In business school, I was taught to look at pricing as a psychological game. 

Taught a playbook of anchors, decoys, and artificial urgency, designed to bypass logic. It works on paper.

In the real world, it sets off people’s bullsh** detector. Modern buyers are smart. Modern buys are you and I. And we can spot these tactics from a mile away. When I see a countdown clock or a slashed price tag in the wild, it doesn’t magically make me want to immediately buy something. It makes me not want to buy that thing.

That’s because true pricing power comes from clarity. 

It requires a strategy that respects the buyer's intelligence, and helps them choose.

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You may have heard the story of the Williams-Sonoma bread maker. It’s the darling case study of every marketing professor.

In the 90s, Williams-Sonoma introduced a bread maker for $275. It seemed expensive, so nobody bought it. Rather than lower the price, the company added another, more robust model for $429. Suddenly, the $275 model started flying off the shelves.

The lesson was simple: most of us don't know what a product is worth until we see it next to something else.

This (and a few other, similar examples) got adopted into entrepreneurial doctrine. And thus, founders everywhere started hacking:

We came to treat the customer like a lab rat in an experiment that had a foregone conclusion. 

But your customer isn’t a lab rat. And what’s more, they quantifiably hate being treated like one.

Researchers Hardesty, Bearden, and Carlson studied this phenomenon, and coined the term “Persuasion Knowledge.” Essentially, it’s a measure of a consumer’s ability to recognize a sales tactic.

And let me tell ya, their findings were bad news for the growth hackers.

When a customer detects a pricing "trick" (like an exaggerated anchor price or a fake discount), alarm bells start going off. The more Persuasion Knowledge a customer has, the greater the odds of them detecting this.

What’s more: rather than simply rejecting the price, they reject the brand as a whole. The appearance of slyness in pricing creates a negative halo effect, which poisons the perceived quality of the product and the company selling it.

And… It makes sense. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. 

When I see a $2,000 course crossed out to $97, I don't think “wow, I'm getting a great deal!” I just think the course was obviously never worth $2,000.

This research tells us that we need to stop using anchors to deceive and start using them to clarify. These tactics should be used to proactively address customer objections; not force them toward what we deem the best option. 

Otherwise stated: a $5,000 “VIP” package shouldn't solely exist to make the $1,500 package look cheap. It needs to exist because some clients genuinely need white-glove service, and you’re happy to provide it.

When your tiers are real, the anchor works. When they aren’t? Off goes the bullsh** detector.

It’s important to state that Persuasion Knowledge isn’t some wholly-damning critique of pricing tactics. Rather, it’s a reminder that they need to be used right. After all, ethical pricing builds trust.

But to get there, we need to shift away from “growth hacking” (tricking the user), and toward “enablement architecture” (assisting the user).

Here’s how you can make this change.

Your pricing page is a communication channel. Ask yourself what it’s signalling. 

Permanent countdown timers, evergreen “limited spots,” and slashed-out prices signal insecurity. They tell the buyer you don't believe in the sticker price. Get rid of these. All of ‘em. Just clean the slate. 

Use permanent prices, standard fonts, and clear terms. These elements demonstrate confidence in the value you provide. A clean presentation tells the buyer that the price stands on its own merits.

Create a top-tier package that removes the client's workload entirely. 

Assuming you’ve done the work to understand what this offer is worth, maintain your confidence in this tier’s pricing. 

And remember: this Done-For-You option establishes a reference point for premium value. It serves to frame your core offer as the capital-efficient choice (which is good for the majority), while offering a genuine solution for clients who value time above all else.

Offer a Basic tier for clients with tighter budgets by limiting the scope to "Strategy" or "Self-Service." 

This distinction validates your core tier's price by highlighting the implementation work included in the upgrade. It gives budget-conscious clients a path to say yes, while clearly defining what they sacrifice for the savings.

Done right, you’ll have three tiers that you’re content to sell. With effective marketing, you should start to see customers coming in at each of these tiers.

Elfsight Pricing Table

Create clean, tiered pricing structures without a developer. This widget works on any website builder and ensures your VIP anchor looks professional on mobile devices.

Microsoft Clarity

Use real data to verify if you’re setting off customers’ bullsh** detectors. Install this (free) tool to watch heatmaps of your pricing page, and see if they cause people to bounce.

Wynter

Put your pricing page in front of verified B2B professionals. This platform allows you to ask specific questions like "Does this price feel fair?" or "Does this claim sound like a trick?" That way, you can fix the tone of your offer before you show it to real prospects.