Pricing White Label Services: How to Maintain Margins While Staying Competitive

You landed a new client with an ambitious scope—website redesign, SEO, and paid ads. Your team is stretched, and you face a choice: turn down work or deliver without burnout.

White label products are generic items made by one company and sold to others for rebranding. Both white label and private label involve reselling products under your own brand, enabling faster market entry and expanded offerings.

White label partnerships solve delivery challenges, but white label pricing often trips agencies up. Charge too much, and you lose clients; too little, and you erode profits. Neither builds a sustainable agency.

Here’s how to price white label services profitably without pricing yourself out.

Understanding White Label Pricing

White label pricing is crucial for agencies offering outsourced services under their own brand. It directly impacts your market position, profitability, and potential for growth. Effective pricing covers your costs, reflects the value you provide, and aligns with your overall business objectives.

Begin by thoroughly assessing your true expenses, identifying your target market, and understanding client expectations. This approach ensures you deliver value, maintain healthy profit margins, and strengthen your brand reputation.

Know Your Target Market

Your target market drives your pricing. Identify ideal clients, what they value, and their budget. Research competitors and market trends to set prices that keep your agency competitive and profitable.

Premium clients expect quality and pay accordingly, supporting higher margins. For price-sensitive clients, tiered pricing offers basic to premium packages, delivering perceived value at every level.

Understanding your customer base and their needs is essential to tailor your pricing structure effectively. Different industries and business sizes have varying expectations and budgets, so segmenting your market can help you craft packages that resonate and maximize your reach.

Align Pricing with Your Business Model

Your business model shapes your pricing. Consider operational costs, revenue goals, and client acquisition strategies. Complex services like web development or content creation have higher costs that pricing must cover.

Long-term client models can justify higher prices for ongoing value. Volume-based models require competitive pricing to attract steady clients.

Your pricing should cover expenses, support profit goals, and meet client expectations.

Calculate Your True Costs

Don’t underestimate costs by focusing only on partner fees. Include partner rates, production costs, minimum order quantities, and any annual fees for support.

Indirect costs like research, quality control, marketing, and client management add up. Design and branding costs vary by complexity. Shipping and logistics depend on scale and geography. Maintenance fees depend on product complexity and user count.

For example, a $500 website from a partner might cost you $650 after adding your project management and client communication time.

Know your total costs to protect your white label profit margins.

Set the Right Markup

Typical white label markups range from 50% to 100%, depending on service type and market. But focus on value added, not just a fixed percentage.

The average marketing agency profit margin is 15-20%. Your markup should reflect your strategic input, client management, and quality control.

Execution-heavy services like design or development usually have 50-75% markups. Strategy or specialized services can justify 75-100% or more.

Consider your business goals and market demand when setting markups. Higher markups may be sustainable if you offer premium service and demonstrate a competitive advantage, while lower markups might be necessary to remain competitive in price-sensitive markets.

Flat Rate and Tiered Pricing

Flat rate pricing offers clients predictable costs and is popular for white label services. But it can be risky for complex projects with variable effort.

Tiered pricing packages—basic, standard, premium—help clients self-select and protect margins. For example, social media management agencies often use tiered packages with distinct deliverables and prices.

Combining flat rates with tiered packages balances clarity and profitability.

Packaging design and clear service descriptions in each tier help potential customers understand the value differences, making upselling easier and more effective.

Compete on Value, Not Price

Competing only on price leads to a race to the bottom. Instead, use value-based pricing that reflects perceived service worth.

Charge based on performance metrics like leads or conversions to justify premium pricing. Position value first in communication to reduce price sensitivity. Use real-world examples and benefits to build trust.

Two agencies might charge $3,000 for SEO, but the one offering strategy calls, detailed reports, and proactive advice delivers more value.

Partnering with reliable white label providers frees capacity to add value without raising costs—your true competitive edge.

Protect Margins with Packages

Custom quotes kill margins and waste time. Use productized packages aligned with your target audience.

Create three tiers per service—entry, standard, premium—with predictable costs and protected margins. Clients self-select by budget, and you scale without extra quoting overhead.

This approach also helps streamline your sales process and improves brand recognition by consistently delivering defined service levels.

Control Scope to Avoid Margin Erosion

Margin loss usually happens during delivery from scope creep and endless revisions.

Set clear boundaries upfront: define inclusions, cap revisions, and use change orders for extras. Your white label partner executes; you manage client expectations.

Agencies with healthy margins control scope rigorously, not just charge more.

Effective communication and documentation of scope help prevent misunderstandings and maintain client satisfaction.

Long-Term Contracts and Pricing Models

Long-term contracts secure recurring revenue and client loyalty. Offer discounts for annual or multi-year commitments to balance competitiveness and profitability.

Performance-based pricing ties fees to results, like charging a percentage of ad spend in Google Ads campaigns. This aligns your interests with clients and demonstrates value.

Flexible pricing with discounts or incentives appeals to clients and ensures steady growth.

Partner with Predictable Pricing

Your agency pricing strategy depends on your white label partner. Unpredictable costs make quoting and margin protection impossible.

Choose partners with transparent pricing and reliable delivery. Murphy Consulting offers white label WordPress, Shopify, SEO, PPC, and design services priced for confident margins.

No surprises. Just consistent execution letting you quote competitively and run a profitable agency.

Ready to build sustainable margins with a dependable white label partnership? Contact Murphy Consulting today.

‍