Book pricing is more than just a number on the cover,it has a powerful psychological effect on potential buyers. A well-set price can be the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity. Unfortunately, many authors, particularly newcomers, fail to realize how crucial it is to consider factors like perceived value, competitor pricing, and customer expectations when determining their book’s price.

In this article, we help authors to maximise their revenue by providing psychological principles behind book pricing. We also provide data-backed insight that affects the sale. 

The Left-Digit Bias: Why $9.99 Feels Much Cheaper Than $10.99

Many brands create the illusion of lower prices by ending the price with a .99 figure instead of a rounded figure. Have you ever wondered why they do so? It is a cognitive bias theory where buyers place divergent importance on the leftmost digit while purchasing. This bias also has a psychological pricing effect in book marketing, where potential buyers perceive prices ending with .99 as lower. However, the actual difference is minimal. 

Here we have two studies to prove this theory, one by Thomas and Morwitz (2005) that said that consumers focus more on the leftmost digit, which leads to categorising $9.99 rather than $9 or $10. While the second study by Schindler and Kibarian (1996) stated that those products priced at .99 have 8% more sales than products with the rounded numbers.  

Therefore, the authors need to set the price with a .99 figure instead of a rounded one that surely increases the sale. 

Perceived Value of .99 vs .00

Consumers associated odd numbers like .99 or .96 with discounts and bargains. They perceived this value as lesser than whole numbers, like .00. According to one study, the non-rounded prices have more purchases because of the ease of comprehension. 

Odd vs. Even Pricing: Which Works Best for Books?

For the price sensitive customers, odd prices ($9.99) are more attractive than even prices (& $10.00). But if you want to make your book look professional then it’s better to set even prices. Because it is also a human psychology that they consider luxury products to cost in whole numbers.

Round vs. Precise Pricing

People take the precise prices more calculated and fair, which work better for impulse driven buyers. However, the rounded prices are best for emotional purchases as it is uncomplicated decision-making for buyers for the things they need. So for competitive nonfiction books precise pricing is best.  while for emotional purchases like fiction or children books rounded prices are best. 

The Sweet Spots for eBook and Paperback Pricing

Best Book price point: For Amazon KDP, the optimal prices are $2.99, $4.99, and $9.99. 

Best paperback price point: For affordability $9.99, for bestsellers $14.99-$19.99, and for premium books $24.99 or above. 

Key Takeaways for Authors

• Use non-rounded numbers ($9.99) as compared to rounded—Readers perceive these prices to be cheaper and lower conversion.
• For nonfiction, professional, and premium books, use even pricing ($10.00).
• To make competitive nonfiction books more calculated, precise pricing should be used ($12.47).
• For selling on Amazon KDP, $2.99, $4.99, and $9.99 for eBooks. 

By using a proper pricing strategy, authors can maximize their sales revenue. Therefore, always work on appropriate prices before marketing your work. 

At A2Z publishing, we help authors and publishers by the use of Ai and Data analytic approaches. For further advice and guidance, Book a Marketing Consultancy Call.