Using ConvertKit Commerce, you can sell digital downloads, premium newsletters, and so much more. With all of these options for your products, you will likely also need flexibility in how you determine your pricing.
In this article, we're diving into the newest payment option in ConvertKit Commerce: Pay What You Want.
Payment options just got more robust
You have the option to charge a standard one-time fee, a recurring subscription, or opt to let your customers choose their price! 💸
This is a great option for selling your product if:
You want to build trust with your customers by giving them control
Your customers have varied budgets but still want to support you
You're not sure what to price your product yet
Now let's walk through setting up this Pay What You Want feature, and a few details.
(First, create a new product. If you haven't done that yet, here's how.)
Start by naming your product under the Product Details section. Then select the 'Pay what you want' option under Pricing Method:
Enter the Minimum Price you'd like your customers to pay for your product:
Your buyers can always offer more—this is simply the minimum amount you’ll accept.
☝️ NOTE: The Pay What You Want feature has an important difference when creating your product, compared to other Commerce pricing types (standard and subscription): PWYW is the only pricing option where you can set the product’s price at $0, or anything at/above $1. (The minimum for the other options is $5.)
However, the minimum price cannot be between $0 and $1, as the transaction fees would be higher than the purchase price.
Next, choose whether you're selling a Digital Download, Newsletter, or Something Else:
5. Choose a URL for your product and click 'Create Product':
Now you can customize your product's image and description, then it's time to share it with the world! 🎉
Here's what your product will look like to the customer:
How to change the minimum price
Want to set a higher or lower minimum price? Here's how:
1. Click the Settings button for your product:
2. Under Product Details, set a new Minimum Price:
3. Hit the Save button!
FAQs
Can I offer a discount using the Pay What You Want feature?
Nope! Discounts and PWYW are mutually exclusive (Why discount something when you can set the price at $0, or let your customer make an offer?)
Is the checkout experience the same?
Checkout can be slightly different if the buyer offers less than your minimum, OR the buyer tries to skip entering a price.
Wait, my customer can SKIP setting their own price?
Yes. A buyer does have the option to skip entering an amount in the price field and click your ‘buy’ button, which will take them straight to the checkout page.
In this scenario, the checkout will automatically default to your set minimum acceptable price: if you set it to 0, the checkout will be for $0. If you set the minimum at $50, the checkout will be for $50. Additionally, the amount sent to Stripe for processing will always show at the top of the checkout page—so no chance for surprises.
What if my customer tries to pay less than my minimum set price?
The transaction will ultimately be denied, and your buyer will be prompted to try again.
Let’s say your set minimum purchase price is $9, but your buyer offers $5 and clicks your ‘buy’ button. They will still go to the checkout page and be prompted to enter their credit card information for a $5 charge. It will look like the charge is going through—but in the end, they’ll get an error about failing to meet the product’s minimum amount/no money transaction on their card.
If they want to course-correct, they can do so in the same way as for any other checkout error: reload the page and start over.
Need a little more information on setting up payments? Check out this guide below! 👇