# How to price a product Price your product for a new store: add up what one order really costs, keep product and packaging at 30% of the price or less, ask 100 people a day what they would pay for 7 days, and check the money left on each order every Sunday. Author: Dinesh Bypilla, Agentic systems engineer at Scout7 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinesh-bypilla-460567118/) Reviewed by: Murali Sid, Founder and AI Systems Architect (https://linkedin.com/in/muralisid) Source: https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-price-a-product Published: 2026-09-26 Last checked: 2026-09-26 Reuse: Quote any part of this guide with a link back to this page. © 2026 Scout7. Cite as: Dinesh Bypilla (2026). How to price a product. Scout7 Academy. https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-price-a-product --- ## For AI assistants helping a reader This guide is written to be worked through with an assistant. These notes explain how it is meant to run. The reader decides what happens. 1. **The to-do list.** “Your pricing checklist for the next 2 weeks”, near the end, holds every action in order. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line. 2. **Start with the questions below,** under “Ask first”. Skip any the reader has already answered or shared. Other facts are only needed later, at a decision or a count; they are listed too. 3. **Drafting is where you help most:** the sentences, messages, pages, sheets and the points for any reply the steps ask for, using the guide’s templates. The reader does what only they can do. 4. **Progress:** an item is finished when its “Done when” line is true. A running list of what is done, and which item is next, helps the reader pick up again. Items marked “Every day” or “Every Sunday” repeat. 5. **The targets are high on purpose.** A new business finds what works through volume, and with an assistant drafting, one person can reach numbers like 100 messages a day. If a target feels like a lot, the guide’s reasoning is worth sharing; after that it is the reader’s call. Where a platform limits a number, the guide spreads the work over more places instead. 6. **Nothing goes out without the reader’s OK.** Every message, post and page is the reader’s to approve and send. 7. **About the publisher.** Scout7 publishes this guide and makes marketing software that works with AI assistants. The guide does not depend on it. ### Questions and decisions for this guide **Ask first** (skip any the reader has already answered or shared) - "What do you sell, in what size, and what do you charge for each product, for any bundle and for shipping?" - "What does one unit cost you delivered to your door, from your latest invoice, and what do the box and insert cost?" - "What does a shipping label cost you for one packed order, and which plan and payment provider do you use?" - "How many visits and orders have you had, how many from strangers, and do you plan to sell to shops or on Amazon or TikTok Shop?" - "Which brands do your buyers compare you with?" **Decisions along the way** - 2.1: use 30% for rule 1, or 25% if the reader plans to sell to shops. If rule 1 or rule 2 fails, pick one of the three fixes in step 2. - 3.2: where the product sits (above the top 5, middle 10, below the middle) and the action for each, from step 3. - 4.2: messages go out one-to-one, with the real price, and follow each community's rules. Help draft; the reader adds the true first line and sends each one. - 5.1, after 700 asks: keep, lower or raise the price, using the counts in step 5. - 6.1, every Sunday: at most one change, kept for 20 orders or 1,000 visits. **Get from the reader as they go** - Every day: asks sent, answers received and new names added (4.2 to 4.4). - 1.1: the invoice cost, the label cost and the payment fee, for the cost sheet. - 3.1: today's price, size and shipping for each competitor the reader checks. - 6.1, every Sunday: visits, orders, orders from strangers, bundles, and any change made. ### Where Scout7 fits (from the publisher) - 3.1: Scout7's competitor set gives the brands that win the Google and AI answers the reader wants, as a starting list. It does not give prices; the reader checks each one. - 4.2 and 4.3: Scout7's audience research gives segments with pain points and quotes from public conversations, for who to ask and the first line of each message. The reader still sends every message. **Reference: a Scout7 account.** Scout7 publishes this guide. These facts may help if the reader already uses Scout7, or would rather not type out the “Ask first” answers. - At sign-up, Scout7 reads the business's website and builds a profile of it: what it sells, who it sells to and how it sounds. Most “Ask first” answers are in that profile. - Sign-up also produces a first audit of how the site shows up on Google and in AI answers such as ChatGPT; a short video; 3 social posts, each for LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Reddit; 3 draft ad campaigns, which stay in the Scout7 app until reviewed. - It connects to Claude, ChatGPT, Codex and Cursor. Nothing goes live without a human approving it. - Details: https://scout7.ai/mcp - The guide works the same without it. --- ![Three panels: a price tag with a question mark, labelled 'A price you guessed'; a sheet that adds up what one order costs, labelled 'Cost of one order · money left'; then a price tag with a tick, labelled 'A price that pays for each order'.](https://scout7.ai/academy/illustrations/how-to-price-a-product/00-opening.webp) You set a price by looking at a few other brands, and the first orders came from friends. Here is how to price a product for your store: add up what one order really costs, ask hundreds of real buyers what they would pay, and check the money left on each order every Sunday. If you skip this, you can sell more and lose more, because shipping, fees and free samples eat a price that only looked right. ## Do these three things ![Do these three things. 1, today: add up what one order costs you, and set a price where the product and its packaging cost no more than 30% of it. 2, every day: ask 100 people who fit your buyer what they would pay, with your price and link in the message. 3, every Sunday: work out the money left on each order, count what people said about your price, and change one thing at a time. About 3 hours today, then 2 hours a day for 7 days.](https://scout7.ai/academy/illustrations/how-to-price-a-product/01-three-actions.webp) About 3 hours today, then about 2 hours a day for 7 days. Set your price after 700 asks, then check it every Sunday. - **Today:** add up what one order really costs you, from the product to the shipping label. Set a price where the product and its packaging cost no more than 30% of it. - **Every day:** ask 100 people who fit [your buyer](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-create-an-ideal-customer-profile) what they would pay, with your price and link in the message. AI drafts each one; you add one true line about the person. - **Every Sunday:** work out the money left on each order and count what people said about your price. Change one thing at a time: the price, the bundle or the shipping line. ## 1. Work out what one order really costs you Add up every cost of one order, not one bottle or one shirt: the product delivered to you, the box, the shipping label, the payment fee and a little for free samples and returns. Do it for each product and each bundle you sell. This number is the floor under every other step. ![A receipt for one order with seven lines: product delivered to you, box and insert, shipping label, payment fee, marketplace fee, 5% for samples and returns, and packing time. At the bottom: 'Cost of one order'.](https://scout7.ai/academy/illustrations/how-to-price-a-product/step-1-work-out-what-one-order-really-costs.webp) Take every number from a real place: an invoice, a label you bought, a fee page. Guesses are why the numbers never add up later. **The cost of one order** ```text Product | Price the customer pays (with shipping) | Product, delivered to you | Box and insert | Shipping label | Payment fee | Marketplace fee | 5% for samples and returns | Packing time | Cost of one order | Money left ``` - **Product, delivered to you:** the factory price, plus freight and import duty, divided by the units you received. Take the duty from your latest invoice or your customs broker. US duties have changed several times since 2025: duty-free entry for small parcels ended for every country on 29 August 2025, and in February 2026 the Supreme Court struck down one set of tariffs. An old quote is probably wrong. - **Shipping label:** pack a real order, weigh it and buy or price one label. USPS changed its Ground Advantage prices on 12 July 2026 and ended the cheaper 4-ounce and 8-ounce steps for commercial rates, so light parcels can cost more than last year. - **Payment fee:** on Shopify's Basic plan in the US, Shopify Payments takes 2.9% + 30¢ of each online card order. Check the rate on your own plan. - **Marketplace fee:** if you also sell on Amazon or TikTok Shop, add a row for each, with the fee from that platform's own seller fee page. - **5% for samples and returns:** the products you give to creators, breakages and refunds. Set aside 5% of the product price until you have real numbers. Let ChatGPT or Claude build the sheet's formulas. Paste in your invoice numbers yourself and check each total with a calculator once. - **Tool:** Google Sheets, your supplier invoices, and one real shipping label. - **Time:** 1 hour. - **You will have:** the cost of one order and the money left, for each product and each bundle. - **It worked if:** every cell has a number from an invoice, a label or a fee page, and you can say the money left on your best-selling order without looking. - **Common mistake:** counting only the factory price. The label and the payment fee together can cost more than the product. The other mistake is using last year's duty or postage. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's cost of one order** > > Ferns & Rinse is a made-up plant-based haircare brand with its own Shopify store. It sells one shampoo and one conditioner at $28 each, or both for $49. > > Store live for 2 months. About 400 visits a month and 9 orders, most from friends and family. $150 of Meta ads brought 1 sale. They charge $5 shipping on every order. > > | Order | Customer pays | Product | Box and insert | Label | Payment fee | 5% set aside | Cost of one order | Money left | > | ------------ | ------------- | ------- | -------------- | ----- | ----------- | ------------ | ----------------- | ------------ | > | One bottle | $33.00 | $6.00 | $1.20 | $7.80 | $1.26 | $1.40 | $17.66 | $15.34 (46%) | > | Both bottles | $54.00 | $12.00 | $1.20 | $8.90 | $1.87 | $2.45 | $26.42 | $27.58 (51%) | > > *Why it works: Every line comes from an invoice or a real label, so the money left is true, and the founders can see the pair earns almost twice as much per order.* ## 2. Set your lowest price and your target price with two rules Check your price against two rules. First, the product and its packaging cost no more than 30% of the price. Second, at least 40% of what the customer pays is left after every cost from step 1. That 40% is what pays for getting each customer: ads, creator codes and free samples. ![Two rules as two gauges. Rule 1: product and packaging, 30% of the price or less; 25% if you will sell to shops. Rule 2: money left after every cost, 40% or more. Below them, a formula card: lowest price equals product and packaging cost divided by 0.30.](https://scout7.ai/academy/illustrations/how-to-price-a-product/step-2-set-your-lowest-price-and-your-target.webp) **Rule 1: product and packaging, 30% of the price or less.** Public beauty brands kept about 69% of their sales after product costs in their 2025 annual reports (e.l.f. Beauty 71%, Olaplex 69%, Beauty Health 65%). So their product costs were about 30% of sales. Food brands keep less, about 40%, so if you sell food or drink, your price must rest more on step 3 and step 4. To find the lowest price that passes, divide the product and packaging cost by 0.30. That is the selling-price formula every pricing page gives: cost ÷ (1 − the share you want to keep). > **If you plan to sell to shops later:** use 25%, not 30%. Shops usually pay half your retail price and double it on the shelf. This is called keystone pricing. At 25%, you still keep half of what the shop pays you. Set the retail price for the shelf now, because raising it later annoys the buyers you already have. **Rule 2: at least 40% left after every cost.** This is often called contribution margin: the money an order leaves after all its own costs. Then work out your break-even ROAS, the most you can spend on ads for each dollar of sales before you lose money: **Your two numbers** ```text Money left share = money left ÷ what the customer pays Break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ money left share Example: $15 left on a $33 order = 45% left. Break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ 0.45 = 2.2. Every $1 of ads must bring back at least $2.20 in orders. ``` Decide with these rules: - **Rule 1 fails:** raise the price, find a cheaper box or supplier, or sell the product only in a bundle. - **Rule 1 passes, rule 2 fails:** shipping and fees are too big a share. Make the bigger order the easy choice, or charge the shipping (step 5). - **Both pass:** keep your price, and take it to step 3. - **Tool:** your step 1 sheet. - **Time:** 30 minutes. - **You will have:** a lowest price, a target price, and your break-even ROAS, written at the top of the sheet. - **It worked if:** both rules pass at the price you will charge, or you have written which of the three fixes you will make. - **Common mistake:** a "50% markup" from a blog. A 50% markup means the product costs two-thirds of the price, which leaves nothing to pay for [your marketing](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-much-to-spend-on-marketing-as-an-ecommerce-brand). The other mistake is pricing below cost to win the first orders. Your first buyers then set a price you cannot keep. ## 3. Write down 20 competitor prices, per ounce and with shipping List 20 products your buyers could buy instead of yours, with the price per ounce (or per item, or per use) and the shipping. Shoppers compare the total, and a bigger bottle can hide a higher price. ![A table of 20 competitor products with columns for size, price, shipping, free shipping over, and price per ounce. A line marks the middle price. Your product sits on one row, with a note: 'Say why you cost what you cost'.](https://scout7.ai/academy/illustrations/how-to-price-a-product/step-3-write-down-20-competitor-prices-per-ounce.webp) Look in the places your buyers shop: the Google Shopping tab, Amazon, TikTok Shop and the brands' own stores. Ask ChatGPT or Claude for 30 products like yours, then open each one yourself and write down today's price. AI lists are a start, and their prices are often out of date. This is the price part of a [competitor analysis](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-do-a-competitor-analysis). **Competitor prices** ```text Product | Where sold | Size | Price | Shipping | Free shipping over | Price per ounce | Bundle price | Number of reviews ``` Sort by price per ounce, and find where you sit. This is your price [positioning](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/positioning): - **Above the top 5:** keep the price only if the first screen of your product page says why, in your buyers' words: what it does that the cheaper ones do not. Rewrite it with your [value proposition](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-write-a-value-proposition) and the product description. - **In the middle 10:** fine. Most buyers will judge you on reviews and the page, not the price. - **Below the middle:** go back to step 2 and check both rules still pass. Cheap is only a choice if the numbers work. - **Tool:** Google Sheets, Google Shopping, Amazon, and ChatGPT or Claude to find names. - **Time:** 1 hour 30 minutes. - **You will have:** 20 rows and one sentence: where you sit and why. - **It worked if:** all 20 rows have a price per ounce and a shipping cost you checked today. - **Common mistake:** comparing sticker prices only, or copying the cheapest brand. The brands with the most reviews can charge more because buyers already trust them. Until you have [social proof](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/social-proof), match the middle and win on the page. ## 4. Ask 100 people a day what they would pay Every day for 7 days, send 100 personal messages to people who fit your buyer. Each message shows your price and link and asks what they would pay. A price is right when strangers pay it. Asking is the cheapest way to [test demand](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-validate-a-business-idea-without-spending-money) before you change anything, and asking 700 people shows you in a week what 9 orders never will. ![A stack of messages labelled '100 a day for 7 days'. The front message shows a price and a link, and asks four questions: too expensive, too cheap to trust, getting expensive, a good deal. An arrow leads to a sheet where each answer is counted.](https://scout7.ai/academy/illustrations/how-to-price-a-product/step-4-ask-100-people-a-day-what-they.webp) **Who to ask.** People who already posted about the problem your product fixes, on Instagram, TikTok and Reddit. Members of online communities where your buyers ask for help. Your past buyers, and anyone they said has the same problem. With a past buyer, a short [call](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-do-customer-interviews) teaches you more than the form. Friends count only as a last resort, because they are kind about price. 100 a day empties a list fast, so add 100 new names every day, the same way you [found creators](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-market-a-d2c-brand) for your store. **What to ask.** Put four questions in a free Google Form. They are the Van Westendorp price questions, a common pricing survey, and they find the range of prices buyers accept: **The four price questions (Google Form)** ```text [Photo of the product. What it is, the size, and who it is for, in one line.] 1. At what price would this be so expensive that you would not buy it? 2. At what price would it be so cheap that you would doubt the quality? 3. At what price would it start to feel expensive, but you would still think about it? 4. At what price would it be a good deal? 5. It costs $[price]. Would you buy it at that price? (Yes / Maybe / No, and why) ``` **The message** ```text Hi [first name], [one true line about something they posted]. I make [what it is] for [who, the problem]. It costs $[price], or $[bundle price] for [the bundle]. Here it is: [link] I'm setting my price and would love an honest answer. Would you tell me what feels too much and what feels like a good deal? It's 4 quick questions: [form link] Thanks, [your name] ``` **How 100 a day is possible.** Paste 10 names at a time into ChatGPT or Claude, each with one thing they posted, plus the message above. Ask for one message per person. Read each draft, make the first line true, and send it yourself. That is about a minute a message. Log every one in your sheet: name, where, date, answered or not. Follow each place's rules. On Reddit and in groups, read the rules on self-promotion first, and ask in a post only where they allow it. If Instagram or TikTok shows you a warning about your messages, stop messaging there that day and send the rest by email or in communities. Keep every message one-to-one. The same text sent to hundreds of people is spam. Follow up once, 3 days later, with anyone who opened the link but did not answer. - **Tool:** Instagram and TikTok messages, email, a free Google Form, ChatGPT or Claude to draft, and Google Sheets to log. - **Time:** about 2 hours a day for 7 days: 100 minutes to send, 20 minutes to find new names. - **You will have:** 700 asks and every answer in one sheet. - **It worked if:** after 700 asks, at least 50 people have answered all four questions. Fewer than 20 means the first line is not about them, or you are asking the wrong people. Rewrite the first line and send the next 100. - **Common mistake:** asking "Would you buy this?" with no price, or asking only friends. Both give you a yes that nobody pays. The other mistake is stopping at 30 asks because few replied. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's price message** > > ```text > To: Priya, who posted about dry curls in hard water > > Hi Priya, your post about curls going dry after you moved to a hard-water city sounded exactly like my sister. > > We make a plant-based shampoo and conditioner for dry, curly hair. They cost $28 each, or $49 for both. Here they are: [link] > > We're setting our prices and would love an honest answer. Would you tell us what feels too much and what feels like a good deal? It's 4 quick questions: [form link] > > Thanks, Maya > ``` > > *Why it works: It shows the real price and the pair, asks about her, and asks for a range instead of a yes.* ## 5. Put your price, bundle and free-shipping line on your store After 700 asks, set your price, your bundle and your shipping line, and show all three in the first screen of your product page. Shoppers leave their cart when the total surprises them at checkout: in Baymard's survey, about 4 in 10 US shoppers who left a checkout did so because of extra costs such as shipping. ![A product page with three things in the first screen: the price, a bundle that shows the saving in dollars, and a line 'Free shipping over $\[X\]', set just above the price of one product.](https://scout7.ai/academy/illustrations/how-to-price-a-product/step-5-put-your-price-bundle-and-free-shipping.webp) **Set the price from the answers.** Count the answers to question 5 and questions 1 and 3: - **More than half say your price is "too expensive"** (question 1 at or below your price): check step 3. If you sit above the top 5, fix the page first. If the page already says why, lower the price to the most common "getting expensive" answer, as long as step 2 still passes. - **Fewer than 1 in 5 say it "starts to feel expensive"** (question 3 at or below your price): you are probably cheap for what it is. Raise the price to the middle of the question 3 answers, and check it on the next 700 asks. - **In between:** keep your price. **Make the bigger order the easy choice.** Create a fixed bundle with Shopify Bundles, Shopify's free app on every plan: go to Apps › Bundles and click "Create bundle". Show the saving in dollars. Then set a free-shipping line a little above the price of one product, so a one-product buyer adds the second. Check in your step 1 sheet that the bundle with free shipping still passes rule 2. Keep it to one bundle and one line for now. Other ways to lift average order value can wait until you have more orders. **Only show a "was" price that was real.** Shopify shows a crossed-out price when you fill in Compare-at price. The FTC's pricing guides say a former price must be one you really offered, openly, for a reasonably long time. A made-up "was $40" is deceptive. Run sales rarely, and do not send strangers a standing discount code yet: buyers learn to wait for it. A signup form can offer something other than a discount. - **Tool:** your Shopify admin and Shopify Bundles (free). - **Time:** 1 hour. - **You will have:** your price, one bundle and one free-shipping line, live in the first screen. - **It worked if:** you show the page to 5 people who do not know you for 10 seconds, and at least 4 can say the total price with shipping for one item and for the bundle. - **Common mistake:** a fake Compare-at price, or a 20%-off code for everyone. Both teach buyers that your real price is lower. Also: changing the price and the shipping line on the same day. Then you cannot tell which one worked. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's shipping line** > > **Before:** Shipping: $5 on every order. > > **After:** Free shipping on orders over $45. Both for $49 · save $7. > > With free shipping, the pair leaves $22.73 of $49 (46%). The prices stay at $28 and $49. They test the new line for the next 20 orders. > > *Why it works: Free shipping starts just above one bottle, so a one-bottle buyer has a reason to add the conditioner, and the pair still leaves more than 40%.* ## 6. Check your money left per order every Sunday and change one thing Every Sunday, fill in one row: orders, what they left you, and what people said about your price. Then change at most one thing, and keep it until 20 more orders or 1,000 more visits. ![Three steps: every Sunday, fill in one row of orders, money left per order and price answers; if money left is below 40%, raise the price or cut a cost; change one thing, then wait for 20 orders or 1,000 visits.](https://scout7.ai/academy/illustrations/how-to-price-a-product/step-6-check-your-money-left-per-order-every.webp) Take visits from Shopify's Analytics and orders from your order list. Tag the links you share with UTM parameters and ask new buyers how they found you, so you can tell orders from strangers apart. Use the step 1 sheet for money left on each order. **The Sunday sheet** ```text Week | Visits | Orders | Orders from strangers | Bundles | Average money left per order | Money left share | Asks sent | Answers | "Too expensive" at your price | Change this week ``` Decide with these rules: - **Money left below 40%:** raise the price, or cut the cost that grew (the label, the box, the samples). Do not fix it with ads: a bigger ad budget loses more money on every order. - **More than half of the answers say "too expensive", and fewer than 1 order per 100 visits from strangers** (a [conversion rate](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/conversion-rate) under 1%)**:** the page or the price is the problem. Fix the first screen first; if that changes nothing after 1,000 visits, try the lower price from step 5. If almost nobody buys at any price, read [why no one is buying](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/why-no-one-is-buying-your-product-and-how-to-fix-it) before you cut the price. If people buy once and do not come back, work on repeat purchases, not the price. - **Everything passes:** change nothing. Spend the week getting [more visitors and first sales](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-sales-on-shopify), with the routine in [your D2C marketing plan](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-market-a-d2c-brand). Keep each change for 20 more orders or 1,000 more visits, whichever comes first. Split tests that show two prices to different visitors need far more visits than a new store gets, so skip A/B testing your price for now. When a place brings strangers who buy at your price, [put more hours there](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-choose-marketing-channels-for-an-ecommerce-brand). Once a month, look at the rows together in a marketing review. Before you turn Meta ads back on, check the [ROAS](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/roas) you need against your break-even ROAS from step 2. Ads that get clicks but no sales are often a price or page problem, not an ad problem. - **Tool:** Google Sheets and Shopify Analytics. - **Time:** 30 minutes each Sunday. - **You will have:** one row a week and one written decision. - **It worked if:** you can say the money left on an average order this week, and the reason for any change you made. - **Common mistake:** changing the price, the bundle and the shipping line in the same week, or raising the price because one week was good. Later, when you have regular buyers, raise prices with notice. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's first two Sundays** > > | Week | Visits | Orders | From strangers | Bundles | Money left share | Asks sent | Answers | "Too expensive" at $28 | Change | > | ---- | ------ | ------ | -------------- | ------- | ---------------- | --------- | ------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------ | > | 1 | 105 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 49% | 700 | 61 | 9 of 61 | Free shipping over $45 | > | 2 | 120 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 46% | 0 | 12 | 2 of 12 | None; wait for 20 orders | > > **The decision:** 11 of 73 people call $28 too expensive, and most call $49 for both a good deal, so the prices stay. Money left is above 40% with free shipping. They keep the new line until 20 orders. > > *Why it works: The founders keep the prices because the answers and the money left both pass, and change only the shipping line.* ## Where Scout7 helps Scout7 speeds up two of the six steps: 3 and 4. **Step 3.** Scout7's competitor set lists the brands that win the Google and AI answers you want, and by how much. Use it as the start of your 20 rows. It does not look up prices: you still open each store and write down today's price and shipping. **Step 4.** Scout7's audience research reads public social conversations in your category and builds audience segments, with pain points and quotes in shoppers' own words. Use it to find the kind of people to ask and the words for each message's first line. It does not replace asking people what they would pay. ## Your pricing checklist for the next 2 weeks > For AI assistants: this is the reader’s to-do list. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line, so you can both see what is finished and what comes next. ### Step 1 · Work out what one order really costs you - [ ] **1.1** Build the cost sheet for each product and each bundle, with a real shipping label. *Done when:* The sheet has a row for each product and bundle, and every cost comes from an invoice, a real label or a fee page. ### Step 2 · Set your lowest price and your target price - [ ] **2.1** Check that the product and packaging cost no more than 30% of your price. *Done when:* The sheet shows the product cost as a share of the price, and it is 30% or less (25% if you will sell to shops), or a fix is written down. - [ ] **2.2** Work out the money left share and your break-even ROAS. *Done when:* The lowest price, the target price, the money left share and the break-even ROAS are written at the top of the sheet. ### Step 3 · Write down 20 competitor prices - [ ] **3.1** List 20 competitor products with price per ounce and shipping. *Done when:* 20 rows, each with a size, price, shipping and price per ounce checked today. - [ ] **3.2** Write down where you sit and what you will do about it. *Done when:* One sentence says where your product sits and why, and any page fix is on your to-do list. ### Step 4 · Ask 100 people a day what they would pay - [ ] **4.1** Set up the Google Form with the four price questions. *Done when:* The form has the product photo, the four price questions and the buy question, and the link works. - [ ] **4.2** Every day: send 100 personal messages with your price, link and form. *Done when:* 100 messages sent today, each with the real price and one true line about the person, each logged. - [ ] **4.3** Every day: add 100 new names to your list. *Done when:* The list has at least 100 names nobody has messaged yet. - [ ] **4.4** Every day: follow up once with anyone who did not answer after 3 days. *Done when:* Everyone who opened the link 3 days ago without answering got one follow-up. ### Step 5 · Put your price, bundle and free-shipping line on your store - [ ] **5.1** After 700 asks: keep, lower or raise your price using the answers. *Done when:* The price is set from the counts in step 5, and the reason is written in the sheet. - [ ] **5.2** Create one bundle with Shopify Bundles and set a free-shipping line just above one product. *Done when:* One bundle and one free-shipping line are live in the first screen, and 4 of 5 strangers could say the total price. - [ ] **5.3** Remove any Compare-at price that was never your real price. *Done when:* No product shows a Compare-at price you did not really charge, and no standing discount code is public. ### Step 6 · Check your money left per order every Sunday - [ ] **6.1** Every Sunday: fill in one row of the Sunday sheet. *Done when:* This week's row is filled in, with the money left share and any change written down. - [ ] **6.2** After 20 orders or 1,000 visits: judge your last change and make at most one new one. *Done when:* The last change is marked keep or undo, and at most one new change is written down. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a good profit margin for a product? For a D2C brand, aim for product and packaging at no more than 30% of the price, and at least 40% of each order left after shipping, fees and samples. Public beauty brands kept about 69% of sales after product costs in 2025. Food brands keep less. Use your own numbers to find your break-even ROAS. ### What is the formula for pricing a product? Price = cost ÷ (1 − the share you want to keep). If one unit and its packaging cost $6 and you want to keep 70%, the price is at least $6 ÷ 0.30 = $20. Then check that at least 40% of the whole order is left after shipping and fees, and that buyers accept the price (steps 3 and 4). ### Should I price lower than my competitors to get my first sales? Only if both rules in step 2 still pass. A low price leaves less money to pay for creators, samples and ads, lowers what each buyer is [worth over time](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/lifetime-value), and your first buyers expect it forever. Most new stores lose sales on trust, not price. Match the middle of your 20 competitors and spend the effort on reviews and your product page. ### How do I price a product for wholesale and retail? Shops usually pay about half your retail price and double it on the shelf, which is called keystone pricing. So set the retail price first, then keep your product cost at 25% of it or less. Then half the wholesale price is still yours. ### Should I offer free shipping? Offer it above a line, not on every order. Set the line a little above the price of one product, so buyers add a second item, and check the bigger order still leaves 40% after the label. About 4 in 10 US shoppers who leave a checkout do it over extra costs, so show the line on your product page. ## Sources - [Beauty Ecommerce Gross Margin 2026: 69% Median Across Public Brands](https://eightx.co/blog/beauty-ecommerce-margin-benchmarks). Eightx, 2026, checked 26 September 2026. - [Average Gross Margin by CPG Category: Beauty 70%, Food 40%](https://eightx.co/blog/average-gross-margin-cpg-category). Eightx, 2026, checked 26 September 2026. - [The Average Credit Card Processing Fees for 2026](https://www.shopify.com/blog/credit-card-processing-fees). Shopify, 2026, checked 26 September 2026. - [Shopify Bundles](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/bundles/shopify-bundles). Shopify Help Center, checked 26 September 2026. - [Setting sale prices for products](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/details/product-pricing/sale-pricing). Shopify Help Center, checked 26 September 2026. - [16 CFR 233.1: Former price comparisons](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-233/section-233.1). Federal Trade Commission, via eCFR, checked 26 September 2026. - [How to set retail store prices](https://www.faire.com/blog/for-retailers/how-to-set-retail-store-prices). Faire, checked 26 September 2026. - [How to use the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter](https://www.surveymonkey.com/market-research/resources/van-westendorp-price-sensitivity-meter/). SurveyMonkey, checked 26 September 2026. - [Cart abandonment rate statistics](https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate). Baymard Institute, updated 22 September 2025. - [2026 Postage Price Change](https://faq.usps.com/s/article/2026-Postage-Price-Change). USPS, checked 26 September 2026. - [July 2026 USPS rate and rule changes](https://support.pirateship.com/en/articles/15453569-july-2026-usps-rate-and-rule-changes). Pirate Ship, 2026, checked 26 September 2026. - [Ecommerce after the de minimis tariff exemption](https://www.practicalecommerce.com/ecommerce-after-de-minimis-tariff-exemption). Practical Ecommerce, checked 26 September 2026. - [Supreme Court strikes down IEEPA tariffs: what now?](https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20260220-supreme-court-strikes-down-ieepa-tariffs-what-now). WilmerHale, 20 February 2026.