Pricing Strategy Toolkit v1.1

Cost-plus pricing analysis with competitor comparison and discount scenario modeling — replace expensive pricing tools with AI-powered analysis.

Installation

1. Download the pf-pricing-toolkit.plugin file
2. Open Claude Desktop and navigate to Settings > Plugins
3. Click Install Plugin and select the downloaded .plugin file
4. The plugin will be installed and available immediately

Note: All data stays local on your machine. No external API calls or cloud storage required.

Why This Exists

SMBs and freelancers spend hours building pricing spreadsheets, guessing at markups, and trying to position competitively — often underpricing and eroding margins. Professional pricing tools like Prisync cost $600-2,400/year and focus on e-commerce price scraping. This plugin is an alternative to them with structured cost analysis, competitor comparison, and scenario modeling included with your subscription.

Quick Start

1. Initialize workspace (creates folders, checks dependencies):

   /pricing:setup
   

2. Add your product costs to inbound/products.csv:

   product_name,cost_category,amount,unit,notes,overhead_percent
   Widget A,materials,12.50,per unit,Raw steel,0
   Widget A,labor,12.50,per unit,Assembly (0.5hr @ $25/hr),0
   Widget A,overhead,5.00,per unit,Facility allocation,0
   

3. Import and analyze:

   /pricing:import
   /pricing:calculate
   /pricing:compare (optional, if you have competitors.csv)
   /pricing:scenario
   /pricing:report
   

4. Download outbound/pricing-strategy-report.docx — customize in Word and share with your team.

Or run the full pipeline at once:

/pricing:full

Commands

Command	Purpose	Input	Output
/pricing:setup	Initialize workspace, check dependencies	None	.pricing/config.json
/pricing:import	Parse product costs from CSV	inbound/products.csv	processing/pricing-costs.json
/pricing:calculate	Calculate 3 pricing tiers + margins	pricing-costs.json	processing/pricing-calculated.json
/pricing:compare	Analyze competitor prices + market position	inbound/competitors.csv	processing/pricing-comparison.json
/pricing:scenario	Model discount impacts on margins	pricing-calculated.json	processing/pricing-scenarios.json
/pricing:report	Generate professional DOCX report	pricing-calculated.json + optional comparison/scenarios	outbound/pricing-strategy-report.docx
/pricing:full	Run all stages in sequence (import → calculate → compare → scenario → report)	All inputs	All outputs
/pricing:status	Show pipeline progress and available data	None	Console summary
/pricing:kb	View pricing-kb domain knowledge base (standards, methods, regulations)	None	Console reference

How It Works

Pipeline Data Flow:

inbound/products.csv
      ↓
   [import skill]
      ↓
processing/pricing-costs.json
      ↓
   [calculate skill]
      ↓
processing/pricing-calculated.json
      ├─→ [compare skill] → pricing-comparison.json
      ├─→ [scenario skill] → pricing-scenarios.json
      └─→ [report skill] → pricing-strategy-report.docx

Each stage is independent:

• Run just /pricing:calculate to re-compute prices without re-importing
• Run /pricing:compare without /pricing:scenario to compare competitors only
• Edit processing/pricing-costs.json manually between stages if needed

What It's an Alternative To

Tool	Cost	Overlap	Our Advantage
Prisync	$1,188-2,268/yr	Price monitoring, competitor tracking	Cost-plus analysis, local data, customizable
Pricefy	$588-2,268/yr	Price change alerts, competitor data	Cost-plus + margin analysis, DOCX reports
ProfitWell	Custom (600+/yr)	Pricing optimization	Works for products + services, not SaaS-only

Key Differentiators

• Included with your subscription — No subscriptions, no per-API-call fees
• Data stays local — Pricing strategy is competitive intelligence. local processing, no SaaS surveillance
• Fully customizable — Edit .pricing/config.json to match your markup tiers and cost model
• Deterministic math — All financial calculations use Python (no LLM estimation). You know exactly how prices are computed
• No feature bloat — Focused on pricing analysis, not 200 e-commerce features you don't use

Feature Comparison

Feature	This Plugin	Prisync	Pricefy
Cost-plus pricing calculation	✅ Full	❌ None	❌ None
Gross margin analysis	✅ Full	⚠️ Partial	❌ None
Break-even analysis	✅ Full	❌ None	❌ None
Competitor price comparison	✅ Full	✅ Full (automated)	✅ Full (automated)
Discount impact modeling	✅ Full	⚠️ Partial	❌ None
Professional DOCX reports	✅ Full	⚠️ Export only	⚠️ Export only
Real-time price alerts	❌ None	✅ Full	✅ Full
Multi-user collaboration	❌ None	✅ Full	✅ Full
Data privacy (local only)	✅ Full	❌ Cloud	❌ Cloud
Cost	✅ included with your subscription	❌ $1,188-2,268/yr	❌ $588-2,268/yr
Domain knowledge base	✅ Full (GAAP, FTC, IMA)	❌ None	❌ None
Regulatory compliance alerts	✅ Full (Robinson-Patman, FTC)	❌ None	❌ None
Markup vs. margin validation	✅ Automatic	❌ None	❌ None

Estimated Cost per Use

Disclaimer: Token estimates are approximate and based on typical usage patterns measured from skill prompt sizes. Actual costs vary with input data size, conversation length, and complexity. Estimates use Claude Sonnet 4.6 pricing ($3/1M input, $15/1M output). Cowork and Claude Desktop subscription users (Pro/Max/Team) are not charged per-token — these estimates apply only to direct Anthropic API usage. Running stages individually in fresh sessions uses fewer input tokens than running the full pipeline sequentially, because pipeline mode accumulates conversation history across stages.

Per skill (run individually in a fresh session):

Stage	Skill Prompt	User Input	Total Input	Output	Est. Cost
pricing-scenario	~5.7K	~800	~9.7K	~5.7K	~$0.11
pricing-calculate	~5.1K	~800	~9.1K	~5.1K	~$0.10
pricing-compare	~5.3K	~800	~9.3K	~5.3K	~$0.11
pricing-import	~4.2K	~2.0K	~9.3K	~2.0K	~$0.06
pricing-report	~7.0K	~800	~11.2K	~6.0K	~$0.12
pricing-optimize	~7.6K	~800	~11.7K	~6.0K	~$0.13
pricing-kb	~13.0K	~800	~16.9K	~6.0K	~$0.14
Standalone total			~77.3K	~36.1K	~$0.77

Full pipeline (all stages in one session — context accumulates):

Stage	Base Input	+ History	Total Input	Output	Est. Cost
pricing-scenario	~10.0K	0	~10.0K	~5.7K	~$0.11
pricing-calculate	~9.5K	~6.5K	~15.9K	~5.1K	~$0.13
pricing-compare	~9.7K	~12.4K	~22.1K	~5.3K	~$0.15
pricing-import	~9.7K	~18.5K	~28.3K	~2.0K	~$0.11
pricing-report	~11.3K	~22.5K	~33.9K	~6.0K	~$0.19
pricing-optimize	~11.9K	~29.3K	~41.3K	~6.0K	~$0.21
pricing-kb	~17.4K	~36.1K	~53.5K	~6.0K	~$0.25
Pipeline total			~205.0K	~36.1K	~$1.16

Running the full pipeline once typically costs $0.81–$1.50 in API tokens (Claude Sonnet 4.6).

AI-Powered Features

• Scenario Modeling: Calculates ROI and margin impact of multiple pricing scenarios automatically
• Market Analysis: AI-powered competitive positioning against industry benchmarks
• Margin Optimization: Identifies pricing strategies to maximize profitability by tier and service level
• Revenue Forecasting: Projects annual revenue and profit impact across all scenarios
• Discount Impact Analysis: Models how discounts and promotions affect bottom-line revenue
• Break-Even Calculation: Determines minimum pricing needed to cover costs by service category
• Domain Knowledge Base: Centralized reference for GAAP ASC 330/606 cost standards, pricing methodologies (Garrison/Noreen/Brewer), and regulatory frameworks
• Markup vs. Margin Warnings: Automatically detects and warns when markup/margin figures are confused — the #1 SMB pricing error per SBA guides
• Regulatory Compliance Alerts: Flags Robinson-Patman Act §2(a) exposure for selective discounting and below-cost selling law risks
• Cost Completeness Validation: Checks imported products against IMA Cost Management standard categories (materials, labor, overhead)
• Feature-Adjusted Comparison: Warns when competitor products differ in scope/quality for more accurate market positioning
• CVP Framework Integration: Break-even and contribution margin analysis grounded in Garrison/Noreen/Brewer Ch. 5 methodology

Known Limitations & Workarounds

Limitation	Impact	Workaround	Severity
No real-time API integrations	Cannot automatically scrape competitor websites for live prices	Manually enter competitor prices via CSV or verbal description. For SMBs with 5-50 products, this is a 10-minute task.	Medium
No persistent database	Historical pricing data not stored between sessions unless manually archived	Data persists in your workspace folder. Use archive/ folder to manually save snapshots. Workspace survives between sessions.	Low
No automated reminders or scheduling	Cannot auto-alert you when competitor prices change	Run /pricing:compare on your schedule (weekly/monthly). Plugin supports incremental updates without starting from scratch.	Medium
Single-user only	Cannot share live workspace with team for real-time collaboration	Share the output DOCX via email/Drive. Team members view final report, not live analysis.	Low
No multi-currency conversion	Cannot auto-convert between USD/EUR/GBP etc.	All analysis must use single currency. Edit .pricing/config.json to switch currencies.	Low
Large catalogs (500+ products) may strain context	Plugin optimized for 5-100 products. Very large catalogs may degrade output quality	Split large catalogs into categories. Run plugin on each category separately.	Low

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This is a Claude Cowork plugin, not a traditional SaaS application. It has architectural constraints by design — plugins run in isolated sessions, not persistent servers. This gives you privacy and simplicity, but means no real-time background jobs or live collaboration. For SMBs that run pricing reviews monthly or per-launch, this is ideal.

Context & Performance Guide

Session Management

Claude's context window (200K tokens) is shared across your entire session. For plugins with 3+ pipeline steps (like this one), we recommend:

• Best practice: Start a fresh session before running /pricing:full. This gives the plugin maximum room to produce high-quality output.
• Incremental use: If you're updating costs only, you can run /pricing:import and /pricing:calculate in the same session without issue.
• If quality degrades: If responses become shorter or skip sections that previously worked, start a new session and re-run the current stage.

Data Volume Guidance

Tested capacity:

• 2-10 products: Optimal performance
• 10-50 products: Full performance, no optimization needed
• 50-100 products: Full performance, recommend fresh session before /pricing:full
• 100-500 products: Supported, may use category-scoped loading to stay within context. Consider splitting into 2-3 separate analyses.
• 500+ products: Not recommended for single run; split into categories

Tips for Best Results

1. Keep CSV files clean: Remove blank rows, summary rows, and comments. Include only actual product data.
2. Use consistent date formats: Dates as YYYY-MM-DD work best for competitor pricing.
3. Run in fresh session: Before /pricing:full, start a new session. The plugin saves state in files, so you lose nothing.
4. Provide context upfront: Describe your business model (B2B vs B2C, premium vs value positioning) so analysis notes are more relevant.
5. Customize .pricing/config.json: Edit markup tiers and discount defaults to match your business before running /pricing:calculate.

Degradation Signals

If you notice:

• Responses shorter than expected
• Missing sections in DOCX report
• Calculations feel incomplete
• Inconsistent formatting

→ Start a new session. Session context accumulates as you chat. A fresh session gives the plugin the full 200K tokens.

Requirements

• Claude Desktop or Cowork mode (plugin requires Cowork runtime)
• Python 3.8+ (checked automatically by /pricing:setup)
• python-docx library (auto-installed by setup)
• CSV files as input (or ability to describe data verbally)

Important Disclaimers

• AI-Generated Content: This plugin uses AI (LLM) technology which can produce inaccurate or incomplete outputs. All content should be treated as a starting point and reviewed for accuracy before use.
• Not Professional Advice: Outputs do not constitute legal, financial, tax, medical, or other professional advice. Consult qualified professionals before making decisions based on generated content.
• No Compliance Guarantee: References to industry standards, regulations, or guidelines are for informational purposes only. This plugin does not guarantee compliance with any law or regulation. Users are responsible for verifying all outputs meet their specific regulatory requirements.
• No Endorsement or Affiliation: Mention of third-party products, standards, or organizations does not imply endorsement, partnership, or certification by those entities.
• Not Financial or Tax Advice: Financial calculations, tax estimates, and related outputs are for informational purposes only. Consult a qualified CPA or financial advisor for tax and financial decisions.