# From words to money: ladders, pre-orders, deposits > Measure willingness to pay by what people do with real prices: refundable deposits, a fair price ladder and honest fake-door tests, tried on NMT Sprint. - Course: [Pricing: Set, Package and Raise Your Prices](https://productovi.com/courses/pricing.md) - Module: What will buyers actually pay? - Lesson 11/32, ~25 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/pricing/from-words-to-money ## Saying and paying **Alex Tutor:** At Klasna, NMT Sprint needs a price before families plan their spring. The corridor runs from Hanna's target floor of about 11,720 to a ceiling of 13,000. **Nazar:** Inside that corridor we tested three real prices in November. Three comparable groups of 150 parents with maths packages, one price each, and a refundable deposit of 1,000. **Hanna:** And one promise to everyone: if the final price is lower than the one you saw, you pay the final price; if it ends up higher, you keep the price you saw or get your deposit back in full. Nobody pays more for having been in the wrong group. **Alex Tutor:** That's a **price ladder**: the same offer at several real prices, recording who actually commits at each step. Before the deposit link, the 12,400 group also got one question: would you buy? > **Exercise:** What makes Klasna's November test of NMT Sprint a **price ladder** rather than a price survey? **Alex Tutor:** And what about families who saw a lower price than the one Klasna finally picks? > **Exercise:** A family paid the deposit in the 11,800 group. Klasna then sets the final price at 12,400. Hanna promised every family in the ladder: if the final price is lower than the one you saw, you pay the final price; if it ends up higher, you keep the price you saw or get your deposit back in full. What happens? **Nazar:** 48 of 150 said «definitely» or «probably». Then 12 paid the deposit. > **Exercise:** Before the deposit link, the 150 parents in the 12,400 group were asked whether they would buy: 48 said «definitely» or «probably». Then 12 of them paid the 1,000 deposit. What share of the parents who said «definitely» or «probably» paid the deposit? In %. ## Reading the ladder > **NMT Sprint price ladder, November 2026** > > | Price, UAH | Invited | Deposits | Rate | Revenue, UAH | > |---|---|---|---|---| > | 13,000 | 150 | 9 | 6.00% | 117,000 | > | 12,400 | 150 | 12 | 8.00% | 148,800 | > | 11,800 | 150 | 14 | 9.33% | 165,200 | **Nazar:** 11,800 wins. Most deposits, most revenue. **Hanna:** Revenue isn't what we keep. Each sprint has 8,174.40 of variable cost before the 2.5% payment fee. Look at contribution per group, not revenue. **Alex Tutor:** Contribution per sprint is price × 0.975 − 8,174.40. Multiply by the deposits in each group and compare. $$ \text{contribution} = \text{deposits} \times (\text{price} \times 0.975 - 8\,174.40) $$ *Contribution of one price step, assuming every deposit becomes a sprint.* > **Exercise:** What contribution would the **13,000** group bring if all 9 deposits became sprints? In UAH, to two decimals. **Sofia:** So 12,400 and 11,800 are almost tied on contribution, and 13,000 is behind. **Alex Tutor:** Almost tied, on tiny numbers. Twelve deposits against fourteen is two families. One more cancellation and the order flips. A ladder this small points a direction; it doesn't prove a winner. **Hanna:** And 11,800 sits only about 80 above my target floor. It would take a tutor's spring hours for almost nothing extra. > **Exercise:** What is the most honest conclusion from the NMT Sprint ladder? ## Fake doors, done honestly **Nazar:** Leo wants to know if anyone would buy a programming sprint for teens next summer. We haven't built it. Can we test that too? **Alex Tutor:** With a **fake-door test**: a page with the real description and real price, and a button. Count clicks per visitor. Then the honest part: on click, say plainly that it isn't open yet and offer a waitlist. **Alex Tutor:** Never take payment for something that doesn't exist, never say «sold out» when nothing was for sale, and keep the price on the page the one you'd really charge. > **Exercise:** Leo wants to know if anyone would buy a summer programming sprint for teens that doesn't exist yet. What does a fake-door test measure, and how is it run honestly? **Sofia:** And a click is weaker than a deposit, which is weaker than a purchase. > **Exercise:** Order these signals of willingness to pay from the strongest to the weakest. **Leo:** Couldn't we just take real orders and refund them if we don't launch? **Alex Tutor:** Only if you say exactly that up front: it's a pre-order, it starts if enough people join, the date, and a full refund otherwise. Then it's an honest pre-order, not a trick. **Hanna:** And the refund has to be as easy as the payment. One message, no forms. > **Exercise:** Which practices keep a fake-door or pre-order test honest? Select all that apply. ## The deposit page **Nazar:** For the next round I need the wording on the deposit page. Families must know what they're paying for. **Alex Tutor:** Say what the deposit is, what happens to it, and how to get it back. Short and plain, no countdown. **Sofia:** Amount, what it counts toward, the refund, and the date. > **Exercise:** Write the terms for the NMT Sprint deposit page (2–4 sentences): what the 1,000 deposit is for, what happens to it, how a family gets it back, and the promise about the final price. The facts: the deposit is 1,000 and fully refundable; it counts toward the sprint price; Hanna's promise is that if the final price is lower than the one shown, the family pays the final price, and if it ends up higher, the family keeps the price it saw or gets the deposit back in full. > **Key ideas** > > - What people do with a real price reveals willingness to pay; what they say overstates it. Here 32% said yes and 8% paid a deposit: a quarter of the stated yes. > - A **price ladder** shows the same offer at several real prices and records who commits. Promise everyone the final price if it ends up lower, and anyone who left a deposit at a lower step their step's price or a full refund. > - Read a ladder on contribution, not revenue: 11,800 led on revenue, but 12,400 and 11,800 were nearly tied on contribution. > - Small counts point a direction; they don't prove a winner. > - Honest fake doors and pre-orders: real prices, the truth right after the click, money only under clear terms with an easy refund. **Alex Tutor:** Next: a case. Nazar's Club Plus survey, the people it never asked, and what happened when members were offered a real deposit. - Previous lesson: [The four-question price survey and its limits](https://productovi.com/courses/pricing/the-four-question-survey.md) - Next lesson: [Case: the Club survey that asked only members](https://productovi.com/courses/pricing/club-survey-case.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.