spaghettiwires calc

Price discovery with the Van Westendorp method

Asked a group of people the lowest and highest price they'd pay for your product? Paste their answers below: the curves and the price range update as you type.

One line per person: the too cheap price and the too expensive price. With 4 numbers per line, all four questions are used.

[[ fmt(t.respondents, { n: parsed.respondents.length }) ]] [[ parsed.mode === 4 ? t.mode_4 : t.mode_2 ]]

[[ t.errors_title ]]

  • [[ fmt(t.line, { n: e.line }) ]]: [[ t['error_' + e.reason] ]]
  • [[ fmt(t.more_errors, { n: parsed.errors.length - 5 }) ]]

[[ t.empty_title ]]

[[ t.empty_text ]]

How the Van Westendorp method works

The Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter (1976) doesn't ask "how much would you pay?", a question people answer badly. Instead it asks each respondent where the prices they'd reject begin. These are the questions, asked in this order to people who know the product:

  1. 1

    Too cheap Core question

    “At what price would the product be so cheap that you'd doubt its quality?”

  2. 2

    Cheap

    “At what price would it be a bargain, a great buy for the money?”

  3. 3

    Expensive

    “At what price would it start to feel expensive? Not out of the question, but you'd have to think about it.”

  4. 4

    Too expensive Core question

    “At what price would it be so expensive that you wouldn't even consider it?”

Questions 1 and 4 are the bare minimum: together they give each person a range of acceptable prices, which is the two-numbers-per-line format of this calculator. Questions 2 and 3 sharpen the edges of the range.

What the results mean

  • Point of marginal cheapness. Below it, more people find the product suspiciously cheap than a good deal. With 4 questions it's where "too cheap" crosses "not cheap"; with 2 questions it's estimated as the price half the sample calls too cheap.
  • Point of marginal expensiveness. Above it, the price puts off too many people. With 4 questions it's where "too expensive" crosses "not expensive"; with 2 questions it's the price half the sample calls too expensive.
  • Optimal price point. Where "too cheap" crosses "too expensive": the price the fewest people reject.
  • Indifference price point (4 questions only). Where "cheap" crosses "expensive": as many people see a bargain as see an expensive product. It often sits close to the current market price.

A few tips

  • You need at least 30 answers for stable curves; with fewer, read the results as a hint.
  • Ask people in your target market, after showing them the product. People who don't know what it is answer at random.
  • The method measures how the price is perceived, not purchase intent: it tells you where price stops being an obstacle, not how much you'll sell.