Pricing - a delicate balance

It is a delicate balancing game trying to determine what the fairest price for your goods or services is. How will you know that you are not underselling or overpricing? This is where researching the competition comes in handy.

You have seen those people with the large three ring binder that are going through a store and checking prices on things. Some of them may, admittedly, be store personnel doing spot checks, or shoppers looking for the best deals, but did you know that a decent percent of them are actually employed by the competing stores to check the prices of a store so that they can match prices?

By keeping an eye on what the competition is doing with their prices, it is easier to know what you can or can not charge for something that you are offering. I'm not saying you should break out the Nancy Drew wig and Sherlock Holmes jacket, there is no need to treat it as a undercover operation. Some simple research and maybe leg work will give you an idea of what you should be expecting to be a reasonable price.

Sell things online? Great, the research can be done in your pajamas. Check out competitor's websites or what they have up at auction sites etc to find out what the market is like, then work out your price accordingly.

Don't forget to factor in your expenses and a little for your time, you don't want to offer such a low price that you are loosing money making a product you are selling too low.