Setting prices
Should You Show Your Price or Make Them Ask?
If your price never changes, put it on the page. If it depends on the job, give a range and a real example, never silence.
You're writing up your service page and you get to the price. One instinct says to post it, so you don't waste anyone's time. Another says to hide it, to write call for pricing so nobody leaves before talking to you.
Both instincts sound reasonable. But only one of them is right almost every time, and what decides which one is very specific: whether your price is always the same, or changes depending on who you're selling to.
A Price That Never Changes Should Be Posted
If you cut hair, teach a pilates class, or service an AC unit, your price doesn't depend on who walks through the door. It's the same on Monday as it is on Friday, for the regular down the street as for someone driving in from across town.
In that case, hiding the price doesn't filter anyone out. It just adds a step: the customer has to message you, wait for your reply, and only then decide. A lot of people give up before they get that far and move on to the next listing, the one that just tells them the price.
- The service is the same for everyone, whether or not the customer changes anything
- Visitors already know if they can afford it before they message you
- Every price question answered upfront is one less message you have to reply to
- The price depends on details you don't have yet: square footage, quantity, scope of the job
- Giving a number without those details would either overpromise or undercharge
- The reply comes with a range or a real example, never a blank
Which one to pick: If your service doesn't change from one customer to the next, post it. Only hide it when you genuinely can't know the price without asking, and even then, give a range, never silence.
The most common fear is that your competitor will see your price and copy it, or undercut it. But your competitor already knows it, or finds out in a minute by messaging you like a customer would. The one who doesn't know, and the one who actually matters, is your customer.
Hiding the price doesn't separate serious buyers from the just-curious, either. It separates people in a hurry, who leave, from people with the patience to message you and wait. And being in a hurry isn't the same as not intending to buy.
When the Price Really Does Depend on the Job
A bathroom remodel doesn't cost the same for a 100-square-foot bathroom as it does for a 40-square-foot one, or with a standard shower pan versus a custom one. There, no real price exists until you know the specific job.
But it depends on its own is the worst answer you can give on a website. It depends, sure, and here's more: a range showing your cheapest and most expensive jobs, plus a real, itemized example so the customer understands exactly what it depends on.
That breakdown is worth more than an empty "call for pricing." It tells the customer why there's no single number, and what they can change to bring theirs down, fewer high-end materials, for example, or scheduling with less risk of surprises during the work.
And once you have the details of their job, don't give the quote over the phone or save it for the in-person visit: send it with a fixed price and a payment link, as covered in Get Quote Requests Without a Phone Call First and A Quote Doesn't Belong in Your Price List. It Gets Its Own Payment Link.
When You Have Both at Once
Most businesses aren't purely one or the other. A hair salon has the cut, which always costs the same, and custom color, which depends on the hair that walks in. A design studio has the basic logo at a fixed price and the full brand redesign that needs to be scoped out.
In that case you're not choosing between showing and hiding: you show what's fixed, and for what varies you leave a clear button to request a quote, without mixing the two in the same price line. Let the customer see at a glance what they can book right now and what needs a conversation with you.
In Yodai the store comes with the Free plan, with a catalog, a cart and orders. See how to create your online store for free.
- If your service is the same for everyone, the price goes on the page, plain and simple.
- If it depends on the job, give a range and an itemized example, never silence.
- If you have both, keep the fixed prices separate from what needs a quote, don't mix them.
- Check your page today: if it says "call for pricing" without the price actually varying, change it.
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