I've looked this up on Google, I've asked almost everyone I know, and I think about it every day I go into work or to the store or something. Does anyone really have any idea as to how exactly or why exactly prices generally always end one dollar lower then their expected price, and instead tag on the end 99 cents, 95 cents, or 50 cents?
Sounds like a stupid question because I feel like everyone knows something I don't. I used to think that it was to avoid tax on the extra dollar, but the more I look up, the less likely that seems. Anyone?
Some people might tell you that it's to keep small coins in circulation but that's bollocks. It's just to make the price seem less than it is. In all honesty it does work with some people.
I wish they would make the prices so that with sales tax it works out to dollar amounts with no change. Unless of course the stuff is less than a dollar.
Slightly different subject, but I wish shops in the US/Canada listed items with sales tax/VAT included like they do in the UK.. it's rather confusing to go into a dollar shop where nothing costs a dollar, is it just me that finds that really stupid?
1. It's just to get you to think that it's cheaper than it is. When people add up prices, most of them only add the digits past the decimal point.
2. It makes the price look more 'accurate'. People are more likely to 'trust' something that's $2.89 than $3.00.
It works. Seriously, it does. If it didn't, then people won't do it. It's also like that other trick where they play slow music at supermarkets to make you walk slower (and browse through more stuff) and where they keep the kiddie stuff at kiddie eye level and the adult stuff at adult eye level (with the stuff targeted at females a shelf lower).
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
Well I'm a bit opposite, I hate change so i view prices in how many dollars I have to give or break. So in my mind, $3.25 = $4. Although, now that i have a credit card, i don't have to bother with change.
Originally Posted by Clubsoft Slightly different subject, but I wish shops in the US/Canada listed items with sales tax/VAT included like they do in the UK.. it's rather confusing to go into a dollar shop where nothing costs a dollar, is it just me that finds that really stupid?
Lol, I always have that problem. If something is $3 I usually just shove a $5 at the till attendant without worrying about correct change
Originally Posted by Clubsoft Slightly different subject, but I wish shops in the US/Canada listed items with sales tax/VAT included like they do in the UK.. it's rather confusing to go into a dollar shop where nothing costs a dollar, is it just me that finds that really stupid?
Another small point that may or may not actually be true but I remember hearing about: The odd number is to make sure the cashier has to open the till in order to sort out the change. Since quite a lot of systems rely on the till drawer being open and shut before a transactions processed, it stops the cashier just pocketing the money with no items actually gone through...
There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who don't.
For me it's like the Jedi mind trick and that flying alien slaver guy with the elephant trunk thing on his face ... Watto his name? ...
well, Watto"?" is like don't bother Jedi cause your stupid tricks don't work on me ... but the Jedi is gonna keep using his mind trick on others anyway cause it works on most people. He's not gonna just quit using it cause a few people are wise enough to know better.
I'm like Watto ... it doesn't work on me.
I see the pricetag for what it is and not what it looks like.
That's just one of their corporate tricks they use. There's many others as well. Take the trick with tons of empty space in a huge bag of chips (you only end up getting half a bag), or the trick where they charge you less with the same size box as another product but the actual contents within the box are less to the point where if you were to buy equal content within the boxes of each, the product with the higher pricetag would actually cost less. ... they'll also use measurement tricks to confuse the ignorant, and of course there's the brand name trick they like to play where one product is exactly the same as the other, yet sometimes there is a difference so it gets even more annoying. (sometimes the difference lay in machinery being used to process more than one type of food, while the other brand may only use one machine per type of food) ....
It's all just one big mess put into place to confuse the consumer and none of it need be that way. The greedy trying to trick the masses into buying their crap is what it's all about. I don't see why they couldn't just have a good product and be honest with their customers and truthful about what they are selling. The sad fact is that none of them care about quality. They have no integrity, respect, or pride in their product anymore, and it's just sad that they stoop to such a low as to have to trick people into a purchase.
Unfortunately, they all do it now. It's a "monkey see, monkey do" sorta thing and spread like a plague because of that notion.
Economic experts btw are nothing more than bullshit experts within any given field of the economy.
Too many people are paid to put a spin on things and/or contemplate the spin that others have put upon things.
If I had my way I'd cut through all the crap and throw every corporate bullshit-spinning waste of life off a cliff until everything could be honest and forthright again.
Blood of the Ancient One, Seen only as Shadow, Faster than Lightning, Fierce as the Greatest Dragon, Nearly Invisible, Floating in a Dream, Entered through the Demon Door, Destroyer of Evil in a Realm with a Red Sky Scarred, Who could I be ?
Originally Posted by Rob Westbrook Another small point that may or may not actually be true but I remember hearing about: The odd number is to make sure the cashier has to open the till in order to sort out the change. Since quite a lot of systems rely on the till drawer being open and shut before a transactions processed, it stops the cashier just pocketing the money with no items actually gone through...
Actually, that's the correct reason.
Long before computers tracked register procedures and cameras tracked employees, business owners would set prices to $XXX.50 or $XXX.99 which would require the checker to open the til and make change on single-item purchases.
At the end of the day, if a flat dollar amount was missing from the til and the change counted out correctly, the business owner had proof that either their cashier was stealing from them, or accidentally misplaced a bill amount.
Today, it's more about tricking customers into thinking they're paying less, but the same method can be followed when a til is short to track untrustworthy employees. Honestly, it just keeps the whole system in check.
The bit about keeping coin in circulation is somewhat true as well. Without all the pennies parted out to purchasers, pennies themselves wouldn't be worth the cost of producing them, items would need to cost a flat dollar amount, or $XXX.95 so change could be figured in nickles, instead. That would either inflate or deflate our economy significantly enough to warrant prevention.
ChrisD> Employer: Say, wanna see a magic trick?
ChrisD> Employee: Uhh… sure, boss.
ChrisD> Employer: Your job! It just disappeared! Pack your things and leave! Pretty good trick, huh?
While we're at it I'll ask: why is it that in movies and such when one side makes an offer to another side, they write it on a piece of paper and hand it over instead of just saying their price?
Originally Posted by Ecstazy While we're at it I'll ask: why is it that in movies and such when one side makes an offer to another side, they write it on a piece of paper and hand it over instead of just saying their price?
Those are usually supposed to be scenes where there is tension. Just saying a price informs the audience, and tension is lost. "How much will the bad guy ask for? Can the good guy pay that much? Oh, just a hundred dollars? Man, I've got a hundred dollars on me right now. Even I could pay that ransom!"
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Unless of course the stuff is less than a dollar.
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