Okay so. Can we talk about the people who refuse to post their prices?
You go to their website. You’re interested in working with them. Maybe it’s a course, coaching, or some sort of program that promises to change your life or whatever. And you scroll down looking for the price and instead you find…
“DM me for pricing details!” “Book a discovery call to learn more!” “Investment varies based on your needs!” “Let’s chat about whether this is right for you!”
And I’m just sitting here going… just tell me how much it costs.
The “Application Only” Thing
Or even better: the ones where you have to APPLY to even find out the price. You’re filling out a whole form, answering essay questions about your business and your goals and your deepest fears or whatever, just to get to the part where they tell you it’s $5,000.
And listen, I get it. Some programs genuinely are selective and they want to make sure it’s a good fit before wasting everyone’s time. I’m not mad at that.
But also??? A lot of times it’s just a sales tactic. They want you invested in the process before you know the price so you’re more likely to say yes even if it’s way more than you were planning to spend.
This is the same energy as going to a fancy restaurant and the menu doesn’t have prices and you KNOW you’re about to spend your entire paycheck on a piece of fish.
Why The Journalist In Me Gets Suspicious
Being a former TV news reporter and now an independent journalist here at The Virtuous Creative, my mind is permanently wired to be thinking “what are you hiding and why.”
If your offer is genuinely valuable and fairly priced, why wouldn’t you just… say that? Why all the smoke and mirrors? Why do I have to get on a call with you first?
The usual excuse is “well every client is different so the pricing is custom.” Okay sure. But you could still give a range??? You could say “packages start at $2,000” or “typical investment is between $3,000-$5,000” or SOMETHING.
Radio silence on pricing just feels suspicious. It feels you’re trying to get people emotionally invested before you drop the number on them. Which is… a choice.
And this is one reason why I’m working on a story about manipulative marketing tactics in the Christian women’s business space. Price hiding is just one piece of a much larger pattern I’m seeing. If you’ve experienced shady marketing tactics as a Christian woman in business, I wanna hear from you. Click here to fill out the form.
The High-Pressure Sales Call Thing
Can we talk about what happens when you DO book that discovery call to “learn more about pricing”???
Suddenly you’re in a 45-minute conversation where they’re asking you about your goals and your struggles and painting this picture of how their program is gonna solve all your problems. They’re getting you hyped. They’re making you feel understood. They’re building rapport.
And THEN, about 40 minutes in, they finally tell you the price.
And by that point you’ve invested almost an hour of your life into this call and they’ve made you feel this is THE solution you’ve been looking for and you’re afraid if you say no you’re gonna miss out on the thing that was finally gonna work.
I don’t believe this is transparency. It’s instead a funnel disguised as a friendly chat.
“But What About Luxury Brands”
Okay so some people are all “well luxury brands don’t post their prices either and nobody questions them.”
FIRST OF ALL, yes they do??? You can go on the Chanel website right now and see exactly how much that bag costs. (I just checked. It’s too much. Moving on.)
SECOND, you’re not Chanel lol. You’re probably a business coach in Ohio with a Canva logo. The luxury brand comparison doesn’t really apply here.
And THIRD, even if we’re talking about actual luxury services… custom interior design or whatever… they’ll usually give you a starting point. “Projects typically begin at $50,000” or whatever. They’re not making you fill out an application just to find out they’re out of your budget.
The Respectful Thing To Do
I think posting your prices (or at least a range) is just… respectful.
It respects people’s time. It respects their budget. It lets them self-select out if it’s not a fit instead of wasting an hour on a call that was never gonna work.
And honestly it filters OUT the people who can’t afford you and filters IN the people who can. Which is better for everyone involved.
When I see someone who clearly posts their pricing, I immediately trust them more. Because they’re being upfront. They’re not playing games. They’re confident enough in their offer to just put it out there.
The Christian Business Angle
And can I just say this is ESPECIALLY weird in Christian business spaces???
We’re all out here talking about integrity and honesty and doing business with Kingdom values or whatever. And then we’re playing hide-and-seek with our pricing as if we’re selling used cars.
It doesn’t add up.
If you’re really about transparency and authenticity and all those buzzwords we love to throw around, then just tell people what it costs. Don’t make them jump through hoops to find out if they can even afford to work with you.
When Price Hiding Makes Sense (Kinda)
Okay okay, I’ll give you a few scenarios where not posting prices actually makes sense:
- Truly custom work where the scope genuinely varies wildly. If you’re a designer and one client needs a logo and another needs a full rebrand, sure, those are different prices.
- High-ticket consulting where you’re literally tailoring everything to the specific business and you CAN’T give a number without understanding the scope. Fine.
- You’re still figuring out your pricing and you don’t wanna commit to a number on your website yet. I guess. (But also maybe figure that out before you start selling???)
But even in those cases, you could give SOME indication of price range. “Branding projects start at $3,000” or “consulting packages begin at $10,000.” SOMETHING.
Complete radio silence on pricing is almost never necessary.
What To Do If You’re That Person
If you’re reading this and you’re going “oh no I don’t post my prices,” first of all, no judgment. We’ve all been taught to do business a certain way and sometimes we just follow what everyone else is doing.
But maybe consider: what would happen if you just… posted your prices?
Would the wrong people self-select out? Yes. GOOD. They weren’t your people anyway.
Would you get fewer discovery calls? Maybe. But the calls you DO get would be from people who are actually ready to invest at that level.
Would you feel more aligned with your whole “transparency and integrity” thing? Probably yeah.
I’m not saying you have to post every single package and price point. But giving people SOME idea of what they’re looking at? That’s just basic respect.
The Bottom Line
Look, I’m not the pricing police. You can run your business however you want. But as someone who’s investigating manipulative marketing tactics in this space, the price-hiding thing is one of those patterns that makes me raise an eyebrow.
When you make people work to find out what something costs, you’re banking on them being too invested to walk away once they find out. So yeah. If you won’t post your prices, I’m suspicious. Not saying you’re doing anything wrong necessarily. But I’m watching you lol.
And if you’re a potential customer trying to decide whether to book a discovery call just to learn about pricing? Ask yourself: do I really wanna spend an hour on a sales call, or do I just wanna know if I can afford this.
If it’s the latter, maybe email them and ask for a price range first. See what happens.
Worst case scenario, they still won’t tell you, and you just saved yourself an hour. Best case scenario, they give you an honest answer and you can make an informed decision without the pressure. Either way, you win.
