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What is the Pay What You Want Model?
The Pay What You Want model is a promotional pricing strategy that advertises to customers that they can set their own price for your product. You may have also been seen it called ‘Pay What You Can’ or the ‘Value for Value’ model.
While this ‘new’ concept has been gaining traction lately, it’s not new at all. If you have ever gone to a dealership and purchased a new car, you’ll know that many dealerships put a price on a car. However, the customer doesn’t usually pay the ‘sticker price’ – that’s the just the price listed. Instead, you haggle with the salesman to get a lower price… or the price you want to pay.
Similarly, if you’ve ever bought online through Ebay or Mercari, you’ll know that both marketplaces, along with many others, allow sellers to accept offers on their listings. As a buyer, when you submit an offer, you are essentially paying what you want if your offer is accepted.
Why Does the Pay What You Want Model Work?
Put simply, the Pay What You Want model works because it makes people feel good. When you make customers feel good about the deal, customers will buy from you.
Will I Lose Money with the Pay What You Want Model?
No. You will set a minimum price for your product. Customers will be able to pay the minimum price or higher. Obviously, your minimum price should be a price you don’t mind selling the product for.
How Do I Implement the Pay What You Want Model in My Craft Business?
How you implement a Pay What You Want model in your business will depend on what platform you use to sell your products.
I’ve gathered some links for you below to begin implementing a Pay What You Want Model in your craft business.
- Etsy: Etsy does not have a way to implement Pay What You Want for customers.
- Shopify: There are a number of apps in the Shopify App Store to implement Pay What You Want functionality.
- Woocommerce: There’s a great roundup of Pay What You Want extensions on this blog.
- Square: This help center article walks you through setting up a Pay What You Want model for your customers.
- Ecwid: This help center article helps you set up a Pay What You Want model in your store.
- Amazon Handmade: I couldn’t find a way to implement Pay What You Want on Amazon Handmade.
Need help pricing your products? I recommend this article on pricing and this article on static and dynamic pricing.
Do you use a Pay What You Want model in your craft business? How is it working out? Let us know in the comments.
Since 2015, Christine Schinagl has been helping crafters start and run craft businesses through her blog, Cutting for Business. As a Silhouette and Cricut crafter herself, she has a unique take on what works and what doesn’t work in the craft business world. She also enjoys teaching other crafters how to create digital SVG designs, available at through the Design with Me series.