🎯 Goal: Tell apart common revenue models and price by the VALUE customers receive (value-based) instead of just adding a margin onto cost (cost-plus).
There are many ways money flows in: one-time sale, subscription, freemium, commission, advertising — picking the wrong model can kill a good product. On pricing, a common mistake is cost-plus (add cost then a margin). A stronger approach is value-based: how much a customer will pay for the value they receive, regardless of your cost. You’ll leave able to choose the right money rhythm for your product and set price on measured value, with formulas and concrete numbers.
Lesson content
🔍
The key difference is the RHYTHM of money in.One-time sale: pay once, simple but you must keep finding new customers. Subscription: recurring pay, stable revenue but you must prevent churn. Freemium: free to use, pay for premium — needs enough conversion. Commission: take a % of others’ transactions, fits two-sided platforms. Advertising: users free, advertisers pay — needs huge traffic. For the same product, changing the money rhythm changes your whole operation and risk.
🧭
Value-based pricing — 4 steps: 1) Measure the value the customer gets in numbers: money/time saved, or extra earned. 2) Take a slice of that value as the price (often 10–30% of the value created so the customer still feels a bargain). 3) Compare to the alternative price they pay today (competitors, the old way). 4) Check the price floor: price must exceed variable cost so each order has positive margin. Frame formula: variable cost < PRICE ≤ value received. Example: a shirt costs 80,000đ to make, perceived value 220,000đ → pricing at 200,000đ is still a deal for them and a fat margin for you.
🧰
TOOL — Model comparison + a value-pricing worksheet.
Model
Pros
Cons
Fits whom
One-time sale
Simple, cash now
Must keep finding new customers
Goods, physical products
Subscription
Steady revenue, easy to forecast
Must prevent churn
Software, ongoing services
Freemium
Easy to attract users
Carry the cost of free users
Apps with premium features
Commission
No inventory, scales fast
Depends on both sides transacting
Marketplaces/platforms
Advertising
Users join free
Needs very high traffic
Content, social media
Pricing one shirt two ways:
Way
Compute
Price
Cost-plus (cost + 30%)
80,000đ × 1.3
104,000đ
Value-based
≈ 90% of perceived value 220,000đ
200,000đ
Gap
200,000 − 104,000
+96,000đ/shirt
Same shirt, value-based pricing adds 96,000đ per order — as long as it stays below what the customer will pay.
🌏
Vietnam case study, step by step: 1) Coolmate — one-time sale. A customer buys an outfit and pays now; but basics get used up and rebought, so they turn "one-time" into repeat purchase, smoothing cash flow. Pricing: a basic tee is sold not at cost but at the value of "convenience + worry-free 60-day returns". 2) Ecomobi/Passio — commission. The platform makes no goods, taking a % when creators sell brands’ products. E.g. a 500,000đ order at 15% commission → the platform books 75,000đ; more transactions, more revenue, true to a platform that holds no inventory.
⚠️
5 pricing traps: • Blind cost-plus: ignoring that customers would pay far more. • Pricing too low to feel "safe": cheap makes customers doubt quality and thins your margin. • Wrong model: one-time sale for a regularly-used product (should be subscription) loses repeat revenue. • Freemium with no "door" to pay: carrying free users while nobody upgrades. • Price below variable cost: every order sold loses more money.
✅
Checklist before locking a price: ① Does the revenue model fit the customer’s usage rhythm (once or ongoing)? ② Have I measured the VALUE the customer receives in numbers? ③ Is the price within "variable cost < price ≤ value received"? ④ How does the price compare to the customer’s alternative (cheaper/dearer, and worth it)? ⑤ If subscription/freemium: is there a retention plan and a clear "door" to upgrade?
Practice exercise
🔬 APPLIED EXERCISE: For your idea, (1) pick one primary revenue model from the table and explain why it fits. (2) Measure the VALUE you deliver in numbers. (3) Set a value-based price, then also compute a cost-plus price to see the gap. (4) Check the price beats variable cost.
Worked template: FILLED EXAMPLE — a tutoring app: pick "subscription" at 99,000đ/month since learning is used regularly. Value: lifts ~1 grade point, which parents see as very worthwhile; one outside tutoring session costs 200,000đ. Value-based 99,000đ/month is far cheaper than a tutor; cost-plus (server cost ~15,000đ/customer × 1.3 ≈ 20,000đ) is much lower → value-based pricing is the better fit.
Quick quiz
1. Which revenue model best fits a two-sided platform connecting both sides (like Ecomobi)?
→ Commission per transaction
A two-sided intermediary platform fits commission per transaction, true to holding no inventory.
2. What does "value-based pricing" mean?
→ Setting price by the value the customer receives, not just by your cost
Value-based pricing sets price by the value the customer receives, not just a % added onto cost.
3. What is the main weakness of the "subscription" model?
→ You must constantly prevent customers from canceling (churn)
Subscription’s weakness is the constant need to prevent churn so the steady revenue doesn’t drop.
4. Why does Coolmate use "one-time sales" yet still enjoy fairly steady cash flow?
→ Because basics get used up and rebought, turning one-time into repeat purchase
Basics get used up and rebought, so Coolmate turns one-time sales into repeat purchases, giving steadier cash flow.
5. A shirt costs 80,000đ; a customer will pay up to 220,000đ. What does cost-plus +30% give, and how much extra per shirt does value-based at 200,000đ earn vs cost-plus?
→ 104,000đ; +96,000đ/shirt extra
Cost-plus +30% gives 104,000đ; value-based 200,000đ earns 96,000đ/shirt more by tracking willingness to pay.
6. A creator sells a 500,000đ order through Ecomobi at 15% commission. How much revenue does the platform book?
→ 75,000đ
Commission = 15% × 500,000đ = 75,000đ; holding no inventory lets the platform scale fast with transactions.
Advanced
A deeper framework
Advanced pricing rests on willingness to pay and price fencing: the same product can sell at several prices to different groups (students, individuals, businesses) rather than one price for all. Each tier "locks" a group by feature or scale.
For subscriptions, the vital numbers are recurring revenue and churn: if you lose 5% of customers monthly, average customer lifetime ≈ 1 ÷ 0.05 = 20 months. Multiply by the monthly fee to get a customer’s lifetime revenue — the very bridge to the unit-economics lesson.
Common trap: “One price for all” leaves money on the table: enterprise customers would pay 5× an individual, yet you sell at the same price. Conversely, too many confusing tiers paralyze buyers. Keep 2–3 clear tiers, each locking a value group.
Advanced questions
1. You build sales-management software for small shops. Which model and pricing should you choose?
→ Monthly subscription, priced by VALUE (time saved/loss reduced), not by coding cost
Software used daily fits subscription (steady, forecastable revenue). Pricing should follow value: if it saves the shop hours and reduces losses each month, the fee can be far above "coding cost + 10%".
2. A software costs 99,000đ/month with 5%/month churn. What are the average customer lifetime and (rough) lifetime revenue?
→ ≈ 20 months; ≈ 1.98M
Lifetime ≈ 1 ÷ churn = 1 ÷ 0.05 = 20 months. Rough lifetime revenue ≈ 20 × 99,000đ ≈ 1.98M. This bridges directly to LTV in the unit-economics lesson.
3. Why does "one price for all" usually leave money on the table?
→ Because customer groups have very different willingness to pay; multiple tiers capture both high payers and price-sensitive ones
Enterprise customers may pay many times an individual. A single price either loses high payers (set too low) or loses price-sensitive ones (set too high). 2–3 clear tiers capture more willingness-to-pay levels.
🎯 Real-life mission
REAL-LIFE MISSION: For your idea, pick one primary revenue model (one-time / subscription / freemium / commission / advertising) and justify it using the comparison table. Then price by VALUE: write down what the pain you solve is worth in numbers, set a price from that number, also compute a cost-plus price, and record the gap. Check the price beats variable cost per order.