Ep 175: How to Adjust Pricing for Your Membership Without Losing Members

Jun 24

How to Adjust Pricing for Your Membership Without Losing Members

Pricing adjustments can feel like a gamble. Raise the price, and you worry about losing members. Keep it the same, and you wonder if you’re leaving money on the table.

The truth is, pricing isn’t permanent. The best membership owners test, analyze, and adjust their pricing based on data, not fear.

I work with clients who test pricing all the time. In some cases, they increase their price and boost revenue, and in others, they lower their price and make more money in the long run because it improves conversions and retention.

One of my clients had been part of a mastermind where everyone told him he needed to charge more for his membership. So he raised his price, expecting higher profits. Instead, conversions dropped, retention got harder, and his lifetime value decreased.

But instead of guessing, we tested different price points. We analyzed his conversion rates, retention rates, and lifetime value at different prices. To his surprise, his lower price point actually generated more total revenue.

Pricing adjustments should be based on data, not assumptions. Here’s how to adjust your pricing without hurting retention or conversions.

Why Pricing Alone Won’t Fix Retention or Sales

One of the biggest myths about pricing is that:

Lowering your price will automatically increase sales.
Raising your price will immediately cause members to cancel.

Neither of those things are necessarily true.

Pricing only works if the perceived value matches the cost. If members don’t see the value, they won’t pay, even if the price is low. And if they do see the value, they’ll pay more than you might expect.

Your price is more than just a number. It’s a positioning tool.

A membership at $19 a month can struggle to sell if it doesn’t communicate its value.
Another membership at $299 a month can thrive because its messaging makes it clear why it is worth the investment.

Before you change your pricing, ask yourself: Are you clearly communicating the value of your membership?

Biggest Pricing Mistakes Membership Owners Make

Many membership owners base their pricing on fear, assumptions, or what someone else told them to charge instead of testing what works for their audience.

1. Pricing too low

It might seem like a lower price will attract more members, but pricing too low can actually make your membership harder to sell.
If the price feels too low for the value you provide, people assume it isn’t high quality.

2. Raising prices without improving perceived value

Raising prices doesn’t mean you have to add more deliverables.
It doesn’t mean you have to make a big deal about price changes.
Often, the key is simply refining how you position and communicate your membership so that the higher price feels natural.

3. Focusing only on the upfront sale and ignoring lifetime value

A price increase that brings in more revenue per member won’t necessarily lead to higher total revenue if it also increases churn or lowers conversions.
You need to measure the impact of pricing changes on renewals and long-term retention, not just initial sales.

Four Smart Pricing Adjustments for Your Membership

Instead of making random price changes, here are four smart ways to adjust your membership pricing without hurting retention.

1. Keep current members at their existing price and raise the price for new members

One of the safest ways to increase pricing is to keep existing members locked in at their current rate while raising the price for new members.
This allows you to test whether the new price impacts conversions, retention, and lifetime value before rolling it out for good..
Every price increase is also a marketing opportunity. Announcing a price increase gives potential members a reason to join now and lock in the lower rate before the increase.

2. Test different price points with new members

This strategy works well if you have an evergreen funnel, where new members are joining consistently.
Instead of setting one price, you test two different price points with different audience segments and track which one converts better and retains members longer.
If one price consistently leads to higher lifetime value, that’s your winner.
This method does not work well for live launches because offering multiple prices in a short launch window can create confusion and lower conversions.

3. Raise your price gradually instead of making a big jump

Instead of jumping from $49 a month to $99 overnight, increase your price in smaller steps.
If $49 converts well, test $59 next. If that works, move to $69.
This method helps you find the optimal price point without shocking your audience.

4. Leverage pricing psychology to improve conversions

Pricing psychology plays a major role in buying decisions.

Studies show that prices ending in 7 or 9 perform better because of the left-digit effect, which makes $49.99 feel significantly lower than $50.
Pricing thresholds matter.

For example:

A membership at $99 a month will often convert better than one at $105 because it still feels under $100.
However, moving from $105 to $149 may not hurt conversions as much as you think, because once a price crosses into the next hundred range, buyers expect it to be higher.

Understanding these pricing behaviors can help you adjust your pricing for better conversions without leaving money on the table.

Run the Numbers Before You Make a Pricing Change

Pricing isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it decision. The best membership owners test, analyze, and adjust based on data, not fear.

If you want to see how a pricing change could impact your membership’s lifetime value and revenue, grab my free Membership LTV calculator at memberltv.com.

This will help you see the impact of price adjustments before you make any changes.

Pricing adjustments aren’t permanent, but they should always be intentional and data-driven. When you use smart pricing adjustments and pricing psychology, you can increase revenue, improve retention, and create a membership that scales with confidence.

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Shana Lynn