What to Say When a Follower Says Your Price Is Too High

When a follower says your price is too high, acknowledge the comment without apologizing, restate what the price includes in one sentence, and let the price stand. Reserve an actual discount for someone who directly asks for one, and offer a lower-cost option only if the follower's real issue is budget, not value. Custom Work lets you offer clearly scoped commissions and services: you set the price, the scope and the delivery time, and followers submit a brief and pay before you start.

Note: For Brillay setup context, see Brillay's pricing and how it works pages. External figures are cited inline to the original publisher, and the scope of each study is stated where that scope differs from creator DMs.

"Too expensive" is rarely a verdict on the number itself. Gong Labs' analysis of 11,331 sales opportunities found that deals where pricing was discussed on the first call closed at a 42% win rate, versus a 5% win rate for deals where pricing was never mentioned at all (Gong Labs, published July 22, 2020, last modified March 6, 2026). The Gong dataset covers business-to-business sales calls rather than creator DMs, so read it as directional: naming the price plainly and early beats dancing around it. In a follower DM, a "too high" comment usually means the follower has not yet connected the price to what they receive, or is testing whether the price is negotiable. That is a different situation from someone offering exposure instead of payment — see what to say when someone asks you to work for exposure for that script.

Your next message sets the precedent for future followers because the listed price for Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, or a custom request is public rather than negotiated separately with each follower. For Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, and Custom Work, followers pay upfront by card as guests, and you can decline a request. One Brillay link can hold all enabled offers at once, so a follower who balks at one price can still see the rest of your paid options without you discounting the original. These are one-time purchases with no membership, so the price should describe the specific request rather than an ongoing obligation. No follower account needed: the price conversation can happen from your own link without asking followers to join a separate platform first. No minimum audience and nothing to apply for: you can offer a clearly priced request as soon as one follower wants it. If you worry about scams or chargebacks, remember that card disputes can happen anywhere. If you have not set this up yet, see how to take follower payments using only your phone for the setup steps.

What's the exact script to say when a follower calls your price too high?

When a follower calls your price too high, reply briefly and without getting defensive: "Totally understand — that price covers [specific deliverable] delivered by [date]. If it’s not the right fit now, no hard feelings." Two sentences do three jobs: no apology, a reminder of what's included, and a graceful exit.

Avoid two common failure modes. The first is over-justifying: a long paragraph defending your rate reads as insecure rather than confident. The second is silence or a flat "sorry, that's the price," which reads as cold. Treat the two-sentence structure as recommended practice grounded in the customer-communication research cited below, not as a measured conversion result. If the follower does not reply at all after your message, the follow-up etiquette is a different problem — see what to say when a follower goes quiet after asking your price.

Why do followers say a price is too high when they mean something else?

A "too high" comment is usually a proxy for one of three different things: the follower does not yet see what is included, the follower is price-comparing against something unrelated such as a free DM reply from another creator, or the follower is asking whether there is room to negotiate. Treating all three alike leads to under-priced offers.

Negotiation researchers at Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiation describe a first number as a framing problem more than a math problem:

"The anchoring effect is a cognitive bias that describes the common human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered (the 'anchor') when making decisions."

Buyers are also demanding more up-front clarity year over year. In Zendesk's CX Trends 2026 report, 63% of customers said their demand for greater transparency has risen compared with just last year, based on a global survey of 6,182 consumers and 5,115 CX professionals across 22 countries (Zendesk CX Trends 2026). In a DM, transparency means stating the total price and what it covers before the follower has to ask a second time.

Applied to a DM, the follower's mental anchor is often "free," because DMs and comments cost nothing by default. The reply's job is not to argue the price down toward a free anchor — the reply's job is to reset the anchor to what the paid version includes that the free version does not. If the follower's real objection is that your content should be free in the first place, that's a distinct conversation — see what to say when followers think your content should be free.

Should you ever apologize for your price?

No — do not apologize for your price, because an apology undercuts the number before the follower has decided anything. A neutral, matter-of-fact tone ("here's what's included, here's the price") holds up better than a hedge such as "sorry, I know it's a lot." Apologize for a late delivery if one happens; never apologize for the rate itself. If the discomfort is less about this specific price and more about charging in a DM at all, see is it rude to put a price on your DMs.

Customer-service research supports keeping any apology short. Harvard Business Review's article "'Sorry' Is Not Enough" summarized the research this way:

"An apology that extends beyond the first seconds of an interaction can reduce customer satisfaction." (Harvard Business Review)

Newer work points the same direction: Mason R. Jenkins, Mary Steffel and Paul W. Fombelle report five studies, including a large field experiment with a food delivery company, finding that apologies backfire when consumers are not aware of a failure. Neither piece of research measured price objections in creator DMs, so treat "a hedging apology adds to price friction" as recommended practice rather than a measured finding: apologizing signals you already agree the price is a problem.

Hesitation at a price is ordinary, not a signal that you priced wrong. Baymard Institute's compilation of 50 studies puts the average documented online cart-abandonment rate at 70.22% — a figure drawn from ecommerce checkouts rather than creator DMs, offered here only as a baseline for how normal buyer hesitation is.

When is a discount actually the right response?

A discount is the right response only when a follower explicitly asks for one and you decided in advance that you are willing to move — never as a reflex to "too high." Write the policy down before any follower asks. A workable default: no discount on the listed price, but a smaller-scope version of the same offer for less.

Negotiation guidance argues against the reflexive give. Writing for Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiation on May 28, 2026, Harvard Business School's Deepak Malhotra observes that "negotiators tend to reciprocate based on the benefits they receive, not on how much pain the other party has endured," and recommends contingent concessions — tying your movement to a specific concession from the other side — in low-trust situations. In a DM, the contingent version of a discount is a smaller scope at the lower price, never the same scope for less money.

Up-front pricing is becoming a legal baseline in parts of the US market, too. The Federal Trade Commission's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, 16 C.F.R. Part 464, effective May 12, 2025, requires businesses selling live-event tickets and short-term lodging to disclose the total price up front, and the Federal Trade Commission estimates the rule will save consumers up to 53 million hours per year of time spent searching for a total price (Federal Trade Commission; Federal Trade Commission press release, December 17, 2024). Custom Work is not covered by the FTC fee rule, but the standard it encodes — one total price, visible before the decision — is what a follower already expects from a creator page.

If the follower's actual message is a flat "I can't afford it" rather than "too high," that is a distinct situation — see how to respond when a follower says they can't afford it for the difference between a budget constraint and a soft no.

How do you defend a price without over-explaining it?

To defend a price without over-explaining, name what is included in one concrete sentence and then stop talking. A single line — "That price covers one written review delivered by the stated deadline" — carries more authority than a multi-sentence defense because it names the exact scope.

Concrete wording measurably outperforms abstract wording in service conversations. Grant Packard and Jonah Berger found that a one-standard-deviation increase in linguistic concreteness was associated with an 8.9% increase in customer satisfaction, across five studies including text analysis of more than 1,000 real consumer–employee interactions (Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 47, Issue 5, February 2021, pages 787–806). "One written portfolio review delivered within three days" is concrete language; "a lot of work goes into these" is not.

The claim that over-explaining reads as uncertainty is recommended practice rather than a measured finding — the concreteness research measured word choice, not the length of a price defense — but a longer justification does give a follower more surface area to argue with. If you are unsure whether your price is defensible at all, set the number before you are in the DM: see how to price your first paid offer for a framework on choosing the price itself.

Does it matter which offer the follower is objecting to?

Yes — the right reply depends on what is actually being sold, because each Brillay offer justifies its price differently. A Paid Questions request is one private question that the creator answers in writing within a reply time the creator sets, so the justification is scope and delivery time rather than production effort.

Custom Work delivers one defined package with text plus files and/or a link, while Personalized Videos deliver one video; for either offer, you set a delivery time of up to 5 days. Brillay is asynchronous (no live call): you answer questions in writing and deliver Personalized Videos or services on your own time, within the delivery time you set. There are no live video calls or appointments to schedule.

Don't reuse one offer's justification for another. Telling a follower who objects to a $25 Paid Question that "it takes hours to make" is not accurate when the offer is one short written reply.

What if the follower pushes back a second time?

If a follower pushes back again, repeat the same boundary once, briefly, and add no new justification: "Same as I mentioned — that's the price for [what's included]." Adding a fresh reason each round looks like negotiating with yourself and invites a third round. After one repeat, a follower usually pays, asks about a discount, or drops the subject.

Holding a price and losing some price-sensitive customers is ordinary business behavior. In July 2026, a net 31% of small-business owners reported raising average selling prices, down 7 points from a net 38% in June 2026, in the National Federation of Independent Business's monthly Small Business Economic Trends survey of its member firms (NFIB Small Business Economic Trends). That NFIB survey covers US small businesses generally rather than creators specifically.

Should you offer a lower-cost alternative instead of a discount?

Often yes — a lower-cost alternative preserves your listed price while still giving a budget-limited follower a way to pay something. Rather than cutting a $50 custom request to $25 for the same work, offer a smaller Paid Question or let the supporter choose a one-time Tip amount. Any dollar figure here is illustrative, not a guarantee.

The attachment that makes a smaller offer work is measurable. In Deloitte's 2026 Digital Media Trends survey of 3,575 US consumers, fielded October–November 2025, 33% said they feel a stronger personal connection to social media creators than to TV personalities or actors (Deloitte 2026 Digital Media Trends). If a follower cannot pay $20, you can offer a Tip with an adjustable one-time amount or point them to a smaller, separately priced offer without discounting the original.

What should you avoid saying entirely?

Avoid three replies when a follower calls your price too high. Don't say "fine, how about [lower number]" as a reflex, which trains every future follower to open with an objection. Don't leave the message unanswered, since no reply forfeits the sale. And don't cite personal expenses ("I have rent to pay"), which shifts the justification onto your own circumstances.

Leaving a follower's message unanswered carries measurable risk: 85% of CX leaders say customers will drop brands over unresolved issues, even on the first contact, in Zendesk's CX Trends 2026 report.

Frequently asked questions

The questions creators ask most about price objections cover four things: how to answer a follower who cites a cheaper creator, whether ignoring a "too expensive" comment is acceptable, whether a price should ever vary by follower, and what a custom request changes. Short answers to each follow below.

What if the follower says everyone else charges less?

Acknowledge the comparison without matching it: "Other creators price differently — this is what I charge for what I deliver." You do not need to defend or match a price you don't control, and a comparison to an unrelated offer usually is not apples-to-apples anyway.

Is it okay to just ignore a "too expensive" comment?

Send a brief, neutral acknowledgment instead of ignoring the comment. The nearest available evidence covers service experience rather than price objections specifically: 43% of consumers say a poor customer service experience will stop them from making a repeat purchase, in Salesforce's State of the AI Connected Customer research published October 31, 2024, based on a survey of more than 16,000 consumers and business buyers worldwide. Treat "silence reads as rejection" as a working rule of thumb rather than a measured finding, and reply briefly — a short reply costs little and keeps the door open.

Should the price ever change based on who's asking?

No — keep one listed price for everyone rather than negotiating case by case. A consistent price is easier to defend in each individual conversation, and one price avoids followers comparing notes and finding different numbers for the same offer.

What if a follower says the price is too high but still wants a custom version?

Clarify scope before touching price: a custom or expanded version is a different, usually higher-priced offer, not a discount on the original. Restate what the original price covers, then quote the custom version separately if the follower wants to proceed with the custom version.

Does Brillay let me set different prices for different followers?

No — Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, and custom requests each carry a listed creator-set price shown publicly. Tips and Goals let followers choose an amount, while Brand Collaboration Inquiries collect a brand’s budget, timeline, and deliverables into a separate brand inbox.

What does it cost to get paid on Brillay?

No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate. That processing is billed by Stripe: Stripe's published US domestic online-card rate is 2.9% + $0.30 per successful transaction, with +1.5% for international cards and +1% where currency conversion is required (Stripe pricing). You connect your bank through Stripe inside Brillay and manage getting paid from Brillay. Brillay supports creator payouts in 41 countries, and creators complete payout setup inside Brillay.

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