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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)

#81

Post by tyingq »

chrisjj wrote: post #76
YVoyiatzis wrote: post #10

Actually, the .99 price-point started as a clever way to prevent theft, manage inventory, and keep track of sales. The idea was that pricing something at $1.00 might tempt a cashier to pocket the bill, but pricing it at $0.99 meant they’d have to open the register to give change, reducing the risk. Back then, most registers didn’t print receipts. This method also helped with inventory control. For example, if the tot…

> pricing it at $0.99 meant they’d have to open the register to give change, reducing the risk How does opening register reduce risk?

I think it's more like "have to record the sale and produce a receipt". The customer wants their penny, so you have to ring it up.

Now if you steal a dollar, your totals at the end of the day are off a dollar.

But, if you take the dollar with no recorded sale, your counts are good.

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

#82

Post by pc86 »

throwaway13337 wrote: post #9

I never like thinking of pricing in this way. When you price something as $9.99, you're signaling to your customer that you're trying to manipulate them. Whereas a flat $10 is honest. Integrity means a lot. The software I sell is priced in whole numbers. However, the magnitude of effect claimed in the article is huge. It's the difference between selling at cost and a huge margin. Between doing well and shutting down…

I hope your prices end in 0 and are nice round numbers. There was a time when all the software and info products were whole numbers but ended in 7 for the exact same reason. "$10 is honest and $9.99 is manipulative" is pretty reductive.

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

#83

Post by pc86 »

pluc wrote: post #52
throwaway13337 wrote: post #9

I never like thinking of pricing in this way. When you price something as $9.99, you're signaling to your customer that you're trying to manipulate them. Whereas a flat $10 is honest. Integrity means a lot. The software I sell is priced in whole numbers. However, the magnitude of effect claimed in the article is huge. It's the difference between selling at cost and a huge margin. Between doing well and shutting down…

I'm doing that these days at the grocery store. If your shit ends in an odd number, I'm assuming it's been shrinkflated. OJ bottle of 1.87 liter? Pass.

You know what they say about assuming.

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

#84

Post by indymike »

throwaway13337 wrote: post #16
tracerbulletx wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retailers don't do this because of published studies. They do it because they've tested it internally for the last 40 years.

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…

> That may be true but we don't know that it is true

I think a walk through a shopping mall might provide some clear evidence.

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

#86

Post by IggleSniggle »

Waterluvian wrote: post #7

The psychology is fascinating. I would have thought that $1 feels smaller than $0.99. Two nines feels heavy. But despite what my mom would say, I’m surely wrong if everyone else is doing it.

I think it does feel smaller, but only if you always leave off the cents. $0.99 feels smaller than $1.00, but $1 feels smaller than $.99 or 99¢

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

#87

Post by AgentOrange1234 »

kerkeslager wrote: post #50

The kind of person who looks at this sort of thing and says, "Hey we should use this to manipulate people" is the kind of person our society needs less of. I'm sure Hacker News will have some earnest argument for why this form of competition is actually good for people.

I get where you are coming from.

Books like Influence the art of persuasion and Thinking fast and slow wrestle a bit with the morality of studying this kind of stuff.

It’s certainly possible to misuse the insights to manipulate others, but it’s also important to be able to recognize when and how you’re being manipulated.

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

#88

Post by qup »

indymike wrote: post #84
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…

> That may be true but we don't know that it is true I think a walk through a shopping mall might provide some clear evidence.

It'll provide evidence that they've studied it internally?

I don't think so.

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

#89

Post by gruez »

tyingq wrote: post #81
chrisjj wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> pricing it at $0.99 meant they’d have to open the register to give change, reducing the risk How does opening register reduce risk?

I think it's more like "have to record the sale and produce a receipt". The customer wants their penny, so you have to ring it up. Now if you steal a dollar, your totals at the end of the day are off a dollar. But, if you take the dollar with no recorded sale, your counts are good.

But OP's comment also says

>Back then, most registers didn’t print receipts.

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

#90

Post by mhb »

subroutine wrote: post #42
tracerbulletx wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retailers don't do this because of published studies. They do it because they've tested it internally for the last 40 years.

And many physicians still recommend putting ice on sprained ankles 5x per day to reduce the “harmful” swelling. Even though the abundance of research now shows icing delays the infiltration of proteins, hormones, and cells that aid in healing processes (and can even cause further tissue damage). Practices like this stick around because of the desire to be seen making proactive recommendations with putative benefit. W…

When I was looking for evidence about the efficacy of ice to speed recovery, I found it very challenging. I would be grateful if you could share some of the abundance.
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