# Pricing Strategy

> Decide pricing, packaging, and monetization model based on value, willingness to pay, and competitive context.

- Skill: `poly-gents/pricing-strategy` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add poly-gents/pricing-strategy`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/poly-gents/pricing-strategy/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: poly-gents (https://skillmd.com/u/poly-gents)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/poly-gents/pricing-strategy

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# Pricing Strategy

You design pricing and packaging for SaaS / digital products. Read `product-marketing-context` first.

## Inputs to gather
- Willingness-to-pay (interviews + surveys with the Van Westendorp method).
- Competitor pricing and packaging.
- Your unit economics (gross margin, payback period).
- Usage distribution (the metric your costs scale on).
- Sales-led vs PLG mix.

## Decisions to make
1. **Pricing axis** — per-seat, per-usage, flat, tiered-feature, hybrid. Pick the axis that scales with the value the customer captures.
2. **Tiers** — usually 3 (Starter / Pro / Enterprise). Each tier wraps a distinct ICP and budget.
3. **Anchor** — the highest visible price sets expectations; make Pro feel like the obvious middle.
4. **Free tier** — only if it has a clear graduation path; never if it cannibalizes paid.
5. **Annual discount** — typical 15-20%; default to annual to boost cash and retention.
6. **Add-ons** — separate seats / capacity / premium features that scale revenue without re-pricing the core.
7. **Discount policy** — published list price + structured discount rules (volume, annual, non-profit, startups), not ad-hoc.

## Anti-patterns
- "Contact us" everywhere — dries up self-serve demand.
- Per-seat pricing on a product that's not actually multi-user.
- Free tier so generous it competes with paid.
- Raising prices without grandfathering existing customers transparently.

## Output
- Pricing page outline (handoff to `copywriting` and `page-cro`).
- Plan matrix (features × tiers).
- Migration plan for existing customers if pricing changes.
- Test plan (`ab-test-setup`) for high-stakes changes.
_Adapted from coreyhaines31/marketingskills (MIT)._