digital-product-pricing
Skill5 starsChanged 37 days agoMITView on GitHub
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".
In this repository18 other files it gives its agents.
- checkout-uxSkill
- discountsSkill
- event-pricingSkill
- increase-aovSkill
- increase-conversionSkill
- increase-repeat-purchasesSkill
- post-purchaseSkill
- price-researchSkill
- pricingSkill
- product-copySkill
- product-pageSkill
- product-visualsSkill
- promotionsSkill
- raise-pricesSkill
- referralsSkill
- reviewsSkill
- store-auditSkill
- subscription-pricingSkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
4 rules. About 0 are common, 2 are distinctive, and 2 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈2
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
2
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 30
Only the rules that change for digital products.
- Very specific: line 32
Unknown or individual seller → rounded: No materials or shipping to signal quality, so a rounded price ($100, not $97) is one of the few …
- Very specific: line 33
Buyer already knows the quality → just-below: After a free sample or a freemium upgrade prompt, quality is already experienced and a …
- Distinctive: line 48
Never "first 50 spots"; use a dated deadline.
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 350,495 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
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.
- 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. - 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. - 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. - Lead magnets: "for $0", never "FREE". Depth:
promotions. - 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.
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