Make Your Price Sell!, The Masters Course | Page 3

was then charged, based upon competing pressures and
“what the market could bear” (although rarely was there science to back up that hoary
old phrase).
Now we are at the beginning of the Digital Revolution. Dynamic pricing has
potential.
Auctions are an interesting and efficient, non-fixed, pricing system. Sellers put an
item up for sale and buyers bid upon it.
It used to be that you had to displace yourself and meet at a fixed time at a fixed
place to participate. Not any more -- at eBay and hundreds of other Net auction
sites, you can bid and sell 24 x 7 x 365. And auctions can also happen in reverse -
- buyers say what they need and sellers submit competing quotes, an increasingly
popular B2B application on the Net.
And not only can you have “reverse auctions,” you can have reverse fixed prices.
The customer submits the fixed price that she is willing to pay. The company meets
that price or not, but there is no negotiating or bidding. Priceline.com is a great
example where you can name your price and save.
EwinWin is an e-commerce business that uses group buying power to drive prices
down. This type of buying opportunity even has a formal name... demand
aggregation.
Of course, the ultimate in flexibility is full, two-way markets like the stock or
commodity exchanges. Buyers bid and sellers ask. The exchange of product for
cash happens when a bid price equals an asking price. Depending upon how large
the buying and selling pressures is, prices for a stock or commodity rise or fall.
Dynamic pricing is the next potential stage of e-commerce development. If it ever
gains in popularity and acceptance, it will change the face of transaction-based sites
forever.
And there you have it... millions of years of pricing history in less than two pages!
What does the future hold?
Let’s consider two kinds of products...
1) Commodity -- a commoditized product has lots of competition. Usually, there’s
nothing that differentiates it from its competitors. You compete on price. Watch for
the Net to force your margins to be razor-thin. “Bots” will haggle with you, one-to-
one, and aggregated demand and markets will ultimately beat you down when they
get around to bidding on your products.
Those who execute best will win this war. Source efficiently. Manufacture just in
time. Laser-speed inventory turns. Proficient distribution.
It’s a brutal way to earn a living. So differentiate yourself and sell...

Make Your Price Sell!, The Masters Course
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2) Proprietary product -- it is an original product with new and valuable benefits.
The innovation can be in the product itself or in the marketing of the product,
preferably both. How to do this is beyond the scope of this book, unfortunately.
Remember, this book is just a crash course!
Original products with new features and benefits stifle “apples-to-apples”
comparisons by “bots.” As a result, you can set a price that will maximize profits.
Keep in mind that markets mature rapidly on the Net -- you may have to adjust
pricing frequently or upgrade your product to maintain your price.
Computer hardware is a great example of both a commodity and of a proprietary
product...
As a commodity, the PC clones are constantly upgrading and shaving prices to
fight each other. How? It’s done it through manufacturing and marketing innovations
(“make-on-demand” and selling-through-the-Web).
As a semi-proprietary product, Macintosh can no longer afford to be far more
expensive than Windows machines. But it has enough original features and extra
user-friendliness that it can still set a slightly higher price.
One thing for sure... your competitors can be reached with a single click of the
mouse. Get the price right or perish.
Of course, even before the right price, you have to have a quality
product or products or you won’t succeed.
Site Build It!, SiteSell’s flagship product, has an incredible product
value-to-cost ratio. It overdelivers at every point…
http://compare.sitesell.com/
Site Build It! has a track record that no other company or product can
come close to matching as these case studies illustrate…
http://case-studies.sitesell.com/
From a history lesson to a marketing lesson... your “pricing education” continues…

Make Your Price Sell!, The Masters Course
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3. The 4 P’s of Marketing
Marketing cycles have accelerated. Distribution occurs at (literally) the speed of light.
Opportunities are everywhere. And with all this speed and opportunity comes...
... heavy, intense competition.
And your customers have access to tons more information. So you better offer the
best value because they’re going to know it, if you don’t!
That all brings an increase in price risk. Misjudging your price points costs
dramatically more than it used to. You just don’t have the time for a second try.
There’s an amazing amount of information on the Web about all forms of both online
and offline marketing. The same goes for business books. Just about every
aspect of Net marketing is covered ad nausea… everything except the single most
important marketing decision that you’ll ever make...
... pricing.
Resources are