Chapter 36

Pay What You Want

Whatever it’s worth to you

An inverted hat filled with dollar bills and coins kept on one platform of a weighing scale, while a musical disc rests on the other vertically. Musical notes seem to emanate from the disc into air.

The pattern

In the Pay What You Want business model, it is the customer who sets the price to be paid for a product or service (WHAT?). The vendor commits to accepting the price offered by the customer, even when it is zero or way below the actual value of the offering. Sometimes a price floor or an ideal price is suggested to the buyer for guidance. This model can attract a wide customer base but is most applicable in competitive marketplaces dealing in products with low marginal costs, and where there is a strong relationship between the parties and a fair-minded customer base. Contrary ...

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