Shanli Liu, CPA, CTPFreedomfolio · I help 7 to 8 figure service business owners and ecommerce sellers keep 10K to 75K of profit- without IRS headaches | CPA. Virtual CFO. Tax Resolution Pro | $5MM+client tax savings | Book a free 15 min strategy call

"I Can't Double My Prices!"

Name: "I Can't Double My Prices!"
Uploaded: 2026-02-25T19:55:00+00:00
Duration: 44 s
Channel: Shanli Liu, CPA, CTP
Description: In this short spoken parable, a baker who sells the best bread for a low price works 18 hours a day but barely survives. An old merchant advises him to…

25 Feb 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:44

In this short spoken parable, a baker who sells the best bread for a low price works 18 hours a day but barely survives. An old merchant advises him to double his price. Though the baker fears losing customers, he does so, losing half his clientele but maintaining the same revenue while cutting his work hours in half. The freed time lets him experiment with new recipes, improving the bread’s quality. As the product gets better, customers value it more and are willing to pay higher prices. Over time, the baker repeats the price‑doubling process, eventually selling the same number of loaves at four times the original price to customers who prioritize quality over cost. The merchant concludes that the price a business sets signals its value to the world, and the market adopts that perception.

Chapters

A baker sells the best bread in town for 1 copper coin, and so he's working 18 hours a day, but he's barely surviving. One day, an old merchant sees him turn away customers halfway through the day when he runs out of bread. He says, just double your prices. And of course, the baker is like, that's impossible, I'll lose all my customers. But eventually he's like, fine, I'll double my prices. And when he does, he loses half his customers, but he makes the same money working half the time. And with his free hours, he then experiments with new recipes, and his bread gets even better, and he sells even more. And over time, he keeps selling more until eventually he doubles his prices again. And so a year later, he sold the same number of loaves he used to, but at 4 times the price to his favorite customers because they valued the quality over the price. And so the merchant then said to him, the price you charge is how valuable you tell the world your work is. And the world believed you as soon as you did.