Let's play a hypothetical game

[lucycodex]

Consider for a moment, that you are a writer. You offer your lowest price at a discount. Say, the first 500 words is 5$, but each extra 250 words is an extra 5$. Something like that.

Now consider that someone sees that initial 5$ for 500 price, and decides to take advantage of it. Ordering several smaller orders and breaking up a single article into multiple smaller segments to save some cash. That way, instead of having to pay 35$ for 2000 words, he only has to pay 20$ for it.

Considering that this is a hypothetical scenario. what would you do?

[uk1000]

Hypothetically you could tell them they can’t do that. But I’d also change my pricing structure if I was the seller so that the first 500 words wasn’t cheaper than adding another 500 more words. If I was going to discount I’d maybe do it in a different way (eg. 10% off your first order if you contact me first or something - and you’d send an offer for that amount which would be 10% less than if they ordered with the word count normally - edit: though 10% off could lead to amounts that weren’t whole dollar amounts - but you could do something like that).

[hanshuber16]

hmm… I think if the buyer added the extras, they would get the order delivered in a much shorter time right? If they were to split it into 4 orders, you could take 4 times longer to complete the same amount of work. Correct? So, the buyer is at a loss here (considering the buyer wants to get their job completed in a reasonable amount of time, which most of them are). So, I don’t think most buyers would do that.

And, in the meantime, since you have 4x more time for working on the order now, you could devote the remaining time on other orders… This way, you don’t really end up earning less cash. In fact, you could even end up earning more. Does this make sense?

[jonbaas]

Consider for a moment, that you are a writer. You offer your lowest price at a discount. Say, the first 500 words is 5$, but each extra 250 words is an extra 5$. Something like that.

Now consider that someone sees that initial 5$ for 500 price, and decides to take advantage of it. Ordering several smaller orders and breaking up a single article into multiple smaller segments to save some cash. That way, instead of having to pay 35$ for 2000 words, he only has to pay 20$ for it.

Considering that this is a hypothetical scenario. what would you do?

Considering that this is a hypothetical scenario . what would you do?

I would complete the order that was processed, and then make sure that for future orders, I charge a LOT more than $5 for 500 words. That price is ridiculously and unrealistically low.

[hanshuber16]

Considering that this is a hypothetical scenario . what would you do?

I would complete the order that was processed, and then make sure that for future orders, I charge a LOT more than $5 for 500 words. That price is ridiculously and unrealistically low.

I think it is not about the absolute prices… It is more about the relative prices of the gig and the extras… I think the pertinent question here is: which component of your gig (base gig price or the price for the extras) would you charge more for?

For argument’s sake, let’s say the gig is priced at $100 for 100 words (10 day delivery time). Would you charge more than $100 or less than that for an extra 100 words?

If a buyer ordered an extra 100 words along with the gig (total of 200 words), that would mean I would have to do 2X more work within the same amount of time (10 days). So, it would obviously make sense to charge more for the gig extras imo (because the delivery time is not increasing in proportion to the increase in the number of words).

[cyaxrex]

Consider for a moment, that you are a writer. You offer your lowest price at a discount. Say, the first 500 words is 5$, but each extra 250 words is an extra 5$. Something like that.

Now consider that someone sees that initial 5$ for 500 price, and decides to take advantage of it. Ordering several smaller orders and breaking up a single article into multiple smaller segments to save some cash. That way, instead of having to pay 35$ for 2000 words, he only has to pay 20$ for it.

Considering that this is a hypothetical scenario. what would you do?

Now consider that someone sees that initial 5$ for 500 price, and decides to take advantage of it. Ordering several smaller orders and breaking up a single article into multiple smaller segments to save some cash. That way, instead of having to pay 35$ for 2000 words, he only has to pay 20$ for it.

These people are a nightmare. In writing, it’s not possible to work on a $/cents per word basis. Every segment needs to be written as a standalone piece of content. This takes just as much energy as writing a full article.

In your case, I would complete the order as is. Buyers like this usually know what they are doing. Call them out on it and you can end up paying come review time. I’d complete the order. Then if the buyer leaves a review, I’d respond with my own saying: “Thanks. I’m happy I could help. However, please note that…”

If the buyer didn’t leave a review, I’d modify my gig rates to stop them ordering again. The main thing is to stop them from identifying you as a go-to person for cheap content.

[misscrystal]

I agree with Andy. You don’t want to be the cheap one or you get the cheap demanding buyers.

[mrhamb]

Considering that this is a hypothetical scenario . what would you do?

I would complete the order that was processed, and then make sure that for future orders, I charge a LOT more than $5 for 500 words. That price is ridiculously and unrealistically low.

That price is ridiculously and unrealistically low.

Sorry to interrupt but I was thinking about which one is better. I provide translation service, so is better to charge the work per word…or per pages?

[jonbaas]

That price is ridiculously and unrealistically low.

Sorry to interrupt but I was thinking about which one is better. I provide translation service, so is better to charge the work per word…or per pages?

Sorry to interrupt but I was thinking about which one is better. I provide translation service, so is better to charge the work per word…or per pages?

Charge what your services are worth to you. Find the midpoint between what you want to charge (I recommend a price that earns you a profit, and what your customers will consider fair and reasonable for your services.

[jonbaas]

I think it is not about the absolute prices… It is more about the relative prices of the gig and the extras… I think the pertinent question here is: which component of your gig (base gig price or the price for the extras) would you charge more for?

For argument’s sake, let’s say the gig is priced at $100 for 100 words (10 day delivery time). Would you charge more than $100 or less than that for an extra 100 words?

If a buyer ordered an extra 100 words along with the gig (total of 200 words), that would mean I would have to do 2X more work within the same amount of time (10 days). So, it would obviously make sense to charge more for the gig extras imo (because the delivery time is not increasing in proportion to the increase in the number of words).

For argument’s sake, let’s say the gig is priced at $100 for 100 words (10 day delivery time). Would you charge more than $100 or less than that for an extra 100 words?

I would (and do) charge the same price for extra services, since those extra services are merely an option to scale up the original package services. Why would anyone charge less for the same type of added work?

If a buyer ordered an extra 100 words along with the gig (total of 200 words), that would mean I would have to do 2X more work within the same amount of time (10 days). So, it would obviously make sense to charge more for the gig extras imo (because the delivery time is not increasing in proportion to the increase in the number of words).

That is certainly one factor that should be considered. If the addition of extra work challenges the original package services deadline, then yes, charge more to account for the added work within the same time frame.

Myself, for example, I have 3-day or 7-day delivery, so, for me, I don’t charge for the time of the added work, because I have plenty of time per order (in the order that orders are received). I just charge for the added work. However, it you, had an order that had a one or two day deadline, then yes, that’s a rush job to start with, so charge more for time consideration as well.

[juanwriter]

This hypothetical scenario is a bad one. When you offer discounts, those must be well built and planned. Bulk discounts works well when you have a good base net profit. Let’s say you aim for a 150% benefit when selling a product, you build a discount per units like this:

1 Product = 200% benefit
2 Products = 180% benefit
3 Products = 165% benefit
4 Products or more = 150% benefit

NEVER aim for a net profit and then scale down, that’s a mistake! So, if you want to offer bulk discounts, and your net profit target is $0.03/word, the scale would be for example:

500 words = $0.04/word
+250 words = $0.03/word

In your example, you are doing the opposite: you are offering a lower price at base tier, like this:

500 words = $0.01/word
+250 words = $0.02/word

Which just don’t work. If you want to offer a discount, use a progressive model with the end target as your desired net profit.

Besides that, writing for $0.01 just tell the buyer the kind of results they will get.

[lucycodex]

This hypothetical scenario is a bad one. When you offer discounts, those must be well built and planned. Bulk discounts works well when you have a good base net profit. Let’s say you aim for a 150% benefit when selling a product, you build a discount per units like this:

1 Product = 200% benefit

2 Products = 180% benefit

3 Products = 165% benefit

4 Products or more = 150% benefit

NEVER aim for a net profit and then scale down, that’s a mistake! So, if you want to offer bulk discounts, and your net profit target is $0.03/word, the scale would be for example:

500 words = $0.04/word

+250 words = $0.03/word

In your example, you are doing the opposite: you are offering a lower price at base tier, like this:

500 words = $0.01/word

+250 words = $0.02/word

Which just don’t work. If you want to offer a discount, use a progressive model with the end target as your desired net profit.

Besides that, writing for $0.01 just tell the buyer the kind of results they will get.

NEVER aim for a net profit and then scale down, that’s a mistake! So, if you want to offer bulk discounts, and your net profit target is $0.03/word, the scale would be for example:

500 words = $0.04/word

+250 words = $0.03/word

Really? I always have the base price be lower in order to get the customers through the door.

[juanwriter]

NEVER aim for a net profit and then scale down, that’s a mistake! So, if you want to offer bulk discounts, and your net profit target is $0.03/word, the scale would be for example:

500 words = $0.04/word

+250 words = $0.03/word

Really? I always have the base price be lower in order to get the customers through the door.

lucycodex:

NEVER aim for a net profit and then scale down, that’s a mistake! So, if you want to offer bulk discounts, and your net profit target is $0.03/word, the scale would be for example:

500 words = $0.04/word

+250 words = $0.03/word

Really? I always have the base price be lower in order to get the customers through the door.

You get your customers using your quality and appealing facts rather than price, then you try to upsale using price discounts. This is a well known sales strategy. When you catch your customers using just price, you are less competitive than other sellers.

[vickiespencer]

That price is ridiculously and unrealistically low.

Sorry to interrupt but I was thinking about which one is better. I provide translation service, so is better to charge the work per word…or per pages?

Sorry to interrupt but I was thinking about which one is better. I provide translation service, so is better to charge the work per word…or per pages?

I would think that charging by the page is too subjective. Depending on the font a writer can fit anywhere from 1 to 500 words on a page. 😉