From my experience working in retail I’ve seen people say out loud something like “oh, it’s only 4 dollars!” When the sticker says $4.99. This shit apparently works on a lot of people for some reason.
This is my neighbor all the time.
Like dude, round up!
I think I’ve heard a couple people do this. One directly in response to me saying it was $5 lol.
I do that with gas, but everybody knows the .9 cents are implied.
My husband is awful in that regard. He sees the first digit only and then rounds it down. “It’s just 30€” - it’s 39,99€. “It’s like 200€” - it’s 289,90€, “5000€” - 5999€. I love him to pieces but I don’t trust any of his numbers.
I love him to pieces
How many? About 200?
Best I can do is 199
A whole 100 pieces? What a deal!
My dad is the same with gas price. If gas is 156.9 cents a litre? Nah to him it’s 156 cents a litre
0_0 I take it you do the lion’s share of the finances haha
At least I hope
Its literally how we see prices which is why companies do this
Worked in pricing for a big retailer, it 100% works and retailers don’t even like doing it, but it’s basically a necessity to get baseline sales. It’s WAY easier to have simple even number prices that calculate easily and get percent off sales and clearance prices that make sense. Really the only items you see it on are items competing with other retailers, so kraft mayo that every store has vs. A store brand soda you don’t care about volume on. The Mayo you better have $5.99 instead of $6.00 or it looks like you’re ripping them off. And even if they sell it got $4.99 it still keeps people thinking it’s a complex price difference rather than an even number they can compare more easily.
The amount of times I’ve watched Youtubers say something like “35 dollars” while showing an image that shows the price as $35.96 happens too often for me to side with OP lol, sorry.
To be fair, in that specific case, they could have been rounding to the nearest $5. Unlike virtually all other instances of that behavior.
People suck at math and this is how they confuse people into not caring what the actual price becomes when they have to add multiple items together.
What’s 19.99 + 21.75 + 4.99 + 3.99 + 1.99? Can the common person do that math in their head while grocery shopping? What about adding the tax to that total? Not a chance.
Most people probably don’t even know what the sales tax is in their own state.
your price tags show the price before tax? that’s fucked up
The major reason given is that taxes vary so much in the US by location that it would be onerous for businesses with locations in different areas to print different price tags and advertise prices broadly.
It’s even an issue online because, until you enter your address, the online retailer has no clue what your tax rate will be, and they have to assess tax based on the purchaser’s location. Postal code isn’t always enough, as they can be shared by different cities with different tax rates.
Some areas also vary tax by date (tax free holidays), though I don’t think consumers would care if their total ended up being cheaper than they thought.
A national standard VAT would be the only way businesses might start including tax in price, but there’s no way to do that without a constitutional amendment. States have the power to tax, and they’re not going to stop now even if they receive VAT revenues.
It’s bullshit because every location prints their own price tags lol.
And then calculates tax right at the register. They have everything they need to do it, it’d hurt their bottom line and be consumer friendly so they don’t.
In some countries like India they have GST (Goods & service tax) which is applicable all over India. It was implemented in 2017 and has unified the indirect tax system across the country. This means that the same tax is levied on goods and services irrespective of the state or territory in India. Most items have 18% GST and the price tag always shows tax included, which is convenient for buyers.
Weirdly, my brain went through those numbers as “20, 22, 5, 3, 2.”
So they did get you at 3.99 -> 3!
Maybe because your brain wanted 5+3+2=10 instead of 5+4+2=11 ?
20+22+5+3=50 vs 20+22+5+4=51, since I was going left to right, but it works.
How is that “weird”? That’s just good numeracy.
I got through a bunch of them fine, then the $3.99 tripped me up.
Ha! That’s what they want.
Now add the sales tax. And don’t forget about bag fees and to tip Tippy.
We don’t have any of those things here.
Most people dont just round up after seeing the price?
Most people round down. Their brain locks on to the 1 of 19.99, and approximates it to 10.00. We need to actively counter this to see it as 20.00. It’s a skill most people don’t apply all the time, and a number can’t even do.
Once you can do it reliably, it’s mind-boggling that others can’t, but it’s still a learnt skill, that needs to be applied.
Most of the people i saw round down notice that and then round up
It’s a subconscious thing. It’s how our brain is wired. It’s a bit like advertising. Most people don’t like ads. However, when confronted my 2 similar products, we will go with the familiar one. The source of that familiarity is irrelevant, ads make it familiar, just the same as using it, or a recommendation.
It’s possible to override both of these effects, but that requires a level of conscious effort. I can almost guarantee you’ve been caught by both at different times. You just didn’t notice (since noticing would allow you to correct).
Basically, $19.99 is in the category “under $20”. $20.00 is in “over $20”. Without conscious correction, you act on this.
Most people round down
Source?
Some slight ramdom paper reading, back in my uni days. Though I’ve ran across it via other sources over the years since. Unfortunately I don’t have any links to hand though.
It might better be described as people put numbers into categories. Most people have a 10-20 category. 19.99 fits. 20.00 gets bumped up to the next box. It’s a sub/semi conscious thing. If we use our higher thought process, we can deal with the numbers. That takes effort however, by default, we chunk. The price just abuses a common rollover point most people share.
So, no source do the actual research backing your claims?
Where is your thesis with references?
You do realise that it is a claim which needs to be proven, not the other way around, right?
No, most people just give up after seeing the price.
All the people i saw either rounded up or rounded down by mistake and then rounding up
No. Most people round to the nearest whole number and often just pick a direction to round.
Since no one does math in their head anymore the total is always more than they expected. No calculators on shopping carts anymore either.
Honestly I just want tax included on the price tag.
That is honestly insane.
In NZ the sticker price is what you pay, if the price on the sticker doesn’t include tax, it is false advertising and you pay what is on the sticker.
It is entirely up to the retailer to ensure that the price is correct. The only exception to this, is if the price is obviously wrong e.g. $5.00 rather than $500.
It really is considering how easy it would be to implement.
That’s an American problem too
It does work believe it or not. It is something that plays to your subconscious. You will favor the slightly cheaper option even if you aren’t aware of it.
Horrible idea: plugin that rounds all numbers up
Recursively
that would explain the google fine in russia
Perfectly great idea!
not just cheaper though
even subconsciously $15.55 will not be that better than $15.56
but in a change from $20 to $19.99 the whole first number is smaller, and that gives our ape brains the feeling that it’s not as expensive
to reveal the vibes your brain operates on, think about bigger numbers. Imagine yourself to be in kind of a rush, you want to buy something, but family is waiting, or you need to walk your dog, or maybe you’re doing shopping before work, regular life stuff,
first scenario
an identical item is sold for $2920 in the first store you visit, and for $2970 in the second store you visit. The stores are an inconvenient travel time away from each other. Do you go back to the first store?
second scenario
now, an identical item is sold for $2975 in the first store you visit, and for $3025 in the second store you visit. The stores are still an inconvenient travel time away from each other. Do you go back to the first store?
though the difference is still $50, the jump from $2975 to $3025 feels more significant than $2920 to $2970. And obviously many of us will go back to get the cheaper option in both cases, but there’s a lot of people on this planet who have money to spare but not the time, and a lot of other circumstances too, marketing people know it and will do their damnest to sway you to buy their product
I learned all about this in “thinking fast and slow” by Daniel Kahneman. He talks about system 1 and system 2, where system 1 is your kind of knee-jerk reaction to a thing (thinking fast), and system 2 is the contemplative and careful consideration of a thing (thinking slow).
I would argue that some people overly leverage system 1 (thinking fast) because it’s generally easier, and takes less time and mental effort to do. Those that either can’t, or are unwilling to engage system 2 in their day to day activities, will 100% fall for these kinds of misleading prices, since system 1 is cutting so many corners so that it can be fast and efficient (mostly on how much energy is used), that it skips a lot of the cognitive steps and goes right to the (often incorrect) conclusion. That $19.99 is $19 (or $10 in some cases).
In the book, they discuss that system 1 often gives the wrong information that is later rejected my system 2 when further consideration is given to a particular input/stimulus.
If someone isn’t engaging system 2 as a check to ensure system 1 isn’t lying to them, then shit like $19.99 seems cheaper than $20. It doesn’t hold up to any scrutiny, but they’re not targeting thoughtful people with these practices. For thoughtful people, there’s functionally no difference between $19.99 and $20.
Yes, the difference is one cent, but given that one cent is so worthless in today’s society, to the point that Canada stopped making one cent coins (and other countries have done so as well), there’s functionally no difference between the prices.
One cent is only worth anything if it is combined with many other cents. The sum of those pennies becomes valuable when you conglomerate enough of them.
That’s a great way to put it
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I generally round up to nearest bigger number or close to that. $19.99 is $20. $23.99 would probably be $25. $180 would just be $200.
No real rhyme or reason, just the bigger the number the more I fudge the “real” price upwards thanks to sales tax and a “can I really afford this?” factor.
I’m not sure it works on me. Not because I’m some super human resistant to advertising (I’m not) but because I’m so bad at math that when they start asking me about anything involving small change I tune out and overestimate by 50% rounded into nice whole numbers.
“This is 19.99”
“Okay so it’s basically 30$.”
It gives me nice surprises sometimes when I get my receipt.
You have to be, like, better at math to do that though?
Decimals are the devil’s work.
You can remove the decimal then add it back at the end
15.50
Is
1500
Half would be 775
Or 7.75
yep, and figure out what 20% of your bill is by taking 10% and double it. saves my ass every time i gotta tip lol
You can take 1% of anything, then multiply as well.
Like 7% of 15.50
1% is .155 (10% is moving decimal to left once, 1% is twice)
.155 × 7 = 1.083
That’s a hard one to do in your head, but .155 × 7 is easier to do on paper than 15.50 × .07.
Say something is 49.99 and 7% off. 1% is .5. .5 ×7 = 3.5. You could probably do that in your head. Otherwise, good luck trying to do 7% of 50 in your head.
Edit: Hmm. So you could also do 3.5% of 100 instead of 7% of 50. That would have been the easiest way to do that one.
Bonus: I thought I’d mention 11s. They are my favorite thing in math because they are so easy and you seem like a math wizard to anyone.
Say you have 42 × 11. That’s 462.
You just split apart the 4 and 2, add 4 and 2, then stick it in the middle.
Something like 67 × 11. Where the digits add >10.
6…7, 6+7=13, 6+1…3…7. So 737.
Using whole numbers can be easier when estimating
I just wished it was mandated to list prices to include all the taxes along with it. Whether it says $19.99 or $20 still isn’t the actual price.
Recently had the worst of this. Was craving chocolate milk, find a nice size bottle of it for $3. Get to register. $6.63 total price because the glass bottle had over a $3 deposit.
I just wished it was mandated to list prices to include all the taxes along with it.
It is, in the EU.
Hey everything on steam is the listed price if ya live in California. We dont have a digital sales tax, which is weird.
Right? Of all the states California is the one with no tax? Even Texas has that shit.
If I had to guess its probably because the stste was kinda in a weird place when digital products were first becoming a thing so it was never implemented, and now nobody cares enough to try.
Then let’s stop talking about it 👀
Unfortunately taxes aren’t uniform across a metro area or even within a city.
Yeah, and? That doesn’t stop the individual stores from already calculating the taxes you’re going to pay at that location and putting that price on the labels on their own shelves.
Because when they advertise, those advertisements cover a larger area.
Then leave the advertisement alone. They still print the prices on tags at each store location.
Let them send out flyers saying item A is $20 *plus local taxes but when you get to the store the pricetag on the shelf should say $23.50 or whatever the markup ends up being at that location.
The owners of the legislature don’t want that, so it won’t get done.
The government doesn’t work for you, it works at the behest of those that have long since paid for the “elected” representatives.
Those people own companies that profit from all the misleading prices and adverts. They don’t have any interest in changing that.
I’d rather advisements list the highest price for the area they cover than have false advertising with the prices at the store.
This is one of those things that makes me feel the slightest bit more agitated and cynical towards people and society. We all know it’s manipulative, and that should be enough reason not to do it. So why does everyone who runs a business do it? Like yeah it does work, but is it really worth subtly eroding your own customer’s trust in you? There’s an invisible cost of goodwill here.
Are you choosing to go to the store that does $20 instead of $19.99?
Does that store exist?
It’s more that the customer refuses to buy the $20 item but at 19.99 it seems just a little more attainable.
That is a fair point. But then again, I don’t even remember the last time I was in a store that had honest prices.
I remember that for a time, JC Penney focused on honest pricing and abandoned common predatory prices. They came close to bankruptcy and went back to their old ways. The psychology of feeling like we got a good deal is so ingrained into most people that it becomes difficult to run a business without those things
But $999 is much lesser than a grand
It never works on me. I was taught at a very early age that pricing down by one cent of one dollar is a psychological trick and that I should round up to the nearest whole number.
Funny thing is, it still works.
On people who are actively trying to compensate for it, or did you just mean the overall population?
Yes, even them. It is all subconsciously.
Everyone believes they can’t be tricked by those simple things.
same way placebo still works (to a degree) even when you know it’s placebo
your subconcious is not logical, and no amount of conscious logic will fully defeat its influence
to think yourself immune is foolish and dangerous, that’s when you allow it to work even better as you “logically” explain away every manipulation you were influenced by, and convince yourself you made a decision fully by yourself. The danger gets even hotter when it comes to political propaganda that uses the exact same tricks as marketing
Yes, for the general population. Otherwise, companies will stop the psychological pricing. Same with corporate snooping to see our shopping and grocery habits and then send us with targeted ads.
that’s the important caveat:
it does NOT work on everyone, but that’s irrelevant.
if it works on even 1% of people, but has zero effect on everyone else, companies would still use it everywhere anyways.
a 1% difference over even just a couple thousand customers adds up over time.
so, no, it doesn’t work on everyone, and it doesn’t have to.
it just has to work on some people, and not deter any more people than it works on.
if anyone wonders when it does and does not work: like most of these psych-tricks the effect mostly disappears when you point it out to people or otherwise make them actively think about what they’re buying.
same for the change-the-layout-of-the-store-all-the-time thing: doesn’t work on all people, doesn’t have to.
On idiots. So on probably around 40% of population.
It actually works on smart people too.
Also “
200100” is very different from “100”.It is how it is, Americans are the dumbest
