Should you post prices on social media?

Key takeaways

Should you post prices on social media? In most cases yes, at least as a range or starting point. A price signal filters out buyers who cannot afford you and reassures those who can. 'Message for price' creates work for both sides and often loses the buyer who would have paid.

• A range or starting price filters enquiries before they reach you.
• 'DM for price' adds a step that many buyers will not take.
• 5 ways exist to signal price without a full rate card.
• Any price you state must be accurate and include VAT for consumers.

Why do businesses avoid posting prices?

Businesses avoid posting prices for three reasons: every job is different, competitors will see, and they fear scaring buyers off. All three are understandable. None outweighs the cost of answering dozens of price-only messages from people who were never going to buy.

• How to create social media content that attracts the right customers

When does posting prices help?

Posting prices helps when you receive many price-only enquiries, when your prices are at or above the market and you want buyers who expect that, and when the product is standard. It also helps where buyers feel awkward asking, which is common for professional and personal services.

• Lots of 'how much?' messages that go nowhere.
• Premium positioning you want to make clear.
• Standard products or fixed packages.
• Services where buyers are shy about asking.

• How to stop attracting price shoppers on social media

How can you signal price without a rate card?

There are five ways: a starting price, a typical range, the price of a real example, a minimum order, and a comparison of what different budgets buy. Each gives the reader enough to judge fit while leaving room for a proper quote.

• Starting price: 'Websites from £3,000.'
• Typical range: 'Most loft conversions are £45,000 to £65,000.'
• Real example: 'This driveway was £7,200.'
• Minimum: 'Minimum order 50 units.'
• Budget guide: 'What £10,000 gets you, and what it does not.'

• Content that politely repels the wrong customers

When should you not post prices?

Hold back when prices change weekly, when the work is truly one-off and a range would mislead, or when contracts prevent it. In those cases explain what drives the cost and how quickly you can quote. Explaining the factors is still more useful than silence.

• Should you show prices on your website?

What are the UK rules on stating prices?

Prices shown to consumers must be accurate, must not mislead, and should include VAT and unavoidable charges. 'From' prices must be genuinely available to a meaningful share of buyers. Some regulated sectors have their own rules: the Solicitors Regulation Authority, for example, requires price information for certain legal services.

• ASA rules for social media advertising in the UK

Will competitors undercut you?

They may, but most already know roughly what you charge. Buyers who choose purely on the lowest figure were unlikely to stay with you anyway. What a price signal protects is your time, and it positions you with buyers who are comparing value, not hunting the cheapest.

• Attract higher-value customers with social media content
• The right-customer content scorecard for social media

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see with UK trades and service firms that start stating the price of real jobs in their posts: price-only messages fall, and new enquiries tend to open with the scope of the work and a budget already in mind.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Price signal checklist

Before you publish a price, check these.

• The figure is accurate today.
• VAT is included for consumer prices.
• 'From' prices are genuinely achievable.
• The scope behind the price is stated.
• The bio or pinned post carries a starting point.
• Regulated-sector rules have been checked.

Next step

Take your three most recent jobs and add the price, or a range, to a post about each. Compare the messages you receive with last month's.