How to Price a Package of Services Without Giving Your Margin Away
To price a package, add up every hour it will really take, multiply by the hourly rate you need, add what it costs you to deliver, and only then decide whether to discount. Most packages get priced the other way around: a single session price, times the number of sessions, minus a percentage that felt generous.
The trouble with that method is that the discount comes straight out of your earnings, and the extra work a package creates never gets added in. You end up selling more of your time for less than single sessions would have paid.
Here's the math for a six-session package, what a discount really costs you, and four ways to make a package appealing without cutting the price.
What each kind of work brings in is easier to see side by side. Example data.
The short version
Count the hours around the sessions as well as the sessions themselves.
A package usually adds work: onboarding, messages between sessions, a wrap-up.
Your costs don't shrink when you discount, so the whole discount comes out of what you keep.
Add value to a package before you take money off it.
What a package really contains
A client sees six sessions. Here's everything else you'll do, none of which appears on the invoice.
Part of the package | Hours |
|---|---|
Six one-hour sessions | 6.0 |
Preparation, half an hour each | 3.0 |
An onboarding call and setup | 1.0 |
Messages between sessions | 1.5 |
A closing summary | 0.5 |
Total | 12.0 |
Six hours with the client is really twelve hours of your working life. Any price built on six hours will pay you half of what you think.
The math
Say you need $75 for every hour you work, before tax, and the package costs you $180 to deliver in materials, software and card fees.
Line | Amount |
|---|---|
Hours the package takes | 12 |
What you need per hour worked | $75 |
Your time, 12 × $75 | $900 |
Plus what it costs to deliver | $180 |
Price the package needs to reach | $1,080 |
Per session, as the client sees it | $180 |
So the package should be $1,080, or $180 a session. If your single-session price is $150, six of them comes to $900, which leaves you $180 short before you've offered any discount at all.
Our post on pricing a service when your time is the product shows how to work out your own hourly figure.
What a discount really costs you
Now watch what happens to what you keep as the discount grows. The $180 of costs stays the same at every price.
Discount | Price | Costs | You keep | You keep per hour worked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
None | $1,080 | $180 | $900 | $75.00 |
10% | $972 | $180 | $792 | $66.00 |
15% | $918 | $180 | $738 | $61.50 |
20% | $864 | $180 | $684 | $57.00 |
A 20% discount took 24% off what you keep. Your costs didn't shrink with the price, so the whole discount came out of your share. That's true of every discount, and it's easy to forget when a round percentage sounds friendly.
Four ways to make a package appealing without cutting the price
Add something that costs you little. A written summary, a checklist or a short follow-up call has real value to the client and takes you about half an hour.
Offer a payment plan. Three payments of $360 feels lighter than $1,080 and costs you nothing but a little admin.
Give priority booking. Regular clients often value a guaranteed slot more than a few dollars off.
Set an end date. A package that must be used within three months protects your calendar and gives the client a reason to book.
Package income and single sessions belong on separate lines. Example data.
If you do want to offer a discount
There are honest reasons to. A package gives you income you can plan around, and it saves you the work of filling six separate bookings. That's worth something, and it's fair to share some of it with the client.
Decide the amount in dollars, not as a percentage. In the example, the certainty of six booked sessions might be worth $54 to you, which is a 5% discount. Written down as a dollar amount, you can see exactly what you're giving.
Three common mistakes
Multiplying a session price by the number of sessions. It leaves out everything a package adds.
Discounting out of habit. Ask what the discount is buying you before you offer it.
Leaving the end date open. Unused sessions that can be claimed at any time are a debt you owe.
Keep track of what's been paid for
When a client pays for a package up front, you've been paid for work you haven't done yet. Keep a simple note of how many sessions each client has left. It prevents awkward conversations, and it tells you how much of the money in your account is already promised.
See what each offer brings in, free
La Soglia, the free membership of the Money Mastery System, holds everything you own and everything you owe in one place, personal and business together, with no bank connection and no card. Sorting your income by the kind of work it came from is part of the paid membership.
Bring it to the Collective
What do you include in a package that costs you little but clients love? Trade ideas in the Money Mastery Collective. The discussion feed is open on the free membership.
Questions we hear
How do I price a package of services?
Add up every hour the package will take, including preparation and messages, multiply by what you need per hour worked, then add your delivery costs.
Should I discount a package?
Only if the discount buys you something, like income you can plan around. Decide it in dollars so you can see exactly what you're giving up.
How much does a discount reduce what I keep?
More than the percentage suggests, because your costs don't fall with the price. In the example, 20% off the price is 24% off what you keep.
What should a service package include?
The sessions themselves, plus extras that cost you little and matter to the client, such as a written summary, a payment plan or priority booking.
References
There are no outside figures in this post. Every number is our own worked example.
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A note on what this is
This article is educational. The Money Mastery System is an educational tool, not financial software, and nothing here is legal, tax, investment or financial advice. The figures are illustrations, and your own hours, costs and prices will differ. For guidance on your own circumstances, please speak with a qualified professional who knows them.
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