The psychology of prices not being rounded to the nearest dollar works shockingly well on people

[BAD]

I do get frustrated because some gas station pricing is recorded wrong in apps because they handle the oft-forgotten 9/10 of a penny on the end that essentially makes the gallon a penny more. Like in the big one here in the USA called GasBuddy, they started rounding it down a couple years ago, but some other apps have inconsistent reporting by users as a result as well. I often end up with Google Maps and Gas Buddy being a cent off in one direction or the other based on people who do or don't know the real rounded price.

But I was listening to a coworker today talk about an appetizer as being "3 or 4 bucks!" but I know what she was talking about and it's actually $4.99. People do this all the time. My cousins were always buying apps and telling their mom the price without the $0.99 on the end. Genius.

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

 

[UnluckyKate]

399 is fine

But 449 is way to much.

 

[BillFromAccounting]

Yep, very effective tactic, cant even be mad that businesses do it.

 

[Molecule]

I dunno, not on me. I round up.

 

[julian]

I see $5, but I know others don't. Literally had this conversation with my wife the other day

 

[shadowsdarknes]

It does work.

If I tell a friend that game X is 19.99 on the PS Store, they know how much it costs.
If I tell that person the game is 20 bucks on the PS Store, they might assume I am rounding down to make the deal sound better. It might actually cost 21 or 22 dollars.

I think the .99 sets a clear ceiling on the price (minus taxes)

 

[Grudy]

I tell myself that it doesn't work on me because I know what they're doing.

Then I fall for it.

 

[TheMango55]

They don't do this at Dollar General and those places are exploding across the country.

 

[Deleted member 58401]

Marketing is weird. This is similar to that thread about how your brain is two distinct halves and you only control half from a few days ago. There are so many weird little fluctuations that make a huge difference in how we perceive and react to value.

But I'm in the $5 club.

 

[rickyson33]

I tell myself that it doesn't work on me because I know what they're doing.

Then I fall for it.

Click to shrink...

yeah it's one of those things that everyone knows about at this point that keeps getting used because it also still works

 

[Anomander]

My dumb ass friend always falls for this. Like he literally reads 199 as 100.

 

[TrishaCat]

This seems grossly exploitative

 

[The Adder]

I see a number after the decimal point my brain rounds up to the next whole dollar. It's how I was raised to think about it.

 

[PeskyToaster]

i don't really worry about what deals and stuff are available. If i want it I'm just going to get it in the most convenient way.

 

[More_Badass]

My dumb ass friend always falls for this. Like he literally reads 199 as 100.

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What? How? That doesn't even make sense. Like even if you're rounding, that's 200

 

[TheMadTitan]

I'm the type of person who will sit there, staring at items to calculate how much each item is in a three pack and how it relates to the one or two pack and will calculate the cost for buy one, get one free/50%.

Hell, I even factor in gas pump surcharges for using debit or credit and will make sure I'm $.35 shy of my cutoff point.

These bitches ain't hoodwinking me.

 

[SealedSeven]

I'm more ticked they haven't put taxes in the pricing to make it easier.


also, you could just round down to 0 by stealing...

 

[kiguel182]

It's amazing how dumb my brain is and how people take advantage of it yes

 

[El meso]

I am dumb as hell so i round it up to the lowest Number :(

 

[Deleted member 17402]

I've always had the habit of saying the number that's rounded forwarded. So if I see $199, I'll tell someone it's $200. I'll never say it's $100 if it's $199. I tend to round up in increments of 50. I'll say prices of $170-199 as $200 or $120-149 as $150. Yeah there'll be some discrepancies here and there if the item is oddly priced in between those values, but typically this is how I think about it.

I think my force of habit in counting calories also helped keep this perspective. When I was losing weight many years ago and tracking calories, I would always overestimate how much I was consuming so that I could have a buffer in case I did in fact eat more than I thought, and I do the same thing with spending. And it normally turns out I've spent less than I expected because I constantly round up, which in a way helps me save money because I have an artificial limit throughout the weeks on how much I am willing to spend. I hit that artificial limit very quickly by rounding up by these increments.

 

[jotun?]

It's especially effective when you're adding things things up

1.99
3.99
2.99
2.99

At a glance that looks like it would be easily less than $10, but it's almost $12

 

[sgtnosboss]

maybe for some, I round up and like excessively since we live in the US and taxes suck. so if somethings like 4.99 I consider it 5.50 or more.

 

[More_Badass]

It's especially effective when you're adding things things up

1.99
3.99
2.99
2.99

At a glance that looks like it would be easily less than $10, but it's almost $12

Click to shrink...

No it doesn't at all look like it could be less than 10. Always round up.

I can't fathom why anyone wouldn't round up.

 

[tangeu]

When looking at prices I round up, to an egregious degree sometimes. Anything over $2 (and under 5) becomes 5 bucks. Rounding gets bigger the higher the price is, for example if I see something that is priced $14.99 and something that is $16.99 my brain says both are basically 20 bucks or $130, $150, $180 all might as well be $200. Keeps my budget down because I scoff at all prices. Drives my wife mad when I say things like "I'm not paying $20 for that" and she's like "It says $13.99 right here!?!"

 

[Dennis8K]

My superior brain always reads 2.99 as 3 etc.

Get on my level.

 

[Fliesen]

It's especially effective when you're adding things things up

1.99
3.99
2.99
2.99

At a glance that looks like it would be easily less than $10, but it's almost $12

Click to shrink...

yup.

That's stuff i definitely fall for.

I, of course, don't fall for €199 feeling way cheaper than €200, but when something's priced at €1.99 it often effectively feels like it's "just a buck", i.e 'almost nothing', and 5 items in, you're looking at €10 already.

 

[Hampig]

People say they round up, but seeing those lower numbers at first glance has an effect for sure. Obviously if anyone thinks for one second they can recognize that $4.99 is $5, that's not what it's about.

 

[boontobias]

When I count my grocery cart in the store I only count da big numbahs

 

[Not Spaceghost]

It depends on the amount.

In low amounts I'm gonna round up because when something is 3.99 there is a significant difference between 3 and 4 dollars but when something costs 149.99 it doesnt even matter lmao.

 

[Chaosblade]

I always round up, and not just for 99s or 98s. Even for mid numbers, 49, 59, etc. By the time you add tax it's closer to the next dollar up.

 

[DrEvil]

If you've ever worked in marketing or advertising, chances are you've read/listened to this, which goes into this and much, much more:

https://www.audible.ca/pd/Why-We-Bu...VxMDACh0BiwqjEAQYASABEgJoZ_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[prophetvx]

It works depressingly well on my wife even when it isn't in cents, I think her Math.round function is broken and reverts to Math.floor.

How much does this cost?
$900
Actual price, $999.

 

[nihilence]

Also, throw a sale sticker on something for $0.10 off and some people will flock to it.

 

[DanarchyReigns]

I always round up.
There are people that don't? I though we were conditioned to do that...

 

[MrKlaw]

What? How? That doesn't even make sense. Like even if you're rounding, that's 200

Click to shrink...

Its 100 'and a bit'

 

[Kor of Memory]

The psychology of gift cards is worse, in my opinion.

Oh, if I buy this game, I get a $10 gift card, so this $50 game is basically only $40 bucks. Sweet deal.

1 month later:

Oh, this game is $50, but I have a $10 gift card, so it's really just $40 bucks for me.



I've effectively psychologically double dipped into my own gift card. I've attributed the savings of it both to the initial purchase, and the actual event I use the card.

 

[Deleted member 58401]

It's especially effective when you're adding things things up

1.99
3.99
2.99
2.99

At a glance that looks like it would be easily less than $10, but it's almost $12

Click to shrink...

That's a great point. I bet the .99 has actually conned me subconsciously in that way.

It works depressingly well on my wife even when it isn't in cents, I think her Math.round function is broken and reverts to Math.floor.

How much does this cost?
$900
Actual price, $999.

Click to shrink...

That's hilarious. I hope it never happens, but at least if you ever get divorced, you should be able to come out ahead?

 

[Anomander]

What? How? That doesn't even make sense. Like even if you're rounding, that's 200

Click to shrink...

As others have said in this thread, his brain uses Math.floor instead of Math.round.

 

[BAD]

The psychology of gift cards is worse, in my opinion.

Oh, if I buy this game, I get a $10 gift card, so this $50 game is basically only $40 bucks. Sweet deal.

1 month later:

Oh, this game is $50, but I have a $10 gift card, so it's really just $40 bucks for me.



I've effectively psychologically double dipped into my own gift card. I've attributed the savings of it both to the initial purchase, and the actual event I use the card.

Click to shrink...

Or there's deals where it's like "buy a $50 gift card, get a $10 gift card free!" which people do math as "wow so it's like buying a $50 gift card for $40, so 20% off!" But for the company, you still spent $50, so the real math is more like 16.66% off a $60 gift card.

 

[More_Badass]

Its 100 'and a bit'

Click to shrink...

Nearly a 100 more dollars/more units/more etc isn't "and a bit"

 

[KomandaHeck]

I've actually consciously tried to stop doing it when I'm selling on eBay because it makes me feel like a bit of a tosser.

 

[retroman]

That tactic only works 99.9% of the time on me.

 

[Randomly Generated]

It even works on massive items like houses. It's wild.

 

[skipgo]

I always round up. It's good at the supermarket where I keep a mental tally of what i'm buying and usually am pleasantly surprised cause it costs a few bucks less.

 

[Trigonometrize]

The true genius is even if you're someone who doesn't think it works on you, it's worked on you.

 

[HeavenlyOne]

My dumb ass friend always falls for this. Like he literally reads 199 as 100.

Click to shrink...

Your friend must be pretty wealthy if he doesn't realise (or doesn't care when he does realise) that he's spending twice as much as he think he is.

 

[Fulminator]

I always round up ...interesting that not everyone does

 

[Astandahl]

I do it on WOW as well. Works extremely well.

 

[Tigress]

I see 4 even though I know it's 5. But I have to conciously tell myself 5 bux rather than 4 dollars something... and yeah, 3.99 looks better to me than 4.49. So... while I know the psychology trick if I just go by my lizard brain, it works on me.

 

[Fulminator]

It's especially effective when you're adding things things up

1.99
3.99
2.99
2.99

At a glance that looks like it would be easily less than $10, but it's almost $12

Click to shrink...

So people just don't want to have deal with adding the .99 up?

i would just do 2+4+3+3