If you follow the rules of the failed dot-coms you’ll aim to sell mass market products for less than bricks and mortar (real world) businesses do already.

However, business this way can be hard – lots of competition, overhead and tight margins.

One basic way to work out how much you should charge for your products is to work out your costs (buying the products in the first place, shipping them to customers, website hosting fees, domain name charges etc.) and work out your break-even price.

Then simply add enough profit to undercut your competitors.

But it’s hardly scientific is it?

However cheaper isn’t always better. For example, if you’re selling a range of “high quality” items, then it simply doesn’t add up if they’re also cheaper than lower quality products.

Unless you’ve got a very good reason as to why your products are better and cheaper, then you’ll usually sell more of an item by pricing it higher.

Pricing a product low enables you to undercut the competition and break into new markets if done right, whilst higher prices can instill a sense of reliability and quality to customers.

Let’s look at two perfect examples.

Both are Internet marketing courses – both are of a very high standard, containing information gleaned from years of trial and improvement.

One costs around $200 and is a huge bargain when you equate the cost to the increase in revenue you’ll encounter when you put the information into action.

The other costs around $20 which whilst being different in style and content is still a vastly popular, impressive and profitable read.

So why such a massive price difference?

Corey Rudl, the author of the first course, made $5.2 million last year with his business so he’s clearly not failing to make money with his course!

Corey sells on quality. All his products are on the top end of the price scale but you get your money’s worth and more every time.

Corey is a veteran of Internet marketing and became a millionaire at 27 thanks to his Internet activities.

If you like, you’re buying a “pedigree”. Corey knows his information is worth the price and his customers don’t mind paying it.

A comparatively high price can be reassuring – it suggests subconsciously that the item is high quality.

Indeed, there are so many free ebooks out there written by rip-off merchants hoping to make a fast buck that charging a lot for a course really makes it stand out.

So why would Ken Evoy, the author of the second book, sell his for around $20?

The reason is simple. He wanted to enter the already crowded arena of Internet marketing information.

So he priced so low just about anyone could afford it, then gave so much value to his newfound customers it bowled them over.

They have been singing his praises ever since (and incase you hadn’t guessed, I’m one of them!).

So, when Ken brought out his next product, which cost slightly more but still more than delivered on the cost:benefit front, his thousands of satisfied customers snapped it up.

Using this technique, Ken has since built one of the most successful, profitable and popular Internet marketing businesses in the world.

When I last checked, his website was within the 500 most visited sites on the net. And that’s impressive!

A unique product causes the greatest problems. If there’s little or no competition, or its a digital product so doesn’t cost anything to produce, package or ship, then how much do you charge your customers?

The problem is that if your customers expect, and so are willing to pay, a larger sum of money for your products than you’re charging then you’re leaving cash on the table.

Conversely, price too high and customers will lose interest as the cost:benefit ratio drops.

It’s a difficult compromise – and one that if you get it right will add significant additional profits to your bottom line.

In short, pricing is a much misunderstood, rarely considered variable in business success – that can leads to business success or failure.

To get the full lowdown on the exact methods, strategies and techniques to maximizing your revenue by using intelligent pricing (and perhaps even out-competing your competition by charging more) then you’d be best advised to check a new package called Make Your Price Sell!.