# Promotions without training buyers to wait > List price against realized price: walk one order down the price waterfall, see how public sales and codes add up, and design promotions that don't teach families to wait for the next one. - Course: [Pricing: Set, Package and Raise Your Prices](https://productovi.com/courses/pricing.md) - Module: When does a discount pay? - Lesson 23/32, ~20 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/pricing/promotions-and-realized-price ## Where the money goes **Alex Tutor:** Still on Klasna's growth team. After codes and fences, Hanna wants one simple answer: what does Klasna actually get for a lesson? **Hanna:** The price list says a maths lesson in an 8-pack is 700. Last week a parent bought one with CHAT10. Let's follow that order to the bank. **Alex Tutor:** Good exercise. The **list price** is the published starting point: 5,600 for the pack. Then every step takes something away: the code, refunds if any, the payment fee. What's left per lesson is the **realized price**. **Alex Tutor:** First, pin down the term. > **Exercise:** What is the **realized price** of a lesson? **Sofia:** CHAT10 takes 560, so the parent pays 5,040. The fee is 2.5% of that. **Alex Tutor:** Carry it through to a price per lesson. > **Exercise:** Maths 8-pack: list 5,600 UAH, CHAT10 takes 10%, the payment fee is 2.5% of what the parent pays, no refund. What is the realized price per lesson? In UAH, to two decimals. ## The waterfall > **One order, step by step** > > | Step | Pack, UAH | Per lesson, UAH | > |---|---|---| > | List price, maths 8-pack | 5,600 | 700.00 | > | − CHAT10 (10%) | −560 | −70.00 | > | = Paid by the parent | 5,040 | 630.00 | > | − Payment fee (2.5%) | −126 | −15.75 | > | **= Realized** | **4,914** | **614.25** | **Alex Tutor:** Drawn as falling steps for a whole year, this is a **price waterfall**: list price at the top, then public sales, promo codes, refunds and fees, and the realized price at the bottom. **Nazar:** Why bother? I know our prices. **Alex Tutor:** You know the list. Each step down has a different owner: you run the sales, support hands out codes, finance sees refunds and fees. Nobody sees the sum unless someone draws it. **Hanna:** And a 5% rise on the list can vanish into a few more codes without anyone noticing. > **Exercise:** Put the steps of a price waterfall in order, from top to bottom. ## A sale everyone can see **Nazar:** Codes are small stuff. My big lever is public sales. Last November, NOV15: 15% off everything for three days. 190 orders! **Hanna:** And 322,980 of discount. How many of those families were new? **Sofia:** The codes file says 38 orders came from first-time families. **Alex Tutor:** So most of the discount went to families who already knew Klasna, and some of them simply moved a December purchase into November. A public sale reaches everyone, including those who'd pay full price. > **Exercise:** NOV15 had 190 orders, 38 of them from first-time families. What share of the orders came from first-time families? In %. ## How a sale trains buyers **Alex Tutor:** One sale is a decision. The same sale on the same dates every year is a lesson for buyers: wait. The signs show up before the sale, not during it. **Sofia:** Fewer purchases in the weeks before, a smaller full-price share, people asking support when the next sale is. **Alex Tutor:** Exactly. And the sale's own numbers look great, because they include the purchases it pulled in from the weeks around it. **Hanna:** As of October 2026, our sale announcements in Ukraine also need start and end dates and the reduction against the previous price, according to the state consumer service. At least that part we do right. > **Exercise:** Which signs suggest a recurring sale is training families to wait? Select all that apply. ## A better promotion **Nazar:** So no promotions at all? Leo will never accept that. **Alex Tutor:** Promotions with a purpose. Aim them at the people you want, such as a first package for families who've never bought. Tie them to a give, like paying before a date. Don't fix them to the calendar. And let the price return when they end. **Alex Tutor:** And consider a bonus instead of a cut. 10% off an English 16-pack costs Klasna 967.20 of contribution. A free 17th lesson costs it 420, the tutor and the video, while the family sees a whole extra lesson. **Alex Tutor:** Check the bonus against the cut in numbers. > **Exercise:** An English 16-pack costs 9,920 UAH. How much contribution does 10% off cost Klasna after the 2.5% payment fee? (A free 17th lesson would cost 420.) In UAH, to two decimals. **Sofia:** And a bonus doesn't lower the price families remember. > **Exercise:** Which promotion is least likely to train families to wait? ## Your turn: one number for Leo **Hanna:** Leo only looks at the price list and total sales. I want him to watch one more number every month. **Alex Tutor:** Explain it with the order you just followed, so it is concrete. **Sofia:** The maths 8-pack: 700 on the list, 614.25 realized. **Hanna:** And what he should do if that number slides. > **Exercise:** Write Leo a note (3–4 sentences): why the list price is not what Klasna earns per lesson, using the maths 8-pack order, and which number he should watch every month and why. > **Key ideas** > > - The **list price** is where the waterfall starts; the **realized price** is what is left per unit after sales, codes, refunds and fees. A maths 8-pack with CHAT10: 700 → 614.25 a lesson. > - A **price waterfall** shows every step and its owner; without it, a list-price rise can vanish into extra codes unnoticed. > - Public sales reach everyone: only 20% of NOV15 orders came from first-time families. > - A sale on the same dates every year trains buyers to wait: watch for dips before it, a shrinking full-price share and "when's the next sale?" questions. > - Better promotions are aimed at the people you want, tied to a give, off the fixed calendar, with dates; a bonus (420 for an extra lesson) can cost less than a cut (967.20 for 10% off a 16-pack). **Alex Tutor:** Next: the case. A whole year of Klasna's promo codes and the September sale, and the discount policy you'll write from them. - Previous lesson: [Segment prices with fair fences](https://productovi.com/courses/pricing/segment-prices-fair-fences.md) - Next lesson: [Case: write Klasna's discount policy](https://productovi.com/courses/pricing/discount-policy-case.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.