Should I Put My Prices on My Website?
If most of your jobs land on roughly the same price, put your prices on your website. If every job is different, show a "from" price with what changes it, or explain how you work a price out. What gives a reader the least to go on is a services page that never mentions money and ends with "call for a quote".
Should I put my prices on my website?
For most small businesses, some form of price belongs on the page. One of the first things a new customer wants to know is whether you're in their range, and a website that answers it saves them a message and saves you a reply. That doesn't have to mean a full price list. It means giving them enough to judge whether you're worth contacting.
The exception is work where any number would mislead. A builder quoting a loft conversion can't honestly put a figure on a page, and shouldn't try. What they can do is explain how the price gets worked out, which is still more useful than silence.
What do you gain by showing prices?
You answer the question people can be shy about asking. Sending a message that feels like haggling puts some customers off, and a price on the page means they never have to.
It also sorts enquiries before they reach you. Someone who reads your prices and still gets in touch already knows roughly what they'll pay. The honest trade-off is that some people will read the number and leave, including a few who might have booked after a conversation. Whether that suits you depends on how much of your week currently goes on quotes that come to nothing.
What's the case for leaving prices off?
There are real reasons, and it's fair to take them seriously.
Every job genuinely differs. If two customers asking for the same thing could end up with bills far apart, a single number sets up an argument later.
A bare number sells you short. If you cost more than the next person for a good reason, the reason needs to sit beside the price, or the price is all anyone sees.
Prices go stale. A page you haven't touched in two years is quoting two-year old prices, and customers will arrive holding you to them.
Look closely, though, and each of those is about how you show a price. Hardly any of them needs a page with no price on it at all.
Which way of showing prices suits your business?
There are three sensible options, and the right one comes down to how alike your jobs are.
| Route | Suits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| A full price list | Work that comes in the same few shapes: a cut and blow dry, a dog wash, a car valet, a cake by size. | It has to be kept current. An old price on the page is the price people arrive expecting. |
| A "from" price, plus what moves it | Work with a common starting point that grows with the job: cleaning by room count, gardening by size, repairs. | The starting figure has to be a price plenty of customers genuinely pay, not a rare best case. |
| How you price, without a number | Work where no two jobs are alike and a guess would mislead: extensions, bespoke furniture, commissions. | Say exactly how a price is worked out and how fast a quote comes back, or it reads as dodging. |
You can mix them, too: a price list for the standard work and a line about how bigger jobs are quoted. ByRender's own pricing page is the "from" route in practice. Setup is from £495 and care from £69 a month, and the page says what makes a build cost more.
What does a "from" price actually have to mean?
It has to be a price customers can realistically get. The ASA's general guidance on prices says "from" claims must not exaggerate the availability of what the customer is likely to get, and that a significant proportion should be available at the "from" figure, judged case by case. The same guidance says quoted prices must include non-optional taxes, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers.
In plain terms: don't pick the cheapest job you did last year as your "from" price, and don't leave off a call-out fee everyone pays. Once you've decided to show a number, the detail on what the full price on your website has to include is worth a read before you publish it.
A worked example: a dog groomer
Take a one-person dog grooming business. The figures below are made up for the example, not a guide to what grooming costs. Most dogs fall into a few sizes, so a short list works: small, medium and large, each with one price for a full groom. Then one line covers the jobs that grow: matted or neglected coats priced on the day after a look.
A line like this is ready to adapt and paste onto your own page:
"Full groom: small dogs £40, medium £50, large from £60. Heavily matted coats are priced on the day, and I'll always tell you before I start."
The customer gets a number and knows what might change it before they book. Swap in your own prices and the thing that moves them, whether that's room count, hair length or garden size.
What should you do next?
Look at your own services page and ask whether a stranger could tell from it roughly what you charge. If not, pick one of the three routes above and write it this week. If you're still putting your first site together, this sits with the rest of the early decisions in the guide to your first website. And if you'd rather see your prices laid out on a finished site before paying anything, send us your details and we'll send a preview.
Frequently asked questions
Should the prices on my website include VAT?
If you're VAT registered and your customers are members of the public, it should. The ASA's pricing guidance says quoted prices must include non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers, and VAT paid by every consumer is exactly that.
What if I put my prices up?
Change the website the same day you change the price, and check your Google Business Profile and any social pages at the same time. The page is what people read before they ring, so an out-of-date figure is the one they'll bring up when you quote.
Will competitors copy my prices if I publish them?
They might look, but anyone who wants your prices can already ring and ask for a quote. Publishing them doesn't hand over anything a determined competitor couldn't get with one phone call.