this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2024
159 points (94.9% liked)

Showerthoughts

29675 readers
1951 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. Avoid politics
    1. NEW RULE as of 5 Nov 2024, trying it out
    2. Political posts often end up being circle jerks (not offering unique perspective) or enflaming (too much work for mods).
    3. Try c/politicaldiscussion, volunteer as a mod here, or start your own community.
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct-----

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
vatlark@lemmy.world
forkball@lemmy.world
quinten@lemmy.world
Thekingoflorda@lemmy.world
159
People live their whole lives watching corporations end prices with 99 yet when they list their own items for sale they choose a whole round number and never question it. (lemmy.world)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by sparkitz@lemmy.world to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
74 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

"...the average person treats a price ending in .99 as if it were 15 to 20 cents lower."

The tendency is called left-digit bias, when the leftmost digit of a number disproportionately influences decision-making. In this case, even though the real difference is only a penny, research shows that, to the average person, $4.99 seems 15 to 20 cents cheaper than $5.00 -- which results in selling 3 to 5 percent more units than at a price of $5.00"

Why Literally (Almost) Every Price Ends in 99 Cents

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pricing

EDIT: The left-digit bias is not just pennies / cents. It applies when going from $99 to $100…$399 to $400…$999 to $1000 etc.

EDIT 2: If you have a car for sale and you want $10,000 for it are you listing it for $10,000 or $9995?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Right, and my point is that we don't question it because it would be absurd to sell one-off items on-digit-removed from the actual selling price. I wouldn't buy anything from someone selling shit on craigslist for $99 because it's the sort of dishonest advertising that takes advantage of a psychological bias. I understand why Walmart does it, but that doesn't make it a smart thing that good people do. It's ths sort of deceptive thing greedy people do.

[–] sparkitz@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

The marketplace probably matters regarding 99 pricing. On Craigslist it looks different than Amazon marketplace or eBay. I sold books on Amazon and all the big sellers used 99 but then when some college kid (with little or no feedback) listed a used textbook they would use a whole number. So, trustworthiness based on 99 doesn't work that way on Amazon or eBay. The whole number listers are the ones with little sales history and no feedback for you to judge.

I personally use a nickel less than the dollar or $5 less than $100. If I want to sell something for $400 I will list it at $395.