Indie Dev Tripled Revenue by Raising Price 3x With Almost No Sales Drop

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A developer selling a digital product in Japan raised their price from ¥980 to ¥2,980, resulting in monthly revenue jumping from ¥4,900 to ¥17,880 despite sales volume staying nearly the same. The experience illustrates a broader pricing principle: indie developers often underprice by basing prices on their own time costs rather than the value delivered to buyers. The recommended approach is to estimate how much time or money a product saves the buyer, then price it at 10–30% of that figure. Offering three pricing tiers — Basic, Standard, and Premium — can also nudge buyers toward a mid-range option designed to appear as the best value. The author advises developers to raise prices after their first ten sales, arguing that low prices can actually signal low quality and hurt conversions.

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