Founders: What Happened When You Raised Your Prices?

Haven't raised prices yet but I went the opposite route: set a low early bird price ($19) with a public deadline to go up to $49 at 25 subscribers. The interesting thing is that picking the future price forced me to commit to what I actually think the product is worth before anyone signed up. AdamDellos is right that it's a belief question more than a pricing question.

Good thing to ask out loud, and most of the answers you'll get will be some version of "wish I'd done it sooner." One reframe before you go shopping for other people's stories though: what happened when they raised prices tells you less than what made them able to. A price change isn't really a pricing decision, it's the moment you find out whether you believe what you deliver is worth the new number. If you do, the right clients barely blink. If you're not sure, you'll fold the first time someone pushes, at any price. So the more useful question than "did they lose people" might be "am I actually clear on what this is worth."

When I raised my prices the last time, I started with clarity in my margins (regarding how much my service actually costs me), then I evaluated the scope of work/deliverables for what they're paying for, and adjusted as needed. I never raised prices before looking at how I could be more efficient with my money, and if I could not tie the raise in price to the customer back to a tangible future goal I'm building towards.

Happy to share how I tend to work through that part if it helps.

curious what surprised you most — was it churn from existing users, or prospects freezing on discovery calls when they heard the new number?

when i raised prices, the painful part wasn't the spreadsheet — it was live calls where people went quiet or said "that's more than i expected" and i didn't have a clean next line.

what channel were you selling through when you tested the raise — inbound, outbound, or communities?

The fear before raising prices is almost always bigger than the reality. I've found that customers who leave after a price increase were often the ones who were never really locked in—always looking at alternatives. The ones who stay are usually just relieved you're not going out of business. The biggest win is always in the margins—even small price increases compound fast. Most founders wait way too long. What price point did you move to?