something about pricing that pisses me off.

[Thejoyofdriving]

I am sure i am not alone in this, and it really bugs me, you all know it.. its the .99 thing. you know, 12.99$, 124.99$, or even worse 999.99$.:mad: If you are going to charge 100 bucks for something, do you really think one cent is going to make a yes or no diffrence? Now i know that the reason everybody does it is to make their products look cheaper, its a marketing gimic. Suposedly when you see 999.99$ for example, you will be more inclined to buy it than if it were 1,000$. For me, it annoys me, it does not make me feel that product is less expensive, because i automaticly round it up, so when i am at the check out line and i give a 20$ bill to the guy behind the regeister, and he trys to hand me back the 1 cent, like it is worth my time, or as if i have a place to put it, it really gets me @%%#$%...mad. when ever i sell stuff, i dont make the price with a .99 on the end, thats just stupid.if i ever would start up a buissnes, i would have enough intelligence to realize that it is plain dumb, to sell some thing for 999.99. if you think about it, you would become more efficient because the cashier would not have to waste time to pick up a cent and hand it to the customer, that alone is worth more than a cent. its just not logical, Spock, help me!!! where are the Vulacans when you need them.:p

[PhaRO]

I suspect there are consumers that still think they are getting it cheaper. The $1.99 item is only $1 in the head of some. Same people buy something on ebay for $5.99 and tell you what a deal they got only paying $5.99. Never mentioning the $9.99 shipping. Even the smartest people with math have funny addition when it comes to the money they make and spend. Everyone makes more than they do and they of course spend less than they do. A friend I knew installed carpet. He'd spend $300 on material and charge $200 but if you asked him how much money he made on the job he would tell you $500. I think we are suckers for a perceived savings and the .99 feels cheaper. I'm no better at times though. Doesn't matter if we spend more just as long as in our minds we are saving money. Drive a vehicle that gets 15 miles a gallon to a store 6 miles away to save $1 on an item that a store 1 mile away has at a higher cost. WOOHOO I saved $1 on the item, the extra $2 in gas gets blocked out.

[mingraygt]

Maybe its a tax thing?? Who knows.

[Black Diamond]

I suspect there are consumers that still think they are getting it cheaper. The $1.99 item is only $1 in the head of some. Same people buy something on ebay for $5.99 and tell you what a deal they got only paying $5.99. Never mentioning the $9.99 shipping. Even the smartest people with math have funny addition when it comes to the money they make and spend. Everyone makes more than they do and they of course spend less than they do. A friend I knew installed carpet. He'd spend $300 on material and charge $200 but if you asked him how much money he made on the job he would tell you $500. I think we are suckers for a perceived savings and the .99 feels cheaper. I'm no better at times though. Doesn't matter if we spend more just as long as in our minds we are saving money. Drive a vehicle that gets 15 miles a gallon to a store 6 miles away to save $1 on an item that a store 1 mile away has at a higher cost. WOOHOO I saved $1 on the item, the extra $2 in gas gets blocked out.

:iagree:

It is the perception of price. $1.99 is not $2.00 so it looks like a bargain.

[ScottB]

take a little course called Marketing in college (I had to for business degree) and you will find it has been proven in study over study that an individual will purchase something for 24.99 before spending 25.00 . Its subliminal, it was originally creative, and its a staple of our world.

[Truls]

:iagree: with Killr

Work with sales myself, and that has been prooven that to use those prices, it makes people think its cheaper, we do use 99,00 where i work, but some shops have 99,95.

[Reddwarf]

take a little course called Marketing in college (I had to for business degree) and you will find it has been proven in study over study that an individual will purchase something for 24.99 before spending 25.00 . Its subliminal, it was originally creative, and its a staple of our world.

This exactly what is taught. At least I recall that from many years ago with I took Marketing 101. However, I learned this eons ago and I wonder if consumers have evolved beyond this now. It would be interesting to see if a modern day study would bear the same results.

[Bags]

ok for those of us without the business degree, why does gas have to be sold at 2.99 9/10? How many other people will drive a few more miles down the street to save a few cents in gas?

[Reddwarf]

ok for those of us without the business degree, why does gas have to be sold at 2.99 9/10? How many other people will drive a few more miles down the street to save a few cents in gas?

I think the 9/10 part is due to taxes. Very annoying isn't it? Sometimes I will think "oh it was one cent cheaper down the road, but wait, that means I'll save 13 cents maybe?"

[Surfer]

take a little course called Marketing in college (I had to for business degree) and you will find it has been proven in study over study that an individual will purchase something for 24.99 before spending 25.00 . Its subliminal, it was originally creative, and its a staple of our world.Marketing 101, this marketing trick was the 1st thing we learned and it works.

I'm sure all of us on here could careless about 1 cent differencem but but two items in front of 24.99 and 25.00 and your brain will tell you the 24.99 is a bargain.

ok for those of us without the business degree, why does gas have to be sold at 2.99 9/10? How many other people will drive a few more miles down the street to save a few cents in gas?Well in my case I will b/c I have a suv with a large tank and the stations here are all over, one can be 3.10 and the one down the street can be 3.50. On my truck it can be a 5-10 dollar savings right now. Plus go figure, the place I go thats generally the cheapest I get the best gas mileage with.

[Thejoyofdriving]

I still think it is stupid, maybe it works on people that arent so bright? i would bet you that if a company rounded off their prices, that they would sell just as much, like i said one cent is not going to turn some one away.

[Ivan Rajic]

I still think it is stupid, maybe it works on people that arent so bright? i would bet you that if a company rounded off their prices, that they would sell just as much, like i said one cent is not going to turn some one away.

I think the 1 cent isn't there to turn away a customer who wants to buy the item, rather to lure in a customer who doesn't want to buy the item. If someone is walking past something they like, but have little need for, they'll see that 7 isntead of 8 and are more likely to buy the item.

I agree with the original post though, that it doesn't work on me, since I do round everything up, but when you think about it, you are saving lots of money... just try and take 1 cent off of everything you buy yearly... I know it puts an extra couple $100s in my pocket yearly.

[wytstang]

I still think it is stupid, maybe it works on people that arent so bright? i would bet you that if a company rounded off their prices, that they would sell just as much, like i said one cent is not going to turn some one away. Not so if you put 2 similar items (twins) and price 1 at $24.99 and the other $25.00 first thing you will hear is "A penny saved is a penny earned". The penny cheaper item will sell out first, especially in states were sales taxes are high.

[Thejoyofdriving]

i personaly dont keep pennys, when i drop one i dont pick it up, i guess if you had the time to save every penny eventualy you would end up with a small amount of cash. maybe it works on some people that dont realize that infact it is only one cent cheaper, they only see the first digits.

[Surfer]

I still think it is stupid, maybe it works on people that arent so bright? i would bet you that if a company rounded off their prices, that they would sell just as much, like i said one cent is not going to turn some one away.Like others said, this is basic marketing. I guarentee if you put the two same products in front of somebody and one is 24.99 and one is 25 all or the majority are going to go for the 24.99 product. Same thing if a company as an advertisment for 25 and the next company has an advertisment for 24.99 in the paper, all or the majority will go to the store for the 24.99 offer. It may not work on you, but 99.9% of the population it does work on lol. Its just marketing gimick, but it works;)...brain see's the .99 and it sees "bargain" and makes you think your saving more then you really are, again, just a marketing gimick and proven to work in any industry or product.