What is Ethical Pricing? A Guide for Small Businesses & Creatives
Why Ethical Pricing Matters in Business Today
Have you ever wondered if the way you set your prices is truly fair? Many small business owners, creatives, and service providers struggle with pricing strategies that balance sustainability, accessibility, and profitability. But too often, pricing is dictated by industry trends, gut feelings, or profit-driven motives—leading to unethical practices that harm both businesses and consumers.
In this article, we’ll explore:
- What ethical pricing is and why it’s important
- Common unethical pricing strategies to avoid
- How to set prices fairly while ensuring business sustainability
- Ethical pricing strategies that prioritize people and the planet
If you’re a creative entrepreneur, freelancer, or small business owner, this guide will help you navigate pricing with transparency, integrity, and a values-driven approach.
What is Ethical Pricing?
Ethical pricing is about fairness, transparency, and sustainability. It ensures that both the business owner and the consumer benefit equitably from a financial exchange. Unlike exploitative or manipulative pricing tactics, ethical pricing prioritizes:
✔️ Honest, transparent pricing based on real costs
✔️ Accessibility for a diverse range of customers
✔️ Sustainability for long-term business growth
✔️ Fair compensation for labor, materials, and expertise
Unfortunately, many pricing strategies today are unethical—whether intentionally or unintentionally. Businesses often gatekeep knowledge, inflate prices, or create artificial scarcity, leading to exploitation, financial dependence, and exclusion.
The reality is, pricing affects who has access to resources, who can afford opportunities, and who gets left behind. If we want to build a more ethical, sustainable economy, it starts with how we price our work.
Unethical Pricing Practices to Watch Out For
Many common pricing strategies used in online business, freelancing, and product-based businesses are actually unethical. Here are some of the most harmful:
1. Inflated Pricing Without Justification
Example: Raising prices arbitrarily because a coach or industry trend suggests it.
Why it’s unethical: This creates artificial scarcity, making services less accessible.
2. Gatekeeping Knowledge & Resources
Example: Making clients rely on a web designer for minor updates instead of teaching them.
Why it’s unethical: It creates dependency, keeping clients locked into paid services.
3. Price Discrimination Without Just Cause
Example: Charging different prices for the same service without clear, fair justification.
Why it’s unethical: It exploits customer willingness to pay rather than fair value.
4. The ‘High-Ticket’ Sales Manipulation
Example: Overpricing services to give the illusion of “premium value.”
Why it’s unethical: It prioritizes profit over actual service quality.
5. Copy-Paste Pricing
Example: Setting prices based on what others in your industry charge.
Why it’s unethical: Pricing should be based on YOUR business costs, labor, and values.
These practices create financial barriers, exploit buyers, and foster scarcity-driven marketing tactics. The alternative? Ethical pricing strategies that prioritize fairness, sustainability, and consumer trust.
How to Implement Ethical Pricing Strategies
Now that we’ve identified what to avoid, let’s explore ethical pricing models that align with sustainable business practices.
1. Cost-Based Pricing
Set your prices based on the actual cost of production, labor, and overhead—with a fair profit margin to ensure sustainability.
Example: If you’re a service provider, calculate your hourly rate based on expenses, time, and skill level.
2. Transparent Value-Based Pricing
Instead of charging based on industry standards, price according to the actual value and transformation your product/service provides.
Example: If your work saves clients time, money, or stress, quantify that value while ensuring it’s realistic and accessible.
3. Accessible Tiered Pricing
Offer multiple pricing levels to make your work accessible to different budgets while ensuring sustainability.
Example: A freemium model (free content alongside premium offers) or sliding scale pricing based on financial need.
4. Equitable Payment Plans
Offer interest-free or low-barrier payment plans that support accessibility without financial exploitation.
Example: Instead of charging predatory fees, offer flexible plans that empower clients instead of burdening them.
5. Ethical Price Increases
Raising prices is sometimes necessary—but should be justified with real cost increases and a clear benefit to customers.
Example: If material costs rise, increase pricing gradually with transparency, rather than making abrupt, opportunistic hikes.
The key takeaway? Ethical pricing is about balancing fair compensation with accessibility, creating a win-win for both business owners and consumers.
Why Ethical Pricing Matters More Than Ever
We’re living in a time where capitalistic extraction and exploitative pricing tactics are the norm. Many businesses focus on profit maximization over fair access, creating massive wealth disparities.
But as conscious business owners, creatives, and entrepreneurs, we have the power to shift pricing practices toward sustainability and inclusivity.
✔️ Ethical pricing makes products & services more accessible
✔️ It builds long-term customer trust & brand loyalty
✔️ It prevents exploitative business practices
✔️ It fosters a gift economy & resource-sharing culture
By implementing equitable pricing strategies, we contribute to an economy that supports people over profit and sustainability over exploitation.
Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Pricing
As you assess your pricing, ask yourself:
✅ Is my pricing making my products/services accessible?
✅ Am I pricing based on real costs, not arbitrary feelings?
✅ Do I provide transparency about why I charge what I do?
✅ Am I gatekeeping knowledge, or empowering my clients?
✅ Would I feel comfortable explaining my pricing openly?
If your answers make you pause, it might be time to rethink your pricing model and adopt a more ethical, values-driven approach.
Final Thoughts: Pricing With Integrity
Ethical pricing isn’t about undervaluing your work—it’s about creating equitable financial exchanges where both businesses and consumers benefit.
By rejecting manipulative pricing tactics and embracing fairness, transparency, and sustainability, we can reshape business for the better.
Are you ready to create a pricing model rooted in integrity? Start by assessing your current strategy and making changes that align with your values, your clients, and a more sustainable economy.
If you need support with pricing strategy, reach out—we’d love to help!
Until next time,
Natalie Brite
a note of raising prices
Creating a culture of raising prices whenever we feel like it, without taking into consideration whether we actually NEED to, is likely to create unnecessarily inflated and highly unethical pricing norms. We see this happening all the time which is causing certain products and services to become inaccessible to folks. I’m not saying that there isn’t a time or place for raising your prices or offering premium pricing. What I am saying is that it should be LOGICAL, justifiable, and backed with strong delivery of what you promise! Within the online business world, it is all too common for people to preach the normalcy of raising prices whenever you want to make more money. It’s also normal for people to raise prices without doing any actual calculations to back their decisions or have any reason to justify price increases. We must remember that there is a vast difference between NEEDING to raise your prices and WANTING to raise your prices. Things like inflation, higher costs of living, increased expenses, and so on are great reasons to analyze your prices and potentially consider increasing them. If you do increase them, there should be data collected and calculations done to assess what the increase should be. Just pulling numbers out of a hat because they sound nice isn’t a logical way to establish your pricing!
How do we ensure we are adopting an ethical pricing strategy?
For starters: Understand that ethical pricing happens when both the business owner AND the purchaser benefit from a financial exchange in an equitable way. When we lose equity in exchanges, we often enter into the waters of exploitation of people. Ask yourself: Have you established your pricing from a lens of equity?
5 ethical pricing strategies to consider:
Cost based strategy: When you base your pricing on the cost of producing a good/service.
Freemium strategy: When you offer a great free version of your product/service that builds natural interest in the full version.
Hourly/rate based strategy: When you charge by the hour (reasonable rates that are sensible!).
Project-based strategy: When you charge based on project & deliverables (again, sensibly!).
Value-based strategy: When you set the price of a product/service based on consumer feedback & interest (your consumers HELP you establish pricing!).
As we wrap up this discussion on how to establish ethical pricing for your indie business, I will leave you with some powerful questions to ask yourself when analyzing your pricing. These questions can help you assess whether your pricing is ethical as well as can help you set ethical prices when you are launching a new offer or considering raising your prices.
Questions to ask yourself:
Is my pricing making essential products/services accessible?
Is my pricing potentially harming vulnerable populations?
Are my prices potentially manipulating or taking advantage of consumers?
Have I established my prices from a lens of equity?
What did I factor in to help me determine my pricing?
Have I considered price elasticity before raising my prices?
Who am I limiting access to by charging the way I do?
How can I improve the accessibility of my offerings?
Have I taken the time to collect data, research and do calculations before setting or raising my prices?
If you find yourself unsure how to conduct research or make calculations to support you in establishing ethical prices for your indie business, feel free to reach out! This is something I love to support clients with and would be happy to assist you.
Until next time…
Natalie Brite
