[CrashTECH]

Originally Posted by mightymarce

I'm not in business myself so this advice isn't backed up by anything, but perhaps it may be useful. My step-sister sells Mary Kay cosmetics, and apparently one big piece of advice that gets passed around there is to never lower your prices-- give free gifts or other discounts, instead. Lowering your prices devalues your product. If you instead give a special deal or discount, customers feel like they're getting a good deal.

Expanding this, if you lower your prices that then becomes your new "normal" priceline (and what people expect) and eventually you'll have to raise them again, which is a pain and people hate seeing prices of something they've used before, go up. If you instead offer discounts-- 20% off a sitting fee, free 8x10's, etc-- it's still easier on their wallets, but people understand that they're temporary. Better still, b/c of that they may feel more motivated to book you before your discounted deal expires. No messy having to go back later and raise your rates-- they're still what they've always been, just with a temporary bargain deal.

Hope that makes sense.

Excellent advice!