111: Raising Prices and Achieving Long-Term Sustainability

Launch Your Box Podcast with Sarah Williams | Start, Launch, and Grow Your Subscription Box

“It takes money to grow.” - Sarah Williams

Is it time to raise your prices? After all, costs are up on absolutely everything. Your costs are up - on products, packaging, shipping, and more. Your costs going up means your profit margins are going down.

If you don’t raise your prices, you’ll keep chipping away at your profit margin - and your business won’t be sustainable long term. It takes money to grow your business. A lower profit margin means less money to invest back into your business which means less growth.

I recently had to do something about increased shipping costs in my business. My “free” shipping was costing me more and more of my profit on every order. I had to make a change. I went from free shipping on everything to a flat rate of $6.99 or free shipping on orders over $100.

I worried about what would happen. Would my customers not buy without free shipping? Would my revenues go down? No. Instead:

• My average order value increased by 38% - from $48 to $65.
• Last month saw a 74% increase in sales year over year.
• Not only are my customers still buying, they’re buying MORE to meet the free shipping threshold.

When you decide it’s the right time to increase the price of your subscription, you have two options:

1. Raise the price across the board for everyone.

• Understand and accept that you may have some attrition - but fewer subscribers at a higher price will make you more profitable in the long run.
• Run a full marketing campaign notifying subscribers the price is going up and when the increase is effective.
• Be transparent about the reasons for the increase. Your subscribers know the price of everything is going up. Make it clear that you want to be around to continue giving them great products in their subscription boxes.

1. Grandfather in your existing subscribers at their current price and increase for any new subscriber.

• This makes for a GREAT launch campaign. “Get in now before prices go up.”
• Older subscribers at the lower rate will go away over time.

You have to raise your prices as your costs rise. You can not sustain your business long term without raising your prices.

Join me for this episode as we talk about profit margins, what the increased cost of absolutely everything means for your business, and the right way to increase the price of your subscription box.

What’s the profit margin on your subscription box?

Text “budget” to 940-204-0023 and I’ll send you my box budget calculator.

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