A kitchen table at evening covered with a fanned stack of blank statements, a highlighter, a calculator and a phone, with a hand mid-note.

What Each Bill Is Actually Priced On

Every recurring charge is priced on one of five things. Knowing which one turns a vague 'it is too expensive' into a specific, answerable question.

Module 2 of 84 lessonsWritten in full1 worksheet

Start this module The whole course

The lessons

All 4, in the order they are read.

1. The five pricing bases
Usage, capacity, risk, access, or nothing at all. Each one is reduced by a completely different move, and using the wrong move wastes the call.
2. Usage-billed: power, water, gas, fuel, data
You are billed for a quantity, so the only two levers are the unit rate and the quantity, and they are pulled in different places.
3. Risk-billed: every kind of insurance
The premium is a function of the risk you present and the deductible you accept, so the lever is your own file, not the salesperson.
4. Access-billed, and the ones priced on nothing
Subscriptions, memberships and fees priced purely on what the market will bear are the softest lines on the page, and they are soft in both directions.

The worksheet

Pricing-basis classifier

Copy the charge names from Module 1's register into column one, then classify. The right-hand column is the only move that works on that basis; anything else is a wasted phone call.

Pricing-basis classifier
Charge	Pricing basis	What the vendor is measuring	The move that works	The move that wastes the call
Power	Usage	Kilowatt-hours plus a fixed delivery charge	Change the quantity; check whether supply is separately competitive where you live	Asking for a discount on a regulated delivery tariff
Home internet	Access	Nothing physical — the line is already installed	Ask retentions for the current promotional tier	Arguing about speed you do not use
Auto insurance	Risk	Your record, your vehicle, your deductible, your mileage	Change the deductible and correct anything wrong in your file	Asking for a discount without changing an input
Streaming service	Access	Nothing — pure inertia pricing	Cancel; re-subscribe the month you will use it	Downgrading to a tier you will still not watch
Water	Usage	Consumption plus a fixed service charge	Find the leak first; most large water bills are a running toilet	Negotiating a municipal tariff
—	Usage / Capacity / Risk / Access / Nothing	—	—	—

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Module 3: The Tier That Is Never Offered →