Pricing Strategy 101: How to Stop Undervaluing Your Products or Services

Written By: Ogundare Timilehin 

Updated May 30, 2025

Key Points: 

• Pricing strategy

• How to price products

• Do not undervalue your work

• Value-based pricing

• Product pricing strategy

• International pricing strategy

• Service pricing guide

Table of Contents

• What Is a Pricing Strategy?

• The Risks of Underpricing Your Products or Services

• Reasons Why Business Owners Sell at a Loss

• Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Underprice Their Products

• How to Determine the Ideal Price Point

• Learning About Value-Based Pricing

• The Psychology Behind Value-Based Pricing

• Pricing Problems Everywhere on the Globe

• How to Increase Prices Without Losing Customers

• SEO Strategy for Global Coverage

• Conclusion

Introduction

One of the most critical—and most overlooked—elements of a successful business is the way that you are pricing your goods or services. Whether you're an independent-preneur, a free-lancer, or running a successful global business, one trap lies in wait that keeps you back: underpriced goods or services.

In this post, we're going to take you through Pricing Strategy 101 so you'll never miss out on money again. You'll learn why underpricing can be dangerous, the psychology of price-winning, and how to implement value-based pricing that resonates with your brand and your perfect customers everywhere.

 What is a Pricing Strategy?

A price strategy is a systematic approach adopted to determine the optimal price of your product or service keeping in mind the nature of the market, competition study, perceived value, and customer demand. Some of the most common pricing models are:

• Cost-plus pricing

• Competitive pricing

• Penetration pricing

• Premium pricing

• Value-based pricing (priority one)

Why it matters: Honest pricing makes more money, creates strong brand, and drives long-term expansion. Underpricing, though, will kill your business—regardless of how spectacular sales.

 The Dangers of Underpricing Your Products or Services

Low price might seem like a money-making strategy to more people in, but the long-term consequences are catastrophic:

• Lower profit margins

• Perceived low quality

• Attracting the wrong people

• Over-delivering and under-earning burnout

Challenge building your business

Example: You can have fast customers with a $50 logo designer, but they will never get to experience luxury businesses or earn what they deserve.

Most common reasons entrepreneurs underprice

Admit why you do it and it will be less complicated to modify your way of thinking and your approach. These are some of the most frequent reasons individuals underprice:

• Imposter syndrome

• Having fear of losing customers

• No market research

• Not competing with mass-market players

• Less cost, more quantity

Attitude: Your price is not a number; it's value and experience that you are providing. Price-match not price-match.

Pricing at the Right Point

By not pricing yourself out of your products and services, you'll need a formula considering internal and external drivers that drive you:

Step 1: Consider your costs

Labor, materials, overheads, and advertising.

Step 2: Know Your Market

• Competitor analysis. What do they charge? What are they offering?

• Find customer expectations by income levels and geography.

Step 3: Know Your Value

What is the differentiation or value to your customer?

Is your offering best, convenient, or exclusive?

Step 4: Test and Optimize

• Test tiered pricing.

• Test A/B testing on packages and landing pages.

Understanding Value-Based Pricing

Value-based pricing is price based on perceived customer value—not competition or costs.

Benefits:

• Increased profitability

• Better brand positioning

• Outcome-based customer loyalty

Idea: An hour with a life coach is only 5 hours but with life-changing results. Is it worth paying that $500 or $5,000? Value and not time will determine the price.

Psychology Of Pricing

Pricing is logical, but not rational. Let's use psychology like this:

• Anchoring

• Get others to compare against a pricier one so that they look relatively inexpensive.

• Charm Pricing

• .99 prices are the better than round prices ($49.99 instead of $50).

• Prestige Pricing

• Round prices ($1,000) apply where elitism is mandatory.

• Bundling

• Bundle products to provide value and boost average order value.

International Pricing Considerations

When selling overseas from the home country market, remember:

• Currency Exchange

• Exchange strategically, not directly. Psychological price points vary by nation.

• Purchasing Power

• Recover from local pay and local price expectations. Something which is very expensive in one nation can be pennies in another.

• Localization

• Employ local language and locally appropriate graphics in your promotions to speak about prices.

Illustration: A $99-a-month service in the US would have to cost $59 in India to be at parity, but with an adjusted level of service.

 How to Raise Prices without Losing Customers

You don't need to triple your prices overnight. This is the how-to do it with flair:

• Advertise value added (new feature, increased experience).

• Use scarcity and sense of urgency (transitory limited price levels) to encourage people to buy now.

• Offer grandfathered pricing to existing loyal customers.

• Rebrand to accommodate your premium product (design, copy, customer service).

Tip: Price increases will bring you more quality customers—customers who are polite, loyal, and treat you as a partner, not a supplier.

 International Traffic SEO Strategy

It's not only wonderful content that counts—it has to be discovered. Here's how to place it (and your own) in front of international traffic:

Primary Keywords:

• Pricing strategy
• How to price products
• Value-based pricing
• Long-Tail Keywords:

How to avoid undervaluation of your freelance services

Best pricing strategies for international markets

Price guide for small business services

On-Page Optimization:

1. Employ keywords in title, H1, H2s, meta description, and image ALT tags.

2. Create brief, descriptive meta descriptions (under 160 characters).

• Include table of contents with jump links.

• Off-Page SEO:

1. Invite guest blogging opportunities to international business blogs.

2. Pull backlinks from authority sites from your niche.

Multi-language Optimization:

• Translate best-performing pages in Spanish, French, or Hindi.

• Use hreflang tags for optimization in many regions.

Content Strategy:

• Publish related articles:

• "10 Pricing Faux Pas That Are Killing Your Sales"

• "Cost-Based vs. Value-Based Pricing: What's Best?"

• "How to Build a Premium Brand with Price Confidence

 Conclusion:

Under-pricing your work is a stealthy business killer. It hurts your earnings, self-esteem, and reputation. And it's also wholly reversible.

By embracing the shift to value-based pricing, focusing on psychological pricing tactics, and tailoring your products worldwide, you can:

• Draw in higher-caliber clients

• Expand your business for the long term

• Build your reputation as an upscale provider

Keep in mind: Price is a value indicator, not work. So start pricing like a pro—and get paid what you're worth.

Call to Action: Having trouble pricing your product or service? Comment below your biggest challenge.