How to Price Your Products on TpT

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Inside: These are my best tips for How to Price Your Products on TeachersPayTeachers (TpT)

I love TeachersPayTeachers as a way to make extra money on the side. The most common question I see people get stuck on when they're first starting out is how to price products on TpT.

You want to get it right, but it's hard to know where to start. There is so much freedom with setting your own prices.

Keep in mind, nothing you do on TpT is permanent. You can change your name, change your prices, update products and thumbnails . . . anything you do on TpT can be adjusted. The old saying “when you know better, you do better” fits perfectly here.

The very best tip I can give you is do the thing. If you've spent an hour deciding how to price a product, you're wasting time! Hit publish, and adjust when you know better.

Here's a quick guide to help you price your products:

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How Do You Price Things on TpT?

Teacher-Sellers often have a one size fits all process for pricing their products. They decide on a cost per page, a set price, or they do research and set a dynamic price that changes based on the current market value.

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Let's talk about the strategies you don't want to fall into and why, then we can talk about what you SHOULD do when you price your products.

Set Price Pricing Strategy

Pricing can be very consistent with everything between $3-$5, you set that price and then you forget about it.

This can work, but it doesn't always reflect the value of the product you created, or the current value.

Think about back when we converted to distance learning, and everything that was digital suddenly started selling VERY well. Those products went UP in value while they were in such high demand, and not many sellers were offering them yet.

Cost Per Page

This strategy is quite obsolete. A lot of people find a “price per page” pricing strategy to be effective.

Not all paper is created equal! You can have a 50 page product like journal pages, which is just lined paper, or you can have a text heavy set of lesson plans. Do you think they should be priced the same?

Lowest Price

Goodness gracious, please do not ever try to be the lowest price. it's a downhill battle and it's not worth it. YOU are not worth the headaches of trying to be the lowest price.

There is nothing stopping the next person from coming in and pricing theirs lower and it becomes a competition to the bottom, and no one wins.

You lose because you make literally nothing from your sales, and the customer loses because they will pass on your product because it's so underpriced, they will think it's garbage.

Your work is not garbage. YOU are not garbage. So let's step away from the race to lowest price.

Pricing Strategy Based on How Long I Spent on This Product

I get it. This strategy is actually the strategy I fall into the easiest.

The problem is, buyers don't know (or care!) how long you spent on a product. When you go to the hair salon, do you spend extra money because the stylist took 85 minutes instead of 15 for the same cut? Not likely!

Don't expect your clients to either!

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Here is a better way to set your prices:

Set a Price Based on the Value to the Consumer

The best way to set prices is based on the value you are providing to your customer. Are you saving them an hour of planning? How much should they spend for that hour?

Value changes over time, so they best way to price your products is looking around at the competition–once your product is complete, to avoid accidentally copying any ideas–and setting a price based on market value.

Let's go back to the quarantine example, but this time let's talk about houses. Do you remember when the housing market went nuts?

Imagine if everyone putting their house up for sale in 2021 priced their houses at the price they decided it was worth in 2018.

Realtors help sellers find a good price to sell their houses by looking at comparable homes that have sold recently.

They look at similar features and the value that the current market supports. There's no emotion in that process. It's not about how long the previous owner spent in the house, it's purely based on market value.

When you're ready to sell your products, think of it like a house. It's not exactly the same as any other resource out there, but you can still look at other prices on the market and see a general idea of what you should sell your product for.

How Much Does TpT Cost?

TeachersPayTeachers is free to use. You have to create an account to download anything, or start a store. You can browse the site freely without an account.

Does it Cost Money to Sell on TpT?

No. You can have a free account and list AND sell your products for free on Teachers Pay Teachers. All of their fees and charges come out of the sales price.

Does it cost to Post on TpT?

There is no listing fee for TeachersPayTeachers. You can start a free Basic Seller Account right now, and list a thousand resources without paying a single dime. Also, listings on TpT do not expire, so you don't have to relist products that don't sell in 4 months, like on Etsy.

How Much does TpT Take from a Sale?

For a Basic Seller (free) account, TpT takes a 30 cent transaction fee for all resources. With a Premium Account ($59.95 a year) the transaction fee is waved for orders over $3, but 15 cents for under $3. The payout rate for a Basic Seller is 55%, and a Premium Seller keeps 80% of all sales.

What percentage does TpT take?

According to their web site, they take 20% of sales from Premium Sellers, and 45% from Basic Sellers.

To upgrade to premium, you will have to pay $59.95 a year.

If you have only $3 products in your store, you would have to sell 58 resources to pay off your upgrade fee.

That is around 1 sale a week. ONE.

Now let's say you have $5 products. You'd only need 39 sales.

If you have $2, you'd need 93 sales, which is 2 a week.

I highly recommend upgrading. I upgraded after six months, and I wish I began sooner.

Do You Have to Pay Taxes on Teachers Pay Teachers?

TeachersPayTeachers does all of that for you. For states that require you to pay taxes on marketplaces like TpT, then yes, they'll add that to the total the buyer pays. You will see the taxes collected on your receipt.

For sellers, you'll see that there was more taken for the sale, but TpT will keep the extra.

Does Teachers Pay Teachers Collect Sales Tax?

TeachersPayTeachers has an amazing guide for sellers to learn about Sales Tax. You can read all about it from their Help Desk. Sales Tax Frequently Asked Questions.

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