The Laboratorium : Experiments (and Surveys) in Casebook Pricing

Michael Froomkin is using my casebook in his Internet Law class this semester. He was curious how his students were taking to the pay-what-you-want model, so he asked them (anonymously) what they paid. The results are interesting, and encouraging. A majority of students paid the $30 sticker price, and the average price across the whole class was $21.19. I’m very happy that his students are finding the book useful enough that they think it’s fair to pay for it.

February 16, 2012 at 2:33 PM

Michael Froomkin

I’m very happy that his students are finding the book useful enough that they think it’s fair to pay for it.

Given that the are asked to make the payment decision at the beginning of the semester, before they’ve used it, I’m not sure if that’s exactly what is going on.

February 21, 2012 at 2:44 PM

Colette Vogele

This is an interesting data point. It’s consistent with an anecdote I heard some time ago about payment for downloaded music on Magnatune. At the time (2006?), listeners could pay between $5 and $15 to download an album. Most paid more than the minimum (I recall that the average was around $8).