Most creators price too low, then conclude the audience will not pay. Usually the audience would have paid; the price signalled that the work was not worth much, and the fees ate what was left.
Start with the fee arithmetic
Card processing is roughly a percentage plus a fixed amount per transaction. The fixed part is what makes very small prices bad business.
At $1, a fixed fee of around 30 cents is nearly a third of the transaction before anyone's commission. At $5 it is 6%. At $20 it is under 2%. The same sale, wildly different economics — and it is why almost nobody offers a $1 tier once they have done the sums.
Practical floor: around $3, and $5 is usually better. The difference in conversion between $3 and $5 is far smaller than most people fear, and the difference in what reaches you is large.
Three tiers, and what each is for
Offer three options and you will find they get used by three different people:
- The easy yes (around $5). Someone who liked one thing. Most of your volume.
- The considered one (around $15–25). Someone who follows you and wants something in return — a download, early access, a name credit.
- The generous one (around $50+). A small number of people who will pay well above the others, and who will not exist at all if you do not offer the option.
That third tier is the one people skip, and it is frequently where a meaningful share of the revenue comes from. You are not imposing it on anyone — you are declining to cap what a willing supporter can give.
Give the number a reason
An unexplained price invites comparison shopping. A price attached to an outcome does not. "$5 — covers a bag of clay" is not marketing fluff; it converts better than "$5" because it tells the buyer what their money did.
Price the outcome, not the hours
Hourly pricing punishes you for getting better at your craft. The buyer is not purchasing your afternoon; they are purchasing the thing that exists afterwards. A logo that took you two hours because you are experienced is worth more than one that took a beginner two days, not less.
When to raise prices
- Nobody ever hesitates. If no one has flinched at a price, it is too low. A little resistance is the signal you are near the right number.
- You are busy and unprofitable. Classic underpricing. More volume makes it worse, not better.
- You resent the work. A reliable emotional signal that the price no longer matches the effort.
Raise by a sensible step — 20–30% — on new buyers only, and let existing supporters keep what they have. You will lose fewer than you expect, and the ones you lose were the least profitable.
The experiment worth running
Change one price. Leave everything else alone. Wait a month. Compare total revenue, not the number of buyers — fewer sales at a higher price is usually the better outcome, and it is invisible if you only track volume.
Set your own prices on the free plan — you choose what each gift costs, and the money settles into your own Stripe account.