Indentured servants in the early 17th century cost much less than the average slave at the time. The average slave cost three to five times more than the length of a servant's indenture. Indentured servants also had a longer lifespan than the average slave, making them work longer for their master. This has also been improved with the head fee included with the purchase of each indentured servant. During this period, to encourage them to settle in the New World, a right of passage was offered to anyone wishing to settle in the colonies. A headright was a fifty-acre plot of land that you received when you arrived in the colonies. When a landowner purchased an indentured servant, he received the servant's fee, which he used to expand his farms to produce more crops. All of these factors made purchasing an indentured servant more profitable than purchasing a slave in the early 17th century.