking for something that feels like the right purchase.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's something known as the price quality heuristic, and it simply means that people tend to use price as a signal for quality.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: So a higher price means better quality, and a lower price means it's a lesser quality.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: So when your product is priced way below everybody else, it doesn't always look like a better deal.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it raises questions about the quality.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: So if you price way below everyone else, buyers might not even consider you as an option.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not what you want.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Another strike against pricing too low at the start is the type of customer you attract.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Research and consumer behavior shows that pricing too low can attract the wrong kind of buyer.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Someone who shops purely on price tends to be more demanding, more likely to leave a negative review, and less likely to be a repeat customer.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: You want buyers who value what you made, not buyers who picked you because you were the cheapest option.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, if you're in the gifting game, when someone is buying a gift, they're not trying to spend the least amount.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: They're trying to get it right.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean you need to be the most expensive option though, either.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: When people are comparing options, they usually gravitate somewhere in the middle.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So keeping your price somewhere in the middle is a nice safe choice.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now, can you be slightly competitive when you're starting out?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a big difference between being slightly under the market and dramatically cheaper.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And one last thing I want to leave you with.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: When you price too low, you're not just undervaluing your product, you're undervaluing your time.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Every listing you create and every product you design and every order you fulfill represents time and effort that you spent.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Price from day one, like that time matters, because it absolutely does.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, if you have a question you'd like me to answer on a future episode of What You're Wondering, head on over to melissacarol.co slash question.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Or you can click the link in the show notes.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for spending time with me today.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next week.