• The Inbox
  • Posts
  • You Can't Sell A $3,000 Product Like A $30 One...

You Can't Sell A $3,000 Product Like A $30 One...

Author

Max Sturtevant
January 30, 2026

The Inbox Newsletter

Hey, it's Max from the Inbox Newsletter.

This rarely gets talked about in ecom, but the way you sell needs to change depending on the price of your products.

Sounds obvious, but this is a mistake I see a lot of high-ticket brands make.

You can't sell a $3,000 office chair the same way you sell a $30 dog hoodie.

The email tactics that work for a low-AOV brand with impulse products won't work for high ticket/high AOV.

It's a different game and if you run one of these brands, your email infrastructure needs to be different.

Here's how to actually sell expensive stuff through email.

Key Takeaways:

  • High-ticket buyers take longer to convert and your flows need to account for that.

  • "$100 off" sounds better than "5% off" - switch to dollar amount discounts

  • Education and trust-building replace urgency as your primary conversion lever

  • You need human support infrastructure baked into your email strategy

The Conversion Cycle Is Completely Different For High AOV Products

Someone buying a $35 dog hoodie doesn't need to think about it. They'll buy it on the spot because they think it's cute. The total decision time took maybe 90 seconds.

Someone buying a $4,000 piece of gym equipment... That takes weeks of research, comparison shopping, reading reviews, etc.

These are fundamentally different buying processes.

For low-AOV impulse products, your welcome flow is trying to capture that immediate buying energy. Someone just opted in, they're interested, you hit them with the offer and try to convert them within 24-48 hours.

High-ticket products need a different approach. You're going to have a hard time getting someone to impulse-buy a $2,500 ergonomic chair from a welcome email they received 10 minutes ago.

Solution: Make your welcome flows longer.

For low-AOV brands, a 4-email welcome flow over 4-5 days works great.

For high-ticket… You need 8+ emails stretched over 2-3 weeks.

The structure shifts from "here's your discount, buy now" to education: brand story, product deep-dives, social proof, comparison content, objection handling, then eventually a soft offer.

You're giving people everything they need to make an informed decision while building trust along the way.

The "$200 Off vs. 10% Off" Psychology Flip

This is where a lot of high-ticket brands leave money on the table.

"10% off your first order" works great when your product is $50. That's $5 off. Fine.

But when your product is $2,000? "10% off" doesn't feel like $200 off..

Percentages feel small on big numbers. Dollar amounts feel tangible.

What would you be more interested in…

10% OFF?

Of $200 OFF?

When I hear $200 off I’m thinking of two $100 bills… and that gets me more excited than some small random 10% that I don’t know the value of.

Look at how Anthros frames their offer. "$200 OFF YOUR ANTHROS CHAIR" - not "10% off." You see that number and it registers as real money.

For high-ticket products, always frame your offers in dollar amounts. Your popup, your welcome flow, your campaigns - all of it.

Education + Staying Top Of Mind Is Your Conversion Lever

Low-AOV brands convert through urgency… Limited time. Only 3 left, sale ends tonight.

That doesn't work as consistently for high-ticket.

A countdown timer means nothing if the customer doesn’t trust you and knows for a fact the $3,000 they are giving you will give them higher value.

High-ticket brands convert through education and trust.

Your emails should be teaching people. How does your product work? Why is it better than alternatives? What should they know before buying?

Anthros (a $2K+ ergonomic chair brand) does this extremely well.

Founder video in the welcome flow:

For big purchases, a video from the CEO can outperform

Instead of a generic product shot, it’s an actual human walking you through the science of sitting. For a purchase this big, people need to understand the "why."

Technical deep-dives on proprietary features:

This is the nerdy product education high-ticket buyers actually want.

They're explaining the engineering, proprietary fabric technology, the posture system, how it all works.

Full Reddit reviews embedded in emails:

Reddit reviews are way more credible than a 5-star blurb that says "Great chair!"

They're including entire long-form Reddit reviews - real customers breaking down their experience over weeks of use. It reads like someone

doing due diligence for you.

Comparison data against competitors:

"609 votes, 7 chairs, 1 leader."

They ran a public vote against Herman Miller, Steelcase, and SecretLab - and won. This handles the "why you vs. competitors" objection with third-party proof.

Think about what questions someone has before dropping $2,000+ on your product. Then answer all of those questions through your email content.

You Need Human Support Infrastructure

This is crucial, but most high-ticket brands completely miss.

Someone considering a $50 purchase doesn't need to talk to a human. They'll read a few reviews and figure it out.

Someone considering a $3,000 purchase has questions. Specific questions that needs more than a generic FAQ email.

If they can't get those questions answered easily, then consider that a lost sale.

Look at what Anthros does:

"The only chair that comes with a therapist."

They have actual physical therapists and seating specialists on staff. You can book a free consultation to talk through your specific situation.

That's sales infrastructure disguised as support.

For high-ticket, your email strategy needs this kind of human element built in. Put a phone number in your emails. Respond to replies within the hour. Offer consultations or calls.

Give people a way to talk to a human before they buy.

Final Thoughts

High-ticket ecommerce requires a completely different email mindset.

Stop trying to create urgency. Start trying to build confidence.

Stretch your flows to 6+ emails. Switch from percentage discounts to dollar amounts. Load up on education, video, and detailed social proof. Build human support directly into your strategy.

Your customers aren't impulse buying. They're researching, comparing, and waiting until they're sure.

Your job is to support that process, not fight against it.

If you want Well Copy to build out a high-ticket email strategy for your brand, book a call here.

Email Inspiration Of The Day

Brand: Cloud07

Email Design:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aOsLMyIWZQe5Eu-hRdXkt_us8U_k9x7y/view?usp=sharing

Notes: The hero is simple, the offer is clear, and the visual does most of the talking. It feels premium without trying too hard.

Reply to this email if you have any questions or further content you want covered.

Cheers,

Max Sturtevant | Well Copy

How I Can Help You: