How to raise prices without losing customers
Before you raise a price, work out how many sales you could lose and still earn the same in total. In our example a product earns €2.46 per order at €34.90; at €37.90 it earns €4.59, so you could lose 46% of sales and still earn as much as before. Then test it on a few products and compare the real total.
Enter your product and your target margin – the calculator shows the price you need and what stays per order.
Open the profit calculatorWhy small margins make a price increase safer than it feels
When a product leaves only a little money per order, a small price increase changes a lot. The extra money goes straight to your profit, because product cost, shipping and ad cost stay the same. That is why even losing some customers can leave you with more money in total.
How many customers will actually stay cannot be calculated – it depends on your product, your competitors and your customers. What you can calculate is the limit: how many sales you can lose before the price increase stops paying off. If that limit is high, the risk is small.
| Sales you can lose | 1 − contribution per order (old price) ÷ contribution per order (new price) |
|---|---|
| Total contribution | contribution per order × number of orders |
The safe test – step by step
- Pick one to three products with a thin margin and steady sales. Do not start with your best-seller.
- Write down the last four weeks: orders, returns and the contribution per order from the calculator.
- Calculate the new price and the share of sales you can lose. Choose a familiar price point, for example 37.90 instead of 37.43.
- Raise the price in one step and change nothing else at the same time – no new ads, no discount, no new photos. Otherwise you cannot tell what caused the change.
- Wait two to four weeks, or until you have about as many orders as in your comparison period.
- Compare the total contribution, not the revenue or the number of orders. Keep the price if the total went up, go back if it clearly went down.
How much you could lose at different prices
Example shop, 120 orders a month at today's price of €34.90 (contribution €2.46 per order, 9.5% margin):
| New price | Contribution per order | Margin | Sales you can lose |
|---|---|---|---|
| €36.90 | €3.88 | 14.2% | 37% |
| €37.90 | €4.59 | 16.4% | 46% |
| €39.90 | €6.01 | 20.4% | 59% |
Ways to make the increase easier for customers
- Raise prices once and clearly instead of in many small steps.
- Use the moment you add something: better packaging, a new colour, a bundle.
- Keep an entry product at the old price, so price-sensitive customers still have a choice.
- Do not apologise in long texts. A short, honest note is enough if costs have risen.
Worked examples: Example shop: €34.90 → €37.90
The example shop of our Shop-Check: purchase price €11.00, shipping €4.90, payment fee 2.9 % + €0.30, €6.00 ads per order, 12 % returns, 120 orders a month.
- Contribution per order today
- €2.46
- Contribution per order at €37.90
- €4.59
- Sales you can lose and still earn the same
- 46%
- Per month today (120 orders)
- €294.76
- Per month at the new price, same 120 orders
- €550.53
- Price for the target margin of 20 %
- €39.71
At €37.90 this shop could lose 46% of its orders and still earn the same each month. If fewer customers leave, it earns more. The test shows which case is true.