How to do Black Friday offers that don't kill your margins.

_{Day 43/100}

Hey—It's Tim. 

Let's talk about Black Friday. Specifically, how not to fuck it up.
Every year, the same thing happens:

November 28th hits.
Panic sets in.

"Everyone else is doing 50% off!"

So you do 50% off.
You get a spike in customers. Half of them churn in 60 days. Your margins are destroyed.

And you've just trained your entire market to wait for the sale next year.
Congrats. You played yourself.

The Problem With Percentage Discounts

When you discount your price, you're saying:
"This thing I told you was worth $100? JK. It's actually worth $50."

And your customer hears:
"Wait until Black Friday. Everything goes on sale."

You just devalued your own product.
Not just for this sale.
For every sale after.
Because now your "real" price is the discount price.

And your regular price is the "sucker price."

The Better Way

Don't discount your main product.
Sell something else.
Something that:

• Gets people into your ecosystem

• Costs you little to deliver

• Leads naturally to your main product

• Maintains (or increases) perceived value

Here are 5 ways to do that.

1. The Bundle Play

The concept: Sell your main product at full price, but bundle it with high-margin add-ons.

E-commerce example:

• Don't: "40% off our $98 shirt"

• Do: "Buy the $98 shirt, get $127 accessory bundle free"

The math:

• Shirt costs you $45, sells for $98 (margin: $53)

• Accessory bundle costs you $18 (leather care kit, garment bag, extra buttons)

• Customer pays $98, perceives $225 value

• Your margin: $35 (vs $13 if you did 40% off)

Why it works:

• Price of core product never dropped

• Accessories are high-margin

• Gets them using more of your ecosystem

• Perceived value is insane ($225 for $98)

SaaS version:

• Don't: "50% off annual plan"

• Do: "Annual plan + 6 months bonus credits + onboarding package"

• Same price, more value, better margins

2. The Challenge/Workshop Play

The concept: Run a paid challenge that requires your main product to complete.

Course creator example:

• Don't: "50% off my $1,500 course"

• Do: "Join the 30-Day Content Sprint for $297 (requires tools/platform)"

The math:

• Challenge costs $297 (vs discounting $1,500 course to $750)

• Takes 10 hours of your time to run (record once, run multiple times)

• 40% of participants buy the full course at full price after

• Revenue: $297 + (40% × $1,500) = $897 per person

• vs $750 if you just discounted the course

Why it works:

• Lower barrier to entry ($297 vs $1,500)

• They experience your methodology first

• Creates urgency (challenge starts specific date)

• Community effect (people doing it together)

• Natural upsell moment at end

SaaS version:

• Don't: "30% off annual subscription"

• Do: "Join the 14-Day Blog Blitz Challenge for $97 (use our platform to complete)"

• They need your product to do the challenge

• You're not discounting the product

• They get results, then upgrade

Agency version:

• Don't: "20% off all projects"

• Do: "5-Day Brand Sprint for $5,000 (vs $50,000 full rebrand)"

• They pay for intensive workshop

• You show them what you can do

• Natural upsell to full project after

3. The Done-For-You Play

The concept: Sell a service that uses your product, instead of discounting the product itself.

SaaS example:

• Don't: "40% off our SEO tool subscription"

• Do: "We'll build your Q1 content strategy for $997 (delivered in our tool)"

The math:

• Strategy takes you 4 hours (your time: $400 cost)

• They get $997 strategy + see your tool in action

• 60% buy the tool after at full price ($588/year)

• Revenue: $997 + (60% × $588) = $1,350 per person

• vs $353 if you discounted annual plan 40%

Why it works:

• You're selling expertise, not software

• They see the tool's value through real use

• Lower perceived risk (you're doing the work)

• Natural transition to self-serve subscription

Physical product example:

• Don't: "30% off our coffee maker"

• Do: "Custom coffee subscription setup + free maker"

• They pay for subscription (high margin recurring)

• Maker is "free" but actually paid for by margin

• Builds habit around your ecosystem

4. The Access Play

The concept: Sell access to something exclusive that your main product enables.

SaaS example:

• Don't: "50% off project management tool"

• Do: "Join our Project Management Mastermind for $297/month (includes tool + weekly calls + templates)"

The math:

• Tool alone costs $99/month

• Mastermind costs $297/month

• Weekly calls cost you 1 hour/week (record and reuse)

• Templates you already built (cost: $0)

• Margin on $297 vs $49.50 (50% off $99)

Why it works:

• Tool is part of package, not discounted

• Community creates stickiness (lower churn)

• You're selling transformation, not features

• Price anchoring: $297 makes $99 seem cheap when they downgrade

Course creator version:

• Don't: "Half off my course"

• Do: "12-month implementation program with community + calls + templates"

• Course is included, but they're buying the support system

• Much higher price, better margins, better results

5. The Template/System Play

The concept: Sell the done-for-you version of what your product helps them do.

SaaS example:

• Don't: "30% off our email marketing platform"

• Do: "Plug-and-play email sequence library: $497 (runs on our platform)"

The math:

• You've already built the templates (sunk cost: $0)

• $497 for template library

• Free 3-month trial of platform included

• 70% convert to paid after trial

• Revenue: $497 + (70% × $147 for 3 months) = $600

• vs $73.50 (30% off 3 months at $35/month)

Why it works:

• They're buying speed (plug and play vs build from scratch)

• Templates require your platform to use

• Higher upfront revenue

• Lower perceived risk (proven templates)

Agency version:

• Don't: "20% off branding package"

• Do: "Brand-in-a-box kit: $2,997 (templates + guidelines + assets)"

• They implement using your templates

• Natural upsell to custom work later

• Scales better than custom projects

Physical product version:

• Don't: "40% off our camera"

• Do: "Photography masterclass + preset pack: $297 (optimized for our camera)"

• They need the camera to use the presets

• Course creates better results = builds brand

• Higher margin on digital products

The Pattern

Notice what all five have in common:

1. Main product stays full price

2. You're selling something else

3. That thing naturally leads to main product

4. Higher perceived value than a discount

5. Better margins for you

You're not discounting.
You're creating a new offer.

And your customers feel like they got a deal without you devaluing your core product.

I know Black Friday is soon, and you might have to scramble to make a bunch of Stripe links work, but trust me. This is way.

You make more money this way, and you teach your audience that you drop something special on Black Friday. Not that they have to wait because it’s cheaper…

✌️ Tim "No Discount November" Hanson
CMO @Penfriend.ai

Same brain, different platforms: X, Threads, LinkedIn.

P.S. Oh, you wanna know what we’re doing for Black Friday? Monday my friend. You all get it first. And it’s something we’ve never done before. No gonna be some crappy 30% off over here.

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