A decoy offer is a strategically priced option designed to be ignored. Its purpose is to make your primary, more expensive offer seem more attractive and reasonably priced in comparison. This psychological trick shifts customer preference towards higher-ticket items, increasing average order value.
People gravitate toward the middle option when given three choices, a bias known as extremeness aversion. To sell more of a specific product, frame it as the middle choice by introducing a more expensive, super-premium 'decoy' option. Its role is not to sell, but to make the target option look like a reasonable compromise.
Introduce a significantly more expensive, highly customized version of your service alongside your main offering. This price anchor makes the actual product you want to sell appear like a fantastic deal, even if it has a high price point, thereby increasing conversion rates.
Constantly discounting your main product trains customers to wait for sales and devalues your brand. Instead, splinter off a small component of your core offer and discount that piece heavily. This acquires customers and builds trust without cannibalizing the perceived value of your full-priced core offer.
To sell more of a $300 package instead of a $200 one, introduce a $500 option. Most won't buy the decoy, but its presence shifts the customer's reference point, making the $300 package appear more reasonable and valuable by comparison.
To increase average deal size, introduce a new, much higher-priced package (e.g., $100k) and pitch it as your primary offer. Commit to selling it hard. For clients who object, you can then downsell to your original core offer (now priced at $35k), which appears incredibly reasonable by comparison. This captures whales and boosts conversions on your main offer.
A tiny offer can bridge the gap from a low price point to a premium one by targeting the single biggest objection to the main offer. For one client's $100k program, a $37 case study booklet was created specifically to solve the "I can't imagine myself doing this" mindset block.
To make a high price seem reasonable, anchor it against a different, more expensive component of the customer's total budget that delivers less long-term value. For example, compare a $100k entertainment package to a $300k flower budget, arguing budget should align with memorability.
Even if rarely purchased, a premium one-on-one offer serves as a powerful value anchor. Its high price tag transfers a degree of perceived value to your more accessible, scalable products. To work, you must confront the high price directly with prospects before offering a downsell.
The math behind a high-ticket offer is often misunderstood. Since these services are typically 100% margin, a small number of buyers can drastically outperform the profit from your main product. A 10x priced offer sold to just 10% of customers can double revenue and triple profits.
By introducing a third, strategically priced but less appealing option (the "decoy"), you can manipulate how customers perceive value. A medium popcorn priced close to the large makes the large seem like a much better deal. This proves that value is relative and can be shaped by deliberate choice architecture.