# Free, trial or guarantee: what each costs > A free first lesson, an intro call, a paid lesson with a money-back guarantee, a free trial: count what each costs and judge it by the paying customers it brings. - Course: [Pricing: Set, Package and Raise Your Prices](https://productovi.com/courses/pricing.md) - Module: What exactly are we selling? - Lesson 15/32, ~26 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/pricing/free-trial-or-guarantee ## Dana's free first lesson **Alex Tutor:** Today, Dana's practice first. From September to November she offered everyone a free first lesson. Eight people took one: her first three students and the five adults who wrote to her in September. Five became regular learners. **Dana:** Five out of eight sounds great to me. Nobody can say a free lesson costs me anything. **Alex Tutor:** Check Dana's claim first. > **Exercise:** Dana gives every newcomer a free first lesson: 60 minutes plus 20 of preparation, in the same evenings she uses for paid lessons. **True or false:** Dana's free first lessons cost her nothing, because no money changed hands. **Alex Tutor:** It costs your evenings. Each free lesson is 60 minutes plus 20 of preparation. Count your hours per new learner, the way you'd count money. **Sofia:** Eight lessons of 80 minutes, shared by five people who stayed. > **Exercise:** From September to November Dana gave a free first lesson to everyone who asked: 60 minutes plus 20 of preparation each. Eight people took one, and five became regular learners. How many hours of Dana's time did the free first lessons take per new regular learner? **Dana:** Over two hours each. I thought of them as nothing, because no money changed hands. **Sofia:** And three people got a full lesson and didn't continue: two found her evenings didn't fit their week, one wanted a group. **Alex Tutor:** Now put a price on those hours. An hour of Klasna lessons pays you 470 after tax, and the free lessons happen in the same evenings. > **Exercise:** Dana's eight free first lessons (80 minutes each, with preparation) brought five regular learners. They took place in the same evenings as her Klasna lessons, which pay her 470 UAH an hour after tax. Valued at 470 UAH an hour, what did the free first lessons cost Dana per new regular learner? In UAH. ## Three ways to let people try **Dana:** Hm. So what do I offer instead? People are nervous about paying a stranger. **Alex Tutor:** Three options. Keep the free full lesson. Or a free 20-minute intro call to check goals and fit, then a paid first lesson. Or a paid first lesson with a **money-back guarantee**: if they don't want to continue, you refund it. **Alex Tutor:** The intro call costs 20 minutes, not 80, and it would have caught the two schedule clashes before a full lesson. If eight calls still bring five learners, that's 2.67 hours, about 0.53 an hour per learner, 250.67 at your Klasna rate. That «if» is your assumption to check. **Alex Tutor:** Run the numbers for the call yourself. > **Exercise:** From December, Dana replaces the free 80-minute first lesson with a free **20-minute intro call**. If eight calls still bring five regular learners, what do the calls cost per new learner, valued at 470 UAH an hour? In UAH, to two decimals. **Sofia:** And the guarantee only costs her the refunds, from people who actually tried a real lesson. **Alex Tutor:** Right, and only if she honours it as easily as she advertises it: one message, refund within days, no questions to justify. > **Exercise:** Which offer best keeps the first step low-risk for a new learner while cutting the hours Dana spends on people who never continue? ## A trial for the Club? **Alex Tutor:** Back at Klasna. Nazar wants a 14-day **free trial** of the Club for new learners. Here, too, «free» has a cost: the AI partner bills every minute. **Nazar:** People on trial practise a lot, maybe 70 minutes in two weeks. And let's say one in five becomes a member. **Hanna:** Both numbers are guesses until we run it. The speaking clubs cost nothing extra while they have free seats, so count only the AI. > **Exercise:** With 70 AI minutes per trialist at 0.80 UAH a minute and one in five trialists becoming a member, what is the trial's AI cost **per paying member**? In UAH. **Sofia:** So we judge it by paying members it adds, not by sign-ups. **Alex Tutor:** Yes. And the terms have to be honest. If the trial turns into a paid plan, say so before sign-up, with the date and amount of the first charge, and send a reminder before charging. **Hanna:** For our EU families, as of October 2026, the law already requires the total price per billing period before they sign. Making cancelling as easy as signing up is our own standard: some EU countries already require it, and an EU-wide rule has been proposed but isn't settled yet. > **Exercise:** Which terms keep the Club's free trial honest? Select all that apply. **Alex Tutor:** One last check on how Klasna should read the trial's results. > **Exercise:** After a month, Nazar reports: “The Club trial got 400 sign-ups!” What should Klasna look at to judge whether the trial works? ## Dana's new offer **Dana:** I'll try the intro call and the guarantee from December. Help me write the offer for my channel. **Alex Tutor:** Say what's free, what's paid, and exactly how the refund works. No «only this week». **Sofia:** Short enough to read on a phone. > **Exercise:** Write Dana's new first-step offer for her messenger channel (2–4 sentences): the free intro call, the paid first lesson and how the guarantee works. Her plan: a free 20-minute call about goals, schedule and format, then a paid first lesson of 600, refunded in full on request within two days. > **Key ideas** > > - «Free» always has a cost: Dana's free first lessons took 2.13 hours per new learner, 1,002.67 UAH at her Klasna rate; a Club trial costs AI minutes, 280 UAH per paying member on Nazar's assumptions. > - Judge a free offer by the paying customers it adds, not by sign-ups. > - A short free intro call checks fit cheaply; a **money-back guarantee** lowers the buyer's risk and costs only refunds, if it is honoured as easily as advertised. > - An honest **free trial** says before sign-up what happens next, with the date and amount of the first charge, reminds before charging and, as our standard, makes cancelling as easy as signing up. > - Never a pre-ticked paid extra. **Alex Tutor:** Next: the module's case. Every Club member's usage in November, and a redesign of the Club for September 2027. - Previous lesson: [Tiers and fences: good, better, best](https://productovi.com/courses/pricing/tiers-and-fences.md) - Next lesson: [Case: redesign Klasna Club for 2027/28](https://productovi.com/courses/pricing/club-redesign-case.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.