in my business we have v.low cost prices and v.high costs.
we use bands and for low cost items we sell with high margin. the idea is that the margin reduces as the cost increases.
it occured to me that i should make one equation to set price.
im not a maths boffin at all but i remember from school the gradient of a reverse parabola started off high and gradually reduced.
can someone help me out pls
thanks

In UK many 'high street' shops have fallen into this trap .. they have cut their margins on 'main' items to the bone (in order to compete with eBay etc) and then scalp the customers on the 'extras' or 'accessories'....

Thus Dixon's, for example, will sell you an Ink Jet Printer for £50 (margin about 50p) and then try to sting you £15 for a USB cable (margin £14.50) or £60 for a second set of ink cartridges (margin £45). They try the same trick with their 'Batteries Not Included' products ...

Unfortunately for Dixon's etc. the likes of Pound-Land and "99p" stores now stock many of the same 'accessories' ... and when you can purchase 16 batteries at 99p you are not going to fall for Dixons's pricing of £4.75 for 4 ...


Low margins on high cost and high margins on low cost items is no longer a viable business model ... Woolworth was the first low costs high margin sellers to feel the full force of the 99p stores (and won't be the last) and competition from the eBay 'direct' sellers for high end kit customers is relentless ..

Dixon's may last a bit longer with their 'Extended Warranty' rip-offs but sooner or latter they will fall to the same forces ..the future of product sales is the Internet .. the high street's future is 99p stores & charity shops (selling so cheap that the cost of postage would be prohibitive), coffee shops, restaurants and anything with a 'sell it fresh' / 'consume it now' business model.