Shannon's Journal

[Shannon]

Speaking from a consumer's point of view, I'm never happy about a price hike . However, I do agree that these subs are definitely worth a lot considering how effective they are so 20 bucks a pop isn't terrible, considering that the price of best selling video game is TWICE that much (and less beneficial). Now, as far as the upgrade from 3G to 4G, perhaps you could offer a 10-20% discount for upgrades? That's about about a $1-$3 dollar discount, so you won't be losing a huge amount of profit, and consumers can still feel like their getting a deal.

Also, can you tell us about the future price of Single Stage Name embeds? I'm hoping the price of full customs doesn't go up considering they're already $400 bucks.

As a customer, I don't like price increases either. But, I am willing to pay what something is worth to me, and honestly, if I was buying subliminals and they worked this well, I would still think they were underpriced at $19 each. I used to go to this one Chinese buffet in Savannah, GA, the one with the big statue outside on the main road? Don't remember either name. But they alone had hot, fresh, GOOD crab legs. All the other Chinese buffets had old stale crud. So when they had to charge $15 extra for someone who was getting snow crab legs to keep that option possible I didn't mind, because I was getting what I wanted and still getting it cheaper than I could have gotten it elsewhere. (I can eat a LOT of snow crab!)

Same thing here. I have to make sure we stay in business and remain as successful as possible. If I could do that by lowering the price, I would do that - but, in this case, I calculate that lowering the price would destroy perceived value and lessen sales at the same time it lessens profits. It would, in other words, kill us.

The optimal price point is the one that produces the most possible profit, from a business point of view, and from a consumer point of view, it's the one at which you can get the best possible quality at the lowest price. Ironically, these are one and the same price, if you know how to calculate it properly. When both sides benefit mutually, everybody wins. Yes, increasing the price is more money out of your pocket, but that price increase also changes things so that I can assure we stay in business in the coming difficult economic times. Not only because of the increase in profit per sale, but because the perceived value will better match the asking price, which results in... more sales! The optimal price is also the one which balances perceived value with asking price.

There may be price increases to six stage customs and name embeds somewhere down the line, but I'm not worried about that right now. Single stage customs are not going to increase in the forseeable future unless I consistently become so swamped with orders for them specifically that I have to increase the price to keep myself from overloading all the time. At the moment, I am interested mainly in correcting the undervaluing of my work and protecting the business by making it as successful as possible.