Day 239: Why Showing Your Price Too Early Costs You Sales

Sometimes a single split test result tells you everything you need to know — and this week, showing the price too high on the sales page cost me 25% of my conversions.

Here's the full picture from Day 239 of the $240K journey.

- Placing the price high on the sales page reduced conversions by approximately 25% — pulled immediately after the data came in.

- The last 5 days produced $2,000 in sales, $1,300 in ad spend, and $728 in profit — averaging $100 per day in profit.

- A 13-second video ad is driving the most purchases, but keeping a variety of creatives in rotation is still proving valuable.

- Australia and New Zealand are being added as target markets after strong historical performance in those regions.

Where We Are at Day 239

We're almost two thirds of the way through this journey and closing in on the end of month eight in April. With just four months remaining to hit $240,000, the pressure is on — but right now I've been deliberately running the ads at half speed.

Since the Meta account issue, I've kept spend at £200 per day while I stabilise things and focus on a new product in development. It's not the fastest path to the goal, but it's the smart one.

The Last 5 Days: Real Numbers

Over the past five days, we banked $2,000 in sales against $1,300 in ad spend, leaving a $728 profit.

That's an average of just $100 a day in profit — not life-changing, but the business is running completely on autopilot while I'm heads-down on a new product.

Yesterday alone pulled in $511 against a break-even of around $206, which is nearly double the return. Today was sitting at $252 by 6pm, so a small profit is likely there too.

Split Test #1: The Headline Test

A week or so back I ran a split test on the headline. The result? My control beat the new challenger. That's not a failure — that's the system working exactly as it should. The control stays, the new idea gets retired, and we move on.

The lower ad spend has made these tests slower to reach statistical significance, which is why the video updates have been less frequent. Data takes time when you're not throwing money at volume.

Split Test #2: Price Placement — A Costly Lesson

This is the big one. I wanted to test whether placing the price high up on the sales page would help or hurt conversions. Most people would assume it would hurt — but I always believe in testing your instincts rather than just following them.

The result was clear: conversions dropped by around 25%. That's a significant hit. I pulled the variant immediately and returned to the control. The lesson here isn't that the idea was stupid — it's that you simply don't know until you test.

The Current Split Test: One vs Two Scientific References

Right now I'm running a more subtle test. The Myelin Method course is built around a scientific framework, and I've been leaning into that in the copy.

I've found a second scientific reference — two leading researchers who spent decades studying what really separates great guitar players from everyone else — and I'm testing whether adding that second reference to the page improves conversions.

It's a subtle change, but subtle tests still generate learning. I'd rather run something than run nothing.

Facebook Ads Account: What the Data Shows

Looking at the ads account over the last week, cost per purchase has been sitting comfortably in the £11–£13 range, with a couple of unusual outliers that were likely reporting errors on Meta's side. That range is solid — I know we're making money when it's sitting there. The creative driving the most purchases is a 13-second video, followed by a one-minute video, static images, and carousels.

Carousels are coming in more expensive, but having a variety of formats in rotation continues to be the right call.

Country Performance Breakdown

Breaking down by country, the US remains the top market, followed by the UK and Canada.

European markets like Norway, Germany, Belgium, and Sweden are also converting at competitive rates. Denmark hasn't produced enough volume to justify a dedicated focus.

The next move is to add Australia and New Zealand to the targeting — both have historically been strong markets for this type of product and it's overdue.

What's Next on the Creative Side

One area I haven't touched yet is the image and video creative angle around the Myelin Method story itself.

So far the messaging has been driven by headlines and copy — the creative visuals haven't fully reflected the science-based angle yet.

There's real opportunity here: bringing in imagery around older guitarists, the science of skill development, and the research story. When I get the time, that's where I'll go next. For now, it's scheduled for next week.

The New Product in the Background

I've been deliberately vague about this, but there's a software-based product in development that's been consuming most of my time.

It's more complex than a standard digital course — which is why progress has been slower and why I've been leaning on the existing business to run on autopilot.

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to share more, and we should be close to having something ready for testing.

Performance Snapshot

- Day: 239 of 365

- Daily ad spend: £200/day

- Last 5 days — Sales: $2,000

- Last 5 days — Ad spend: $1,300

- Last 5 days — Profit: $728

- Average daily profit: ~$100

- Yesterday's revenue: $511

- Cost per purchase: £11–£13

- Top performing creative: 13-second video

- Price placement test impact: -25% conversions

The business is ticking over, the tests are generating real learning even at lower spend, and the foundation is solid.

The next phase — when the new product is ready and ad spend scales back up — is where things should start to accelerate again. Slow and steady right now is the right call.

Resources & Next Steps

Free Top 10 Split-Tests: https://www.jonathanhowkins.com/split-testing

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