Digital Product Pricing

---
name: digital-product-pricing
description: Use when pricing or promoting a digital product sold online — an ebook, online course, template, printable, download, or gated content/lead magnet — e.g. "how much should I charge for my course", "$97 or $100", "should I discount pre-orders", "how do I label the free PDF", "should I let people pay what they want for the ebook", "pricing my Notion template".
---

# Digital product pricing

Digital products have no cost signal from materials or shipping, so the price digits carry more of the quality judgment than for a physical good. This skill is the delta versus `pricing`, `promotions`, and `discounts`. Memberships and recurring plans → `subscription-pricing`.

## When to use

- Choosing the digits of a one-off digital price (rounded vs just-below)
- Pricing a freemium→paid upgrade or wording a lead magnet
- Designing a pre-order or launch offer, or deciding whether to let buyers pick a price

## When not to use

- Recurring plans and memberships → `subscription-pricing`
- Working out *how much* people will pay → `price-research`
- Shared digit, gift, "$0", deadline, and depth rules in isolation → `pricing`, `promotions`, `discounts`

## Inputs

Collect, or state your assumption: product and candidate price; individual vs known publisher; whether the buyer has already used a sample or free tier; launch date; results-driven vs pleasure-driven.

> **Classify the product first.** *Hedonic* = bought for enjoyment, pleasure, or the experience (chocolate, fashion, decor, travel, spa, perfume). *Utilitarian* = bought to do a job, judged on function and value (detergent, appliances, insect repellent, tools, accounting software). If it's mixed, decide by what the buyer is optimizing for at the moment of purchase.

## Procedure

Only the rules that change for digital products. Shared catalogs live in the Depth skills.

1. **Unknown or individual seller → rounded.** No materials or shipping to signal quality, so a rounded price ($100, not $97) is one of the few quality cues available. Just-below reads as price-led. Depth: `pricing`.
2. **Buyer already knows the quality → just-below.** After a free sample or a freemium upgrade prompt, quality is already experienced and a low-price ending is fine — and the left digit must actually drop. Depth: `pricing`.
3. **Distant pre-orders: gift, not discount.** Launch 3+ weeks out → bonus module or extra pack at no cost, not a percentage off. Within about a week, either works. Results-driven courses tolerate only short pre-launch windows. Depth: `promotions`.
4. **Lead magnets: "for $0", never "FREE".** Depth: `promotions`.
5. **Pick-your-price, never pay-what-you-want.** 3–4 fixed options; most pick the lowest, so set it deliberately. PWYW is for donations. Depth: `promotions`.

Shared, unchanged: sale-price just-below, same-left-digit upgrade tiers, deadline not a seat cap, discount ≤ 40% (quality is hard to judge before buying a file). Depth: `pricing`, `discounts`.

## Worked example

Individual creator, LinkedIn-growth course, plan: $97, "FREE download" checklist, pre-orders 6 weeks out at 20% off, pay-what-you-want ebook.

- $97 → **$100** (unknown seller, quality is the decision driver). Keep a just-below figure for launch-week only.
- "FREE download" → **"Download it for $0"**.
- 20% off, 6 weeks out → **bonus module at no cost**; keep the window short for a utilitarian course.
- Pay-what-you-want ebook → **three fixed options**.
- Never "first 50 spots"; use a dated deadline.

## Output

| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Price | $100 (rounded — individual seller, quality signal) |
| Sale/upgrade price | $79.99 during launch week only |
| Pre-order offer | Bonus module at no cost for orders before launch |
| Lead magnet wording | "Get the checklist for $0" |
| Participative pricing | Ebook at $9 / $15 / $25, not pay-what-you-want |
| Why | one line per choice |

## Common mistakes

- $97 "because creators do it" — for an unknown seller it signals price-led; round it.
- Keeping a pre-order discount for a launch weeks away — a gift wins.
- Calling a lead magnet "FREE" — write "for $0".
- Pay-what-you-want with a floor — still pay-what-you-want; use fixed options.

## Quick reference

| Situation | Do | Depth |
|---|---|---|
| Individual / unknown seller | Rounded | `pricing` |
| Freemium / sample already used | Just-below | `pricing` |
| Pre-order, 3+ weeks out | Gift, not discount | `promotions` |
| Lead magnet | "For $0" | `promotions` |
| Let buyers choose | 3–4 fixed options | `promotions` |
| Discount / urgency | ≤ 40%; dated deadline | `discounts` |

Evidence and effect sizes: see [reference.md](reference.md).