Our worst-performing pricing page was the one we spent the most money on.

We paid an agency $18,000 to design a modern, interactive pricing page. Moving graphics, slick animations, beautiful UI—we were convinced conversions were about to skyrocket.

The result? A 2.1% conversion rate. People landed, scrolled around, and left without buying.

Frustrated, our lead engineer pushed a bare-bones HTML page overnight. No graphics, just 3 plain columns. Right at the top, inside a bright red box, it read: "5 reasons you should NOT buy our software."

We thought it was a risky move, but the numbers proved us wrong: a 7.8% conversion rate.

That plain, ugly page generated $140k more in ARR over the next 6 months.

Why did it work?

1. The red box immediately filtered out wrong-fit customers (which saved us endless support and refund headaches later).

2. The complete lack of flash made it look like a serious tool, not a flashy sales pitch.

3. When you are brutally honest about your flaws up front, people actually believe you when you talk about your strengths.