When we first started working with Gumroad as a payment processor and digital products distributor we noticed that one of the options to sell our eBooks and videos was to let buyers “pay what they want.”
In fact, the Pay What You Want (PWYW) purchasing model sounds like customers are given the option to pay or not pay for your products, and believe me that the idea is quite scary for a creator. Because why would you give your hard work away for free? So, at first we would just ask a fixed price for our products and that was it.
However, at some point we started to offer free eBooks and suddenly the idea of PWYW popped up again. Actually, rather as a tryout we offered our free products as a “pay USD $0 or more if you want,” and to our surprise some website visitors started to pay “something.” Sometimes one or two dollars, but sometimes five or even ten dollar, etc.
As a result of that, we then did some more research on the advantages and disadvantages of embracing a PWYW selling concept, and we also discovered that it doesn’t mean that you would necessarily give away all your products for free. That is, you could set a minimum price and a suggested price.
Well, we then decided to also switch to a PWYW pricing model for all our paid eBooks and video workshops, not only because of the minimum and suggested price option (which is very important indeed to safeguard a minimum income), but also because we realized that PWYW pricing honors a fair and value based buyer-centered purchasing model in which aspects like wealth, perception, and appreciation are taken into account.
The question of wealth means that our website visitors originate from a variety of countries, each with different standards of living. Therefore, by setting a low minimum price for our products we can accommodate visitors who have less purchasing power.
Perception is yet another important part of PWYW. It means that each person has different motives for buying a product and therefore attaches a different value to a purchase. It seems fair to let buyers pay the price they are willing to pay, based on their personal perception of the value of a certain eBook or video.
And finally the aspect of appreciation. As we are just a small enterprise and always happy with a “bit of extra incentive,” we give those who appreciate our work — and can or are willing to afford it — the opportunity to pay a higher price than the minimum one.
All by all, I can only say that we are very pleased with the PWYW option and we wouldn’t want to do without it. It has proven to be a very successful tool for us to increase our revenue in a way that suits both us and our website visitors.
