Value-Based Pricing Double Test
Price the outcome, double the quote, and let the next buyer test it
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 97%
This pricing method replaces hours with customer value as the primary anchor. First identify what changes for the buyer after the work succeeds: protected revenue, saved risk, increased sales, convenience, or another meaningful outcome. Estimate the scale of that benefit rather than multiplying hours by a rate. Hourly pricing can punish expertise because getting faster makes the provider earn less for the same or better result. Rodgers then adds a simple market test: double the current price for the next prospect, state it without a dramatic announcement, and observe the response. If the buyer readily pays, treat that as evidence for the new price. If not, collect the objection and refine the offer or price. The test replaces anxiety about ‘other people's pockets’ with direct willingness-to-pay evidence.
Origin
Rodgers underpriced trademark work until a friend challenged her. She later connected the durable value of brand protection to pricing and began telling clients to test doubled prices.
Core principles
- 01Price the value delivered, not the hours consumed.
- 02Expertise should not earn less merely because it works faster.
- 03Sellers often project their own money worries onto buyers.
- 04A real quote reveals willingness to pay better than speculation.
- 05Fewer higher-paying clients can outperform many underpriced clients.
How to run it
- 1
Define the buyer's outcome
Describe how the work changes the buyer's business or life. Make the benefit concrete and consequential.
Pro tip Include risk prevented and future value protected, not only immediate output.
- 2
Break the hourly anchor
Separate price from the amount of time an experienced provider needs to deliver. Anchor on the outcome's value instead.
Watch out Do not promise value you cannot credibly create.
- 3
Set the doubled test price
Use twice the current price as a concrete first experiment rather than debating a perfect number.
Pro tip Test it with the next prospect; no broad announcement is required.
- 4
Quote without projection
State the price and let the buyer decide. Do not lower it preemptively based on your own worries about money.
Pro tip Pause after quoting instead of negotiating against yourself.
- 5
Use market evidence
If buyers accept, establish the higher price; if they object, record why and adjust from evidence rather than fear.
Pro tip Track acceptance across several qualified prospects.
In the wild
Rodgers argues that properly protecting a trademark can support a brand that later becomes an empire. The legal task may take only a few hours, but its value includes preventing others from stepping on a brand potentially worth hundreds of thousands or millions.
→ A $5,000 or $10,000 fee can be reasonable even when time-based math suggests much less.
A stylist charging $50 might quote $100 to the next prospect and see what happens. Rodgers recounts a stylist nervously moving from roughly $50 to $60 when the customer would have paid much more without concern.
→ A live quote exposes underpricing that private speculation cannot detect.
Common mistakes
Rewarding speed with lower income
Hourly pricing can reduce earnings as expertise makes delivery faster. The buyer still receives the outcome, so time alone is the wrong anchor.
Worrying about other people's pockets
Sellers often assume a higher price is unaffordable without asking. Let qualified buyers reveal what they will pay.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for freelancers and service entrepreneurs whose expertise creates outcomes worth more than their delivery time.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when services are commoditized, outcomes are unclear, or the seller cannot credibly deliver the promised value.
From the transcript
“What the hell does time have to do for it? What is the value that you provided, right?”
“Guess what happens when you price based on time? Like you get better at something, which means you get faster at it. Now you make…”
“Just the next prospect that you talk to, the next potential client that you talk to, quote a doubled price and see what happens. And…”
From the episode
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