Member pricing on events and products

If you sell anything alongside your membership, such as event tickets, courses, templates, physical products or services, you have a quiet but powerful pricing tool: the member price. Charge members noticeably less than everyone else, and the membership starts to earn its keep in a way people can calculate. A member who saves more on two purchases than the membership costs has a very simple reason to stay.

Done well, member pricing raises both sign-ups and retention. Done badly, it trains people to join the day before a big purchase and cancel the day after, or it discounts things so heavily that you lose money on every sale. Here is how to design member pricing that works for members and for you.

Think in terms of payback

The most persuasive member discounts are the ones that clearly cover the cost of membership. Start by asking: what would a typical member buy from you in a year, and how much would member pricing save them?

Here is an illustration with round, made-up figures for a hypothetical network for independent craft brewers, run by Siobhan. Membership costs $150 a year. She also sells:

• An annual conference ticket: $400 for non-members, $260 for members
• Quarterly technical workshops: $80 each for non-members, $50 for members
• Recipe formulation templates: $40 each for non-members, free for members

A member who attends the conference and two workshops saves $140 + $60 = $200, which is more than the membership fee. Siobhan can say, honestly, “If you come to the conference and two workshops, membership pays for itself.” That is a far stronger message than a list of benefits.

Choosing what gets a member price

Not everything should be discounted. Member pricing works best on:

• Things members buy repeatedly, such as workshops, consumables or new templates.
• Big-ticket items, such as a conference or retreat, where a single saving is large enough to notice.
• Items with low extra cost to you, such as digital products, where a discount costs little.

Be more careful with anything that costs you real money per sale, such as physical products or one-to-one time. A modest member discount on these is fine, but check that the member price still covers your costs. For live events in particular, the decision about whether to include them or sell tickets comes first; see charging for live events separately from membership.

You can also extend member pricing to other businesses’ products through partnerships, which adds value without costing you margin; partner discounts and member-only perks covers that approach.

Setting the size of the discount

A member discount has to be large enough to matter. A saving of a few dollars on a $400 ticket does not change anyone’s mind. Aim for savings members will notice and remember, and make them consistent enough to explain in one sentence.

Some owners use a simple rule, such as a fixed dollar saving on every workshop or a standard member price across all templates. Others vary the discount to make specific items especially attractive. Either works, as long as members can easily see what they save.

The non-member price must be real. If nobody ever pays it, it is not a price; it is a prop. Set non-member prices you would be happy to receive, and make sure non-members do buy at them from time to time.

Preventing join, buy, cancel

The main risk with generous member pricing is people joining just before a big purchase, taking the saving and cancelling immediately. A few safeguards help without punishing genuine members:

1. Price membership above the single biggest saving. If one purchase saves more than a whole year’s membership costs, joining to buy and leaving is a bargain. For monthly plans, this is where abuse is most tempting.
2. Require membership to be active at the time of the event, not only at the time of booking. Someone who cancels before the conference pays the difference or loses the member rate.
3. Offer member pricing on annual plans only for the largest items.
4. Accept a small amount of misuse. Some people who join for a discount discover they like the membership and stay. That is not a loss.

Whatever rules you choose, state them clearly on the event or product page so nobody feels tricked.

Show members what they have saved

Savings are easy to forget. A member who saved $200 last year may remember only that they paid $150. Remind them, especially before renewal. A short note in the renewal reminder works well:

Subject: Your membership year in numbers

Hi Marcus,

Your membership renews next month. Over the past year you attended the brewers’ conference and three workshops at member prices, and downloaded four formulation templates. That added up to $270 in member savings — well over your $150 membership fee.

Next year’s conference dates are already set, and members get first access to tickets. Your membership will renew automatically, and you can manage it from your account page.

Siobhan

Show member prices alongside non-member prices everywhere, too: on event pages, in the shop and in your emails. Every time a member sees both figures, the membership’s value is reinforced.

Using member pricing to win new members

Member pricing is also an effective sales tool for non-members. When someone is about to buy a ticket or product at the full price, show them how much they would save by joining first. A simple message at checkout, such as “Members pay $260 for this ticket. Join for $150 a year and save $140 today, plus member prices on every workshop,” often converts buyers into members at exactly the right moment.

Your next steps

1. List everything you sell outside the membership, with your cost for each.
2. Estimate what a typical member buys in a year and how much member pricing would save them.
3. Set member prices so a typical member’s savings exceed the membership fee.
4. Check that no single saving makes joining, buying and cancelling worthwhile.
5. Show member and non-member prices side by side everywhere.
6. Add a savings summary to your renewal reminders.