How to reply to price enquiries on WhatsApp: the Price Shelf
By Lucas · Malta Automations, St. Paul’s Bay · · 7 min read
To reply to a price enquiry on WhatsApp, give a number in the first reply, or a day when the number comes. Never send neither. I call the setup the Price Shelf: three saved replies, one for each kind of job you do. Fixed says the price. Range gives your honest range and asks the one thing that moves it. See first says why you need to look, asks for photos and names the day they get a number. Each one is a quick reply in the free WhatsApp Business app.
A message lands at 11:40 while your hands are busy. It is two words long. “How much?”
No photo, no size, no date. You cannot price that, so you leave it for later. Later, you type “Hi, it depends, can you send more details?” and hear nothing back. The same person wrote to four other firms at 11:40, and one of them sent a number.
Why “how much?” is the hardest message to answer
“How much?” is hard because it arrives without the details you need, at the moment you have the least time. It is usually not rude. The person is shopping, and the same short message is the quickest way to ask several firms at once.
That makes the first reply a race you did not know you were in. It is two of what I call the Four Moves at once: the message lands mid-job, and the lead goes to whoever answers first. In a price enquiry, “answers” means “gives a number”.
The Price Shelf: one saved reply per kind of job
The Price Shelf is three replies you write once, on a quiet day, and keep ready. Every job you do sits on one of three shelves, and each shelf has its own reply.
- Fixed. The job is the same every time, so the price is too. Say it.
- Range. The price moves with one or two details. Give the range and ask for the detail.
- See first. You cannot price it without looking. Say why, ask for photos, and name the day they get a number.
One rule holds the shelf together: every “how much?” gets a number, or a day when the number comes, in the first reply. “It depends” on its own breaks the rule, because it gives the customer nothing to compare.
Sort your jobs before you write anything
Take the five things people ask you about most and put each on a shelf. A haircut, a standard cake or a single lesson is usually Fixed. A clean, a set of shelves or a party booking is usually Range. A leak, a renovation or a broken machine is usually See first. Most small firms end up with one or two jobs on each shelf.
Shelf one: the Fixed reply
The Fixed reply puts the price in the first line, then the next step. Do not make the customer ask twice for a number you already know.
Hi, thanks for asking. [Job] is [your price], and that includes [what is included]. I have [day] or [day] free this week. Which suits you?
Ending with two real days turns a price into a booking. It is the same shape as the Three-Line Reply for bookings: say what you can do, ask the one thing you still need, give them a time.
Shelf two: the Range reply
The Range reply gives an honest range and asks for the one detail that narrows it. A range is a real answer. It lets the customer decide in one read whether you are in their budget.
Hi, thanks for asking. Most [jobs like this] are between [lowest] and [highest]. The main thing that changes it is [size / number of rooms / date]. If you tell me that, I will send you the exact price today.
Keep the range honest. If almost every job lands near the top, say so, or the customer hears the bottom number and feels cheated later. And ask one question, not five. A customer who gets a form back often does not answer at all.
Shelf three: the See first reply
The See first reply says why you cannot price yet, asks for photos, and names the day the number comes. The day is what keeps the customer from writing to the next firm.
Hi, thanks for the message. I cannot give a fair price for this without seeing it, because [the cause / the size / the access] changes the job a lot. Could you send two or three photos, one close and one from further back? I will reply with a price by [tomorrow evening].
Photos usually save the trip. For trades, the full version of this is Photos Before Price. The rule underneath is the same: you see the job before you quote it.
How to save the Price Shelf in WhatsApp Business
Each shelf becomes one quick reply in the free WhatsApp Business app. Open the Tools tab, tap Quick replies, tap the plus, write the message, set a shortcut such as /fixed, /range or /look, then Save.
- To use one: in a chat, type / and your saved replies come up. Pick one, fill the brackets, send.
- The app holds up to 50. You can save one Fixed reply per fixed job if you want, but three general ones are enough to start.
- You can attach a photo. A quick reply can carry an image, such as your price list. That part does not work on WhatsApp Web or Desktop.
- Keep a copy outside WhatsApp. A deleted quick reply cannot be recovered, so paste all three into your notes app too.
The app also makes default quick replies from your business profile, such as your hours and address. Fill in the profile, and those come for free.
When they go quiet after the price
When a customer goes quiet after a price, send one follow-up, and decide its day when you send the price. Silence is not always a no. People get busy, or they are waiting on someone else to agree.
Hi, just checking you got the price for [job]. If [date] still works for you, I can hold it until [day].
After that one message, stop. Keep the chat on a list so it does not vanish, the way I set out in Whose Move. And if you find you are typing the same quote twice, that is a separate leak with its own fix: how to stop rewriting quotes.
When they say the price is too high
When a customer says your price is too high, say what it includes and offer the smaller version if you have one. Do not argue, and do not drop the price in the same message. A discount given straight away tells them the first number was not real.
Thanks for being straight with me. The price covers [what is included]. If you want to keep it lower, I can do [smaller version] for [smaller price]. If not, no problem, and you know where I am.
Malta notes for price replies
- Say whether VAT is in the price. “Including VAT” or “no VAT” in one word saves a second message and an awkward invoice later.
- Say if Gozo or distance changes it. If a job in Gozo or the far end of the island costs more, put it in the Range reply. Customers forgive a travel charge they were told about.
- Short lets mean a second person. The guest or tenant often asks, and the owner, sometimes abroad, pays. Ask once who approves the price before you book the day.
- Check the number Google shows. If your profile lists a 21 or 27 landline that is not on WhatsApp, price enquiries never reach you there. See how to add WhatsApp to your Google Business Profile.
What the free app will not do here
The WhatsApp Business app stores your replies. It does not answer for you. Three limits to know:
- Quick replies need you. You type /, pick and send. Nothing goes out on its own.
- The greeting message is not a price reply. It sends only to a first message or after 14 days of quiet, so a returning customer asking “how much?” does not get it.
- It does not know your prices. If a price changes, every saved reply with that number has to be edited by hand.
Never automate chaos
None of this works if you do not know your own prices. A saved reply with a range you made up on the spot is worse than no saved reply. If you cannot say what a typical job costs, work that out first, on paper, from your last ten jobs.
So the order stands. Diagnose which price questions cost you: the two-word ones, the ones that go quiet, or the ones you answer late. Articulate the three replies in plain words. Systemize them as quick replies. Only then AI, and only once the habit holds by hand.
One thing to do today
Scroll back through your WhatsApp and find the last three “how much?” messages. Put each job on a shelf, write the reply you wish you had sent, and save it as a quick reply. It takes about fifteen minutes, and the next two-word message gets a real answer in seconds.
Questions owners ask me about price enquiries
Should I give a price on WhatsApp straight away?
Give a number or a day when the number comes, in the first reply. If the job is always the same, say the price. If it moves with one or two details, give your honest range and ask for those details. If you have to see it first, say so and say when they will get a number. What loses the customer is a reply with neither.
What do I reply when someone only writes "price?"
Answer with what you can say without knowing more, then ask the one thing that changes the price. "Most jobs like this are between [lowest] and [highest]. What size is it?" is a reply they can act on. "Depends, please send details" is not.
Is "DM for price" or "call for price" a good reply?
Usually not. Someone who asked on WhatsApp is often asking several firms at once, and the firm that gives a number is the one they keep talking to. If you really cannot say a number, say why and when you will have one.
What if the customer goes quiet after I send the price?
Send one follow-up, and decide when at the moment you send the price, not later. I would pick two or three days after the quote. After that one follow-up, let it go and keep the chat in a list so you can see it.
How do I reply when a customer says my price is too high?
Thank them, say what the price includes, and offer the smaller version if there is one. Do not argue and do not drop the price in the same message. If there is no smaller version, say so plainly and leave the door open.
Can WhatsApp Business send price replies automatically?
Not by itself. The free app has quick replies, which you pull up by typing "/" in a chat, and you still press send. The greeting message goes out on its own, but only to the first message or after 14 days of quiet, so it cannot answer every price question.
If “how much?” is the part that costs you
I built this because I was sick of rebuilding yesterday’s messages from memory. I go into small firms across Malta and Gozo, shops, studios, clinics and trades among them, find the one process that is already eating the week, and take it off the owner.
Message me on WhatsApp and tell me which price question costs you most: the two-word “how much?”, the customer who goes quiet after the number, or the one you answer too late. No slides, no PDF from abroad, and nothing to buy on the call. If I can help, I will. If I cannot, I will say so.
Lucas