Methods of Price Fixation | Marketing and Sales for Class 10 PDF Download

Methods of fixing the price can be broadly divided into the following categories.

• Cost based pricing
• Competition based pricing
• Demand based pricing
• Objective based pricing

1. Cost Based Pricing

Under this method, price of the product is fixed by adding the amount of desired profit margin to the cost of the product. If a particular soap costs the marketeer Rs. 8 and he desires a profit of 25%, the price of the soap is fixed at Rs 8 + (8x25/100) =Rs. 10. While calculating the price in this way, all costs (variable as well as fixed) incurred in manufacturing the product are taken into consideration.

2. Competition Based Pricing

In case of products where market is highly competitive and there is negligible difference in quality of competing brands, price is usually fixed closer to the price of the competing brands. It is called ‘young rate pricing’ and is a very convenient method because the marketeers do not have to worry much about demand and cost and effect the change as per the changes by the industry leaders.

3. Demand Based Pricing

At times, prices are determined by the demand for the product. Under this method, without paying much attention to cost and competitors prices, the marketeers try to  ascertain the demand for the product. If the demand is high they decide to take advantage and fix a high price. If the demand is low, they fix low prices for their product. At times they resort to differential prices and charge different prices from different groups of customers depending upon their perceived values and capacity to pay. Take the case of cinema halls where the rates of tickets differ for the different sets of rows in the hall.

4. Objective Based Pricing

This method is applicable to introduction of new (innovative) products. If, at the introductory stage of the products, the organisation wishes to penetrate the market i.e., to capture large parts of the market and discourage the prospective competitors to enter into the fray, it fixes a low price. Alternatively, the organisation may decide to skim the market i.e., to earn high profit by taking advantage of a group of customers who give more importance to their status or distinction and are willing to pay even a higher price for it. In such a situation they fix quite high price at the introductory stage of their product and market it to only those customers who can afford it.