The most common pricing method I see from New Zealand companies entering the US is the worst one: take the NZD price, convert it at the exchange rate, round it off, and publish. That method assumes the US is New Zealand with more people. It isn't, and the price it produces is almost always wrong. Usually too low. Here is how US pricing actually works for a NZ company, and why the number you charge at home tells you almost nothing about the number you can charge there.
In many US B2B categories, price signals value. A product priced at US$2,000 per month and a product priced at US$400 per month are read as different tiers of seriousness before the buyer has seen either one. New Zealand founders, coming from a smaller and more price-sensitive market, often instinctively price at the bottom of the range and then wonder why enterprise buyers don't take the product seriously.
I have seen NZ software priced at NZ$500 per month sell into US mid-market at US$2,500 per month for the same product, because the US buyer was comparing it to US alternatives at US$3,000, not to NZ alternatives at NZ$600. The domestic price was irrelevant to what the US market would pay.
Higher achievable price does not mean higher margin. US customer acquisition costs are far higher than NZ. US enterprise sales cycles are longer, US marketing is more expensive, US salespeople cost 2 to 3 times their NZ equivalents, and channel partners take a larger cut. A price that looks generous in NZD terms can still lose money once US go-to-market costs are loaded in.
So the pricing question is not just what they will pay. It is what they will pay, minus what it costs you to reach and serve them, at a volume that works. Founders who solve only the first half set a price that wins deals and loses money.
There is a specific failure that pricing discipline prevents. If you enter a US category where a well-funded competitor is giving the product away or selling below cost to buy market share, your pricing model needs an answer before you land, not after. Sendle raised US$100M and shipped 65 million parcels, and still failed in the US, because it entered a market where a competitor offered the same service for free and Sendle's pricing had no response. The problem was visible before entry. The plan didn't account for it.
1. Price against US alternatives, not against your NZ price. Find what US buyers currently pay for the closest US substitute and anchor there.
2. Load in true US go-to-market cost. Include US CAC, US salaries, channel margin, and support at US wage levels. Then check the margin holds.
3. Test willingness to pay directly. Ask 10 US buyers what they pay now and what they would pay you. This is faster and more accurate than any model.
4. Decide your floor. Know the price below which the US move stops making sense, and hold it. A category with a free competitor may not be a category you should enter on price at all.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Should I convert my NZ price to USD for the US market?
No. Currency conversion is the wrong method. Price against what US buyers pay for US alternatives, then confirm the margin holds after US customer acquisition and delivery costs, which are much higher than in New Zealand.
Do New Zealand companies usually price too high or too low in the US?
Too low. Coming from a smaller, more price-sensitive market, NZ founders often underprice and get read as a lower tier by US buyers who associate price with value.
How do I find the right US price?
Anchor to US competitor pricing, load in true US go-to-market costs, and test willingness to pay with 10 real US buyers before you launch.
BEFORE YOU TAKE your first US order
Pricing is the single issue that most often decides whether a US move makes money. The US Market Entry Diagnostic tests your US pricing and unit economics directly and tells you whether the model survives US costs before you commit.
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