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People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

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Re: People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

#151

Post by johnnyanmac »

Sightline wrote: post #149
johnnyanmac wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they buy something becsuse it's a penny cheaper, who's really being tricked?

The consumer. $0.01 doesn't make it affordable, it's just a mind trick. You seem to be aware of this, yet you're defending it.

1. To be frank, I'm not dying on a hill for a penny. A fool and his money...

2. Even if you point it out... What changes. Has anyone ever seriously reconsidered buying a product when you tell them it's $500 instead of $499? What's the harm being done here?

3. What call to action are you suggesting? I'd rather work for laws to include sales tax in US goods' prices than fix this "mind trick".

I can't tell you how to live your life. But those are the reasons I don't really care.

Re: People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

#152

Post by satvikpendem »

ksec wrote: post #58
throwaway13337 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That may be true but we don't know that it is true. When I started my selling software, I priced with something.99 too. I did this because everyone else did. I was unfamiliar with these sorts of things so I followed on. I am sure that in some business at some point, there was a big positive in switching to that sort of pricing. When I switched my software to whole numbers, I did not notice a drop in sales. Things con…

Because you are selling software and your target audience are either business, enterprise or computer engineers. The trial of whole number pricing keeps coming up in Consumer and Retail every 10- 15 years and EVERY time the test shows .99 works. Despite how most of us and even my younger self hated it.

Indeed, marketers aren't stupid (but it turns out people in general are stupid, enough to fall for this trick and many others).

Re: People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

#153

Post by qup »

swores wrote: post #147
indymike wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think so. OK.

They were being polite because you were flat out wrong: a walk through a shopping centre gives you absolutely zero information about whether prices chosen have been tested or were picked by throwing darts at a calculator. It just tells you what prices those shops have chosen to sell things for, nothing at all about the reasoning behind those prices.

In fact it seems really bad logic to assume that they would all arrive on the same price, had they actually done any real study.

There would be some outliers or weird niche customer populations.

Re: People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

#154

Post by satvikpendem »

swores wrote: post #147
indymike wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think so. OK.

They were being polite because you were flat out wrong: a walk through a shopping centre gives you absolutely zero information about whether prices chosen have been tested or were picked by throwing darts at a calculator. It just tells you what prices those shops have chosen to sell things for, nothing at all about the reasoning behind those prices.

And the OK response is similarly being nice because if one thinks that the retailers for the past 100 years haven't extensively tested pricing, both in the real world and via simulations, they are naive to a large degree as to how businesses work.

Re: People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

#155

Post by moritzwarhier »

chrisjj wrote: post #131
ThatMedicIsASpy wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only price I ever compare and look at is €/gram €/liter. For my cheese that would be 6-8€/kg

> €/gram €/liter And when you see 0.99 €/gram ? :)

This is a thing in Germany, e.g. one large grocery chain sells "premium" tomatos for prices like "1.99€/100g", which makes intuitive comparison hard for some, especially because those who look for prices per mass usually compare kilo prices, and most are just used to 200g or 350g trays, sometimes a pound, not comparing prices per weight at all.

Re: People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

#156

Post by qup »

satvikpendem wrote: post #154
swores wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were being polite because you were flat out wrong: a walk through a shopping centre gives you absolutely zero information about whether prices chosen have been tested or were picked by throwing darts at a calculator. It just tells you what prices those shops have chosen to sell things for, nothing at all about the reasoning behind those prices.

And the OK response is similarly being nice because if one thinks that the retailers for the past 100 years haven't extensively tested pricing, both in the real world and via simulations, they are naive to a large degree as to how businesses work.

I didn't say that's what I thought, though.

Re: People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

#157

Post by satvikpendem »

qup wrote: post #156
satvikpendem wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the OK response is similarly being nice because if one thinks that the retailers for the past 100 years haven't extensively tested pricing, both in the real world and via simulations, they are naive to a large degree as to how businesses work.

I didn't say that's what I thought, though.

Perhaps not but that's what indymike seems to be implying, anyway.

Re: People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

#158

Post by Nevermark »

satvikpendem wrote: post #152
ksec wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you are selling software and your target audience are either business, enterprise or computer engineers. The trial of whole number pricing keeps coming up in Consumer and Retail every 10- 15 years and EVERY time the test shows .99 works. Despite how most of us and even my younger self hated it.

Indeed, marketers aren't stupid (but it turns out people in general are stupid, enough to fall for this trick and many others).

When it is so well known, at some point it isn’t a “trick” anymore, right?

It isn’t as if retailers can fight reality.

Or that they can “come clean” by putting fine print under prices explaining why they are ending prices in 9. Which would create a major distraction messing with any sale.

It is just real-world reliable wackiness that both sellers and purchasers should be aware of.

There is no purely objective way to relate to selling and purchasing prices. Short of very simple scenarios where a spreadsheet actually captured all the real criteria.

Many products make people happier if the price is higher. Is that happiness bump a fraud, or the point?

Just remember to ask for $199,999.99 salary in your next interview!

Re: People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

#159

Post by satvikpendem »

Nevermark wrote: post #158
satvikpendem wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, marketers aren't stupid (but it turns out people in general are stupid, enough to fall for this trick and many others).

When it is so well known, at some point it isn’t a “trick” anymore, right? It isn’t as if retailers can fight reality. Or that they can “come clean” by putting fine print under prices explaining why they are ending prices in 9. Which would create a major distraction messing with any sale. It is just real-world reliable wackiness that both sellers and purchasers should be aware of. There is no purely objective way to…

> Or that they can “come clean” by putting fine print under prices explaining why they are ending prices in 9. Which would create a major distraction messing with any sale.

Why would they do that? That might lessen their sales if people knew of the effect, as a nocebo.

Re: People spend more when prices end in .99 (2018)

#160

Post by jamiek88 »

qup wrote: post #153
swores wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were being polite because you were flat out wrong: a walk through a shopping centre gives you absolutely zero information about whether prices chosen have been tested or were picked by throwing darts at a calculator. It just tells you what prices those shops have chosen to sell things for, nothing at all about the reasoning behind those prices.

In fact it seems really bad logic to assume that they would all arrive on the same price, had they actually done any real study. There would be some outliers or weird niche customer populations.

Logic doesn’t explain human actions. And never will.
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