Pricing Pages: Show the Number
The argument against publishing prices is that every job is different and competitors will undercut you. Both are partly true and neither survives contact with how people actually buy. Visitors who cannot find a price on your site go find a price on someone else's.
What happens when you hide the number
- You attract inquiries from people whose budget is nowhere near your work, and you spend sales time discovering that.
- You lose the buyers who are qualified and simply refuse to start a conversation to learn a range. That group is larger than it used to be.
- Competitors who publish prices look confident by comparison, whether or not they are cheaper.
Ways to publish a price when every job is different
- Starting at. "Most kitchen refinishing projects start at $3,500." Honest, useful, and it sets an expectation.
- Ranges by scenario. Three tiers with what each typically includes. Buyers self-select and arrive better informed.
- What drives the price. If you truly cannot quote, explain the variables: square footage, materials, access, timeline. That is genuinely useful and demonstrates expertise.
- A real example. "Here is a recent project: 1,400 square feet, three coats, four days, $6,200." One concrete example teaches more than any range.
Design details that matter
Put the number where the eye lands, not in a footnote. If you have plans, mark the one most people choose, since the majority of buyers want to be told what is normal. Show what happens after they pick, because uncertainty about the next step stops as many people as price does. And if you have a monthly and annual option, show both without making anyone compute the discount.
Then hold the line
Published prices are only useful if they are true. Quoting well above the listed range on inquiry costs you more trust than never publishing at all. Update the page when your costs change instead of treating the published number as an opening bid.
