You post a new kurta set at 9pm. By morning there are 14 DMs asking the price. You reply to all of them, three people order, and it feels like a good night. What you don’t see is the other 400 people who saw the same post, liked the colour, and kept scrolling because finding out the price meant starting a conversation.
This is why “DM for price” survives. You can count every buyer who messages you, but you can never count the ones who didn’t, so the tactic always looks like it’s working.
Why Quiet Buyers Don’t Ask
Most people who skip a “DM for price” post aren’t uninterested. Some worry the price will be too high and they’ll have to say no to a real person, which feels worse than never asking. Some are only browsing and don’t want a chat with a stranger. Others are scrolling at 11pm and won’t wait until morning for a reply.
On r/smallbusinessindia, buyers describe these posts as an instant skip, including one who said she was ready to spend and still found the extra step pointless. A buyer on Quora said they never message these sellers because they dislike haggling and would rather not back out awkwardly after hearing an inflated number.
What a Hidden Price Tells a Buyer
When the price is missing, buyers guess, and the guesses aren’t kind. The first is that the item is expensive. The second is that the price depends on who’s asking, and some people admit as much: Reddit commenters openly describe hidden pricing as a way to charge less-informed buyers more. The third is that messaging means being chased. One buyer said they ask the price and, if it’s wrong, block the seller straight away to avoid follow-ups.
That last group means some of your DMs come from people who were never going to buy, so your inbox overstates demand as well.
“But It Gets My Posts More Reach”
This is the strongest argument for hiding the price. Every “price?” comment counts as engagement, and Instagram shows posts with more engagement to more people. One seller on Reddit claimed that hiding prices lifted engagement by over 300% in their own test.
Even if that holds, comments aren’t orders. The extra reach goes to more people facing the same friction, and the quiet buyers in that crowd still leave. You can keep the engagement without the friction by showing the price and asking for a different comment, like “comment your size and I’ll check stock” or “which colour should I restock next?” The post gets its interactions, and the buyer already knows they can afford it.
The Other Reasons Sellers Give
“It filters out timewasters.” Timewasters don’t mind DMing. The people it filters out are serious buyers who don’t like starting chats.
“I close better in the DM.” You still get the DM. The buyer just starts it already knowing the price works, so you talk about size and delivery instead of defending the number.
“Competitors will see my price.” They already know it. They DM you too.
“People will comment that it’s too expensive.” Some will, and sellers report rivals posting cheaper offers under their posts. You can delete a comment. You can’t win back a buyer who left without saying anything.
“Old posts go out of date when prices rise.” This is fair, and it’s a reason to keep prices in one place you can update, not a reason to hide them.
When “DM for Price” Makes Sense
Made-to-measure bridal work, custom orders priced by fabric and embroidery, and gold or silver pieces that follow the day’s rate. Here the price doesn’t exist until you talk. Even then, “Bridal sets from ₹18,000, final quote on WhatsApp” gives the buyer somewhere to start.
How to Show a Price and Keep Room to Negotiate
- “From ₹1,450” for products with sizes or variants
- Price per gram or per kg for jewellery, sweets and spices
- An original price with a strikethrough when something is on sale
- “Fixed price” when you don’t want to haggle, which the Quora buyer said they prefer
- One catalog link in your bio with every current price
The catalog link also fixes the old-post problem. Your posts say “prices in bio,” and when costs go up you change each price once. Trustd gives you a storefront at trustd.shop/yourname with pricing by weight, sale prices and a WhatsApp order button. The Starter plan is free, and Pro adds online payments and order tracking for ₹999 a year. It isn’t built for wholesale pricing tiers or large multi-channel catalogs, but for a boutique selling through Instagram and WhatsApp, it puts every price one tap away.
Let the Price Start the Conversation
Showing your price doesn’t end negotiation or stop the DMs. It changes who sends them. The buyer who messages already knows they can afford you, and the quiet one who would have scrolled past now has a reason to stay. Set up your store on Trustd and put your prices where buyers can see them.