Guide
How to Raise Your Prices and Tell Customers
Work out how much your price must rise to keep the profit you want, and how to tell customers in a calm, short way.
Start with the number, not the feeling
Most small sellers delay a price rise because it feels rude. Start with arithmetic instead. Say a candle sells for $20 and costs $12 to make and send, so you keep $8 (40% of the price). Your wax goes up and the cost becomes $13.50. At $20 you now keep $6.50, which is 32.5%. Nothing changed in your shop, but you earn $1.50 less on every candle.
Find the price that restores your margin
To keep a 40% margin on a $13.50 cost, divide the cost by 0.60: $13.50 ÷ 0.60 = $22.50. That is a rise of $2.50, or 12.5% ($2.50 ÷ $20). If you only add the $1.50 cost increase, the price becomes $21.50 and your profit is $8 (37% of the price). That is the same dollars as before, but a lower margin. Decide which of the two you are protecting, and write it down.
Check what a rise does to the units you need
A higher price usually needs fewer sales to earn the same profit. At $20 you keep $6.50 after the cost rise. At $22.50 you keep $9. If you used to sell 100 a month, you earned $650 at the new cost and the old price. At $22.50 you would earn the same $650 with about 72 sales (650 ÷ 9 = 72.2). You could lose a quarter of your buyers and still be level. This does not mean you will lose none or that you will lose few. It shows how much room you have.
Tell customers briefly and give a date
Keep the message short. Say what is changing, the new price, the date, and one honest reason. For example: "From 1 November the Lavender candle goes from $20 to $22.50. Wax has cost us more this year. Orders placed before 1 November stay at $20." Do not apologise three times or write a long story. A clear date also gives regular buyers a reason to order early, which is a fair, small benefit for them.
Raise in steps if you need to
If the full rise feels too big, split it: $21 now and $22.50 in three months. Or raise only the products with the thinnest margins first. Check each product, since the thin ones are usually where you lose money without noticing. Once the new prices are live, look at your sales for the next month and compare profit, not just order count.
