What’s the maximum you’d pay for a bottle of water?

£1? £2? £5?

I guess it depends on how thirsty and desperate you are.

Back in the old days when I went to London music clubs, they’d sometimes charge as much as £10 for a bottle of water to customers who’d danced themselves into a sweaty mess.

(They’d even make the tap water in the bathrooms salty so that nobody could drink the free stuff – it was an OUTRAGE!)

So I was amused to spot a story in The Mirror about a bottle of water that costs the equivalent of £60.

Yep, that’s SIXTY BRITISH POUNDS.

And it wasn’t in a hot club, some remote bar in a desert, or a billionaire’s exclusive bar…

This was in a SUPERMARKET!

It happened in the USA where food influencer, Carmie Sellitto strolled into Erewhon (California’s most opulent supermarket) and forked out $81 (roughly £60) on water-and-ice,

Having taken a few sips, he told his TikTok viewers: “You know what, it just tastes expensive, it really does.”

As you can imagine, his followers rushed to make their outrage known. Their comments included….

“That is such a waste of money.”

“Even if I was a billionaire, I wouldn’t fall for this scam,”

“I’m convinced Erewhon is a social experiment.”

You probably agree, right?

And you might even think, “Heck, who WOULDN’T agree?”

Well, this is where it gets interesting.

Because one commentator on Sellitto’s post said this:

“It’s really good, so much better than normal water, a lot of people commenting haven’t actually tried it. I think it’s 100% worth it, if anything it’s underpriced.”

And of course, Erwhon wouldn’t be selling this at the price if NOBODY ever bought it.

So there are people who will pay.

Truth is, this luxury supermarket isn’t trying to please everyone.

Quite the opposite…

It’s appealing to the 1% who will happily pay big bucks for a drink of water… because they’re also paying for a sense of privilege, exclusivity, and, I guess, bragging rights!

So while the vast majority of sane people will think that a £60 bottle of water is a total rip-off… there will always be one or two people who think it’s actually a bargain.

Whatever your opinion on that, it’s worth understanding these deep emotional drivers that make people pay huge sums of money for products and services.

Because they can turn the most basic product into something of very high value.

And you could use them to make money, even from something as simple as a website, eBook or coaching service.

What Makes A VIP Product

Okay, so let’s look at why people pay £60 for water and ice in a fancy California supermarket, frequented by celebrities and wealthy entrepreneurs.

Exclusivity

Erewhon is an upscale grocery chain with only ten locations, all of which are in Los Angeles County, California.
Its product range is specially selected from top suppliers, so what you get there won’t be available anywhere else in the world.

So a bottle of water from this shop feels unique and special, which raises its value.

Status

Erewhon is renowned as a place where rich, successful, good-looking, and famous people go to get food.

This creates a powerful ‘halo effect’ where we assume that the shop has the same kind of qualities as those famous patrons, and that it will rub off on us.

People will pay for a bottle of water in such a place because it makes them feel that they have an elevated status – that they get a taste of being rich, powerful and successful.

Privileges

Customers aren’t just paying for the water and the ice, or even the taste (not that water really has much!)

They are paying for the experience of being in the store, with its stylish layout, luxury fittings, exquisitely designed product range and polite staff.

For example, one person who commented on Sellitto’s TikTok post about the £60 water wrote: “Erwon is a lovely shopping experience. Buy what you can afford. It’s a nice atmosphere there.”

It’s a bit like how you’d pay more for a breakfast on a balcony overlooking a beautiful lake than you would in a backstreet of a polluted city – EVEN if the ingredients were exactly the same, and cooked exactly the same way.

Wider Benefits

In its marketing materials, Erewhon takes great pains to emphasise that it’s trying to fight food instability, reduce waste, and support impoverished communities in LA.

To do that, it runs programmes and schemes in recycling, composting, local brand support and help for the homeless. Its website also boasts of its organic, regenerative, biodynamic, and seasonal range.

This gives the brand a wider social cause than purely making profits and reduces the resistance people feel to paying more for the products in the store.

How to Give Your Service VIP Status

I’ve just laid out four powerful factors that give Erewhon’s bottled water a much higher perceived value.

But how could YOU apply them yourself?

Well, firstly, if you want to go down this route, accept that your product or service is NOT aimed at everyone…

You’re looking to create a 1% club of superfans who will pay big money, so forget the 99%.

That means focusing your marketing copy and design on that 1%, so that it feels like it’s exclusively for them.

To do that, you need to first understand who your target customer is, and what makes them tick.

I won’t go into that in detail here, as I’ve covered this in plenty of issues of What Really Makes Money…

But the essential thing is to research the market, find examples of your target customer, and create an ‘avatar’ – that is, a fully fleshed character study, complete with a name, location, family status, job role, income, likes, dislikes, fears and desires.

Then you can ‘speak’ directly to that person, in their language, showing them how you can help them.

Okay, so let’s say you’ve done that…

Here’s what you can do to elevate your product – for example, a digital course, seminar, subscription service, or membership site.

Exclusivity

Make your product limited access, like a club, where not everyone can get in automatically.

That might mean:-

• A limited number of places or copies.
• A membership system
• An email list people join in order to get an invitation
• An application people have to submit before consideration

In the invitation, make it clear that your product is only for a select few who fit the criteria you are looking for.

Don’t be afraid to say “this is not for everyone”, or “stop reading now if you aren’t prepared to X, Y or Z”, because this only makes your offer even more intriguing.

Status

Show that your system, product or service is the sort of thing used by successful people that your target customers aspire to be.

This could include…

• Your own status or achievements
• Testimonials from people who have used your system
• Stories in the media of people who use the same approach or methods
• Endorsements from credible authorities in their field

You can also achieve this by showing what kind of higher-status life your customer might enjoy by following your advice or using your product.

Privileges

Make sure that your product comes with plenty of privileges that elevate the customer experience. Examples include:

• Personal consultations, private coaching or high level support
• Video demos, webinars and live walkthroughs
• Bonus tools, reports and mini-courses
• Private Facebook groups or a members-only forum
• Exclusive discounts and special offers
• Priority customer service access

These will make the customer feel special and that they’re getting more than they paid for.

Wider Benefits

To truly elevate a product or service, show that it serves a bigger purpose. That doesn’t mean you have to donate money to special causes (although if you’re making enough profits, this is worth considering!).

You can also do it by:-

• Showing that your aim is to help others as much (or more) than it is to make money.
• Showing that your product helps individuals live happier, healthier or wealthier lives
• Showing that your product has a small but meaningful contribution to a better overall society
• Projecting a better future for your customer, their family and community.

If you can do all the above, you could easily charge £97, £197, £497 or even more for an information product that other people might only price at £37 or less!

What do you think? Could you apply any of these to a current business idea you are working on?