this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2024
846 points (97.6% liked)

memes

10668 readers
2633 users here now

Community rules

1. Be civilNo trolling, bigotry or other insulting / annoying behaviour

2. No politicsThis is non-politics community. For political memes please go to [email protected]

3. No recent repostsCheck for reposts when posting a meme, you can only repost after 1 month

4. No botsNo bots without the express approval of the mods or the admins

5. No Spam/AdsNo advertisements or spam. This is an instance rule and the only way to live.

Sister communities

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 166 points 1 month ago (8 children)

But it IS how we see prices. If there weren't science behind it, they wouldn't be doing it.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] [email protected] 137 points 1 month ago (6 children)

$20 and $10 shipping: 😡

$30 and free shipping: 😄

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Part of it is that there's less hidden costs. I like it when it's just "the total is $30" instead of "there's $8 shipping and a $2 service fee and then $4 in taxes and..."

I've also seen some online stores lure in a customer with a really cheap initial price and then on the last page just slam them with insane shipping and handling fees hoping that the customer either doesn't notice or feels too invested at this point to cancel their purchase.

But yes, part of it is also people are stupid when they see the word "free" as if the store wouldn't move the cost somewhere else.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 month ago (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I love him to pieces

How many? About 200?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago

A whole 100 pieces? What a deal!

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] OneWomanCreamTeam 49 points 1 month ago (4 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

This is my neighbor all the time.

Like dude, round up!

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 month ago

Honestly, however much I want to pretend to be better than that, I think it does work on me. Obviously not on a conscious level, I know how numbers work, but some part of my monkey brain sees the 1 instead of the 2 and therefore concludes that it must be way cheaper. It's a feeling that no amount of facts is going to disable. And in the end many purchasing decisions aren't based on a full analysis but on feelings.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Most people are idiots most of the time.

Some people are idiots some of the time.

No one is never an idiot.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago

Can confirm. I'm idiot most of the time

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This is locally grown artisanal bullshit, it's actually $300, please tip.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 month ago (4 children)

These dumbasses thinks this works on us smart people. Anyway, gotta go fight some people on black friday for shit i don't even need nor afford

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Which just so happens to have been the same price all month.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Regular price: $399.99

BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL: ~~$799.99~~ $399.99

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Its literally how we see prices which is why companies do this

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 month ago (8 children)

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.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] Sixtyforce 24 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 month ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago (6 children)

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.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (23 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 month ago (4 children)

your price tags show the price before tax? that's fucked up

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (7 children)

Weirdly, my brain went through those numbers as "20, 22, 5, 3, 2."

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (21 replies)
[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Honestly I just want tax included on the price tag.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (11 children)

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.

load more comments (11 replies)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 month ago (8 children)

Funny thing is, it still works.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

I always round up the price when I see $X.99 but my grandmother always rounds it down and it pisses me off

They're trying to fool you! Don't be a sheep!!!

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

They may list it as $19.99 but I'm always going to call it twenty bucks and eleven cents.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

But you get a penny back, isn't that great?

[–] Hideakikarate 10 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Jokes on you. We have sales tax.

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›