Glossary
Price Skimming
With price skimming you launch at a high price and lower it step by step later. It fits products with strong differentiation and early adopters willing to pay.
Price skimming is a launch tactic: you start with a high price and first capture the willingness to pay of the customers who value the solution most. Later you lower the price step by step, opening up more price-sensitive segments.
When skimming makes sense
- Your product has a clearly provable differentiator that early adopters are willing to pay for.
- Capacity is limited (for example in consulting-adjacent offers), so a few well-paying customers beat many cheap ones.
- You want to anchor price perception high: it is far easier to lower a high price later than to raise a low one.
Risks
Skimming needs substance: a high price without provable value produces rejections, not revenue. A high entry price also invites competitors to undercut you, and early price cuts can upset first buyers if they are communicated poorly.
The opposite tactic is penetration pricing. In the 9-step process, the launch tactic is chosen in step 7 (price strategy).