If your product suddenly cost a hundred times less, would anyone still want it? The answer reveals the gap between what you sell and what people truly need. Remove two zeros from your price to understand the real value of what you offer.

High price is never the problem. It’s a symptom. When someone tells you your product is too expensive, they’re saying something else: that what you offer doesn’t match what they need. Price is a signal, not the root cause.

The question that dismantles any product.

If your product cost a hundred times less, who would buy it? The answer to that question reveals the real value of what you offer, stripped of the marketing story, the brand, the prestige.

If a $10,000 consulting package cost $100, would anyone hire you? If not, the problem isn’t price. It’s that no one wants what you’re selling.

If a $1,000 online course cost $10, would people still not complete it? Then the problem isn’t that it’s too expensive — it’s that it doesn’t solve a real problem.

If a $200/month SaaS cost $2, would users still not return the next month? Then the issue isn’t acquisition — it’s that there’s no retention because the value isn’t real.

Value = what your product does without you present.

The price you charge is supported by three layers: technical value (what the product does), perceived value (what the client believes the product does), and relational value (trust in the person selling it). By removing two zeros, you eliminate the second and third layers. What remains is the naked technical value.

And that’s the only foundation that matters in the long term.

The exercise that surfaces the true value proposition.

Take your main product. Imagine it costs $1 or its minimum possible price. Who buys it? What problem does it solve? From there, rebuild your value proposition from the customer’s reality, not your aspiration.

Fix that first. Then set the price by adding back value layers: support, guarantee, community, results, exclusivity. Not the other way around.

In a world where pricing errors kill more businesses than competition, knowing what your product is really worth — stripped of everything — is the only sustainable competitive advantage.

The real value of what you offer is what sustains your golden goose, and the proposition that survives is the one that emulates, combines, and executes instead of copying the wrapping.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why remove two zeros instead of one? One zero isn’t enough to strip away the perceived and relational layers. With two zeros, almost all the psychological support disappears and only the naked technical value remains.

What if no one wants my product even at a symbolic price? Then you have a fundamental problem of value. The product doesn’t solve a real problem for anyone. Before setting price, fix the proposition.

Does this apply to luxury products? The exercise works for any product. In luxury, the perceived value is the product, so removing zeros reveals whether at least the exclusivity and status justify the price.