Pricing is the most important business decision you'll make as a reseller. Too low and you can't sustain quality. Too high and customers go elsewhere. Here's how to find the sweet spot.
Understanding Your Costs
Fixed Costs (Monthly)
- Infrastructure (servers, VPS): €30-200
- Billing system (WHMCS): €15-20
- Domain/hosting for your website: €10-15
- Email hosting: €5-10
- Marketing: €0-50
- Total fixed: €60-295/month
Variable Costs (Per Customer)
- Support time: 15-30 minutes/month average
- Bandwidth overage: Usually included
- Payment processing fees: 2-3% of revenue
Break-Even Calculation
If fixed costs are €100/month and you charge €10/plan:
- Break-even: 10 customers (just covering costs)
- Comfortable: 20+ customers (profit starts)
- Growing: 50+ customers (scaling income)
Market Research
Competitor Analysis
Research 5-10 competitors in your niche. For each:
- What plans do they offer?
- What resources per plan?
- What price points?
- What features are included?
- What's their support quality?
Create a spreadsheet. Look for patterns and gaps.
Price Ranges by Niche
| Product | Budget Tier | Mid Tier | Premium Tier | |---------|-----------|---------|------------| | Minecraft Server | €3-5/mo | €8-15/mo | €20-40/mo | | FiveM Server | €8-12/mo | €15-25/mo | €30-50/mo | | Rust Server | €8-15/mo | €15-25/mo | €30-45/mo | | VPS | €5-10/mo | €10-25/mo | €25-60/mo | | Discord Bot | Free-€2/mo | €3-5/mo | €5-10/mo |
Tier Structure
Three tiers is the sweet spot. Fewer feels limited. More creates decision paralysis.
The Goldilocks Method
- Starter: Low price, limited resources. Gets people in the door.
- Standard: Middle price, good resources. Your main revenue driver. Should feel like the best value.
- Premium: Higher price, maximum resources. For serious users. Makes Standard look affordable.
The Standard tier should be your most popular - price it to offer the most apparent value-per-euro.
Resource Allocation
Each tier should have clear, meaningful differences:
| Feature | Starter | Standard | Premium | |---------|---------|----------|---------| | RAM | 4GB | 8GB | 16GB | | CPU | 2 cores | 4 cores | 6 cores | | Storage | 25GB | 50GB | 100GB | | Backups | Weekly | Daily | Daily + manual | | Support | Email | Email + Discord | Priority | | Price | €8/mo | €15/mo | €25/mo |
Psychological Pricing
Charm Pricing
€14.99 feels significantly cheaper than €15.00. Use .99 or .95 endings.
Anchoring
Show the Premium plan first. After seeing €40/mo, the Standard at €15/mo feels like a deal.
Annual Discounts
Offer 15-20% off for annual payment:
- Monthly: €15/mo
- Annual: €12.50/mo (billed €150/year)
This reduces churn (customers commit longer) and improves cash flow.
"Most Popular" Badge
Mark your Standard tier as "Most Popular" or "Best Value." Social proof drives decisions.
Pricing Mistakes
- Racing to the bottom: Cheapest price attracts the worst customers (high support, low loyalty)
- Hiding costs: Extra charges for "setup," "backups," or "support" destroy trust
- Too many tiers: 6 plans confuse customers. Stick to 3-4.
- No annual option: You're leaving money and retention on the table
- Not revisiting pricing: Market changes. Review quarterly.
When to Raise Prices
- Your support costs increase (more complex customers)
- Infrastructure costs rise
- You've proven value (good reviews, established brand)
- You're turning away customers (too busy = price too low)
Raise prices for new customers first. Grandfather existing customers or give 30-day notice.
Buy infrastructure wholesale from providers like Space-Node with predictable pricing, and build your margin on top. The gap between wholesale cost and retail price is your business.
