Van Westendorp turns four survey questions into a price range most of your buyers accept.
- Ask each respondent four prices: too cheap, cheap, expensive, too expensive.
- Paste the answers below to get the range, the optimal price and the chart.
- Then A/B test a price inside the range: what people say isn’t what they pay.
One respondent per line: too cheap, cheap, expensive, too expensive. Paste from a spreadsheet.
The example is 30 made-up answers for a $29/month tool.
Price between $13 and $40.
- Lowest acceptable
- $13
- Optimal
- $23
- Indifference
- $25
- Highest acceptable
- $40
Below this, too many doubt the quality
Fewest rejections on either side
As many call it cheap as expensive
Above this, too many won't buy
- Too cheap
- Cheap
- Expensive
- Too expensive
- Acceptable range
Runs in your browser. Your answers aren’t sent anywhere.
The four questions to ask
Ask them in this order, as open number fields, not multiple choice. Show what the product does first, so people price the thing you sell, not a guess.
- 1
Too cheap
At what price would you consider [product] so cheap that you’d doubt its quality?
- 2
Cheap
At what price would you consider [product] a bargain, a great buy for the money?
- 3
Expensive
At what price would [product] start to seem expensive, though you’d still consider it?
- 4
Too expensive
At what price would [product] be so expensive that you wouldn’t consider buying it?
- Ask the right people. Trial users, recent sign-ups or people on your waitlist. Not friends, not other founders.
- Name the billing period. “Per month” or “per year”, the same in all four questions.
- Any form tool works. Export the four columns to a spreadsheet and paste them above.
Reading the result
| Point | Where the curves cross | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest acceptable | Too cheap and not cheap | Below it, more people doubt the quality than see a bargain |
| Optimal | Too cheap and too expensive | The fewest people reject the price on either side |
| Indifference | Cheap and expensive | The price people see as normal for this kind of product |
| Highest acceptable | Too expensive and not expensive | Above it, more people refuse than merely hesitate |
Lowest acceptable
- Where the curves cross
- Too cheap and not cheap
- What it means
- Below it, more people doubt the quality than see a bargain
Optimal
- Where the curves cross
- Too cheap and too expensive
- What it means
- The fewest people reject the price on either side
Indifference
- Where the curves cross
- Cheap and expensive
- What it means
- The price people see as normal for this kind of product
Highest acceptable
- Where the curves cross
- Too expensive and not expensive
- What it means
- Above it, more people refuse than merely hesitate
The shaded band on the chart is the acceptable range. A narrow band means buyers agree on what the product is worth. A wide one means they don’t, often because they picture different plans or different uses.
What a survey can’t tell you
- How many people would actually buy. Nobody enters a card number in a survey, so answers drift low.
- Which price earns the most. A higher price that sells a little less can bring in more money, and the method can’t see that trade.
- How your price compares to rivals. Respondents answer without your competitors’ pricing pages open next to it.
That’s why the result is a starting range, not a final price.
From survey to real price
- 1
Take two prices from the range
Your current price, and the optimal or indifference price if it’s higher.
- 2
Size the test
The test duration calculator tells you how long it needs with your traffic.
- 3
Test both on real visitors
Show each price to part of your new visitors and keep the one that earns more per visitor. Here’s how to do it on Stripe.
Questions
What is the Van Westendorp price sensitivity meter?
A survey method from 1976 by Dutch economist Peter van Westendorp. Each respondent names four prices: too cheap, cheap, expensive and too expensive. Plotting how many people chose each answer at each price gives a range of prices most people find acceptable, and an optimal point inside it.
How many responses do I need for a Van Westendorp analysis?
The calculator works from 5, but the curves get stable around 50 to 100 answers from people who match your buyers. Under 30, treat the range as a rough guide and expect it to move.
What is the optimal price point in Van Westendorp?
The price where as many people find it too cheap as find it too expensive, so the fewest people reject it on price. It isn’t the price that earns the most: the method doesn’t measure how many would actually buy.
What’s the difference between the optimal and the indifference price?
The optimal price is where the two extreme answers cross (too cheap and too expensive). The indifference price is where the milder answers cross (cheap and expensive): the price people see as normal for the category. A gap between them shows how much room you have.
Is Van Westendorp accurate for SaaS?
It is good at ruling out prices that are far off and bad at picking the exact one. People answer differently in a survey than at a checkout. Use it to choose two prices worth testing, then A/B test them on real visitors and keep the one that earns more per visitor.