March 27, 2026
Justifiable vs Acceptable
At its core, value pricing is based on the assumption that pricing is psychology, not math.
For example...
Let’s say you’re trying to sell me a ’72 Camaro for $500.
In an attempt to justify your price, you spend an hour patiently explaining to me how much it cost you to buy it and maintain it and store it and yada yada yada.
But no matter how ”justifiable“ the $500 price tag might be, I simply DO NOT WANT a ’72 Camaro.
No amount of math will change my mind about this.
To put it another way...
There’s a big difference between a justifiable price and an acceptable price.
Here’s the thing...
If you’re looking for a way to set prices that’s as rigorous as a mathematical proof, value pricing ain’t it.
I think the closest you can get to a mathematical justification for a price is a cost-plus model.
But even with cost-plus...
- How would you justify the size of your “plus” if asked?
- If your costs (even without the “plus”) are higher than what the outcome is worth to the client, you’ll find that the math does nothing to persuade them to buy.
Yours,
—J