How To Price Software

By: Helen Rogers

Break Studios Contributing Writer

When it comes to figuring out how to price software, things can get a little taxing. When coming up with the right price for your title that you diligently created, it can be a little difficult to find that middle ground that won’t tear up the customer’s wallet but will also generate decent revenue. You want to receive compensation for your work, yet you don’t want to scare customers off with the triple digits. There certainly are a lot of factors to consider when we price software, but after taking a look at those factors, it will probably be a little bit simpler to come to your verdict.

1. Consider your competition. What are you up against? You can look to your competition as a guide to get an idea of what other people are charging for the type of service you’re offering. You should become acquainted with the average range, because your customers will already be knowledgeable on that subject. Also remember that just because another company’s similar program runs at about $250 doesn’t mean that it’s okay for you to price yours at $225. It would seem logical to be the cheapest in the market, but being cheap can also make a negative statement toward your product. A prospective customer might contract the idea that your product is a lower grade compared to higher priced similar software.

2. Think about the targeted demographic. Who is the program aimed at? Is it a children’s game? Is it an image creation program used widely among college students majoring in an arts degree? When you price software, it’s important to think about how financially established your prospective customer would probably be.

3. Consider what your customers will be doing with your product. It’s important to think about the benefit they will receive from your work when you price software. Also consider the flexibility and all of the possible things that can be done with the program. Features and versatility are what makes a program worthy of its price. If the software that you’ve created is not useful enough to the customer, the value is greatly affected.

4. Consider extra sources of revenue from the software. After your customer buys your product, is that simply going to be it? Are there going to be more services involved that they can take advantage of for a price? If it’s necessary, you could create training resources, premium services, and subscription rates for the software you’ve created. If you plan on having these other sources of income, this could allow some flexibility for the software price.

5. Think about whether or not you will conduct sales and limited time offers. If you’re also planning to hold sales and limited time offers for the program, this could also help you set a more affordable price for your work. You could plan certain discounts or sales when competitors launch new software or possibly if your sales begin to decline for some reason. 

Posted on: May. 21, 2010