Comments on: Why Things Cost $19.95 http://www.marktaw.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/why-things-cost-1995/ The Psychology of Marketing and The Marketing of Psychology. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:15:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.3 By: Wayne http://www.marktaw.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/why-things-cost-1995/#comment-2715 Wayne Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:35:06 +0000 http://www.marktaw.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/why-things-cost-1995/#comment-2715 I always get in shit from the wife because whenever I see a $169.00 price I always round down: "It's only $160" "No, it's $170 you ideeeeeot!!" "Oh, yeah, right.." I always get in shit from the wife because whenever I see a $169.00 price I always round down:

“It’s only $160″
“No, it’s $170 you ideeeeeot!!”
“Oh, yeah, right..”

]]> By: PJ http://www.marktaw.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/why-things-cost-1995/#comment-2766 PJ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:07:06 +0000 http://www.marktaw.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/why-things-cost-1995/#comment-2766 I used to work in retail, and my boss, the CEO, told me that while consumer psychology is important, avoiding round numbers also helps reduce theft. Basically, if something costs $20, you might just give the cashier a $20 bill. Since you don't expect change, he puts the item in a bag and you walk away happy. If it's $19.95, you're expecting 5 cents back, so the cashier has to ring in the purchase to open the register. I used to work in retail, and my boss, the CEO, told me that while consumer psychology is important, avoiding round numbers also helps reduce theft.

Basically, if something costs $20, you might just give the cashier a $20 bill. Since you don’t expect change, he puts the item in a bag and you walk away happy.

If it’s $19.95, you’re expecting 5 cents back, so the cashier has to ring in the purchase to open the register.

]]> By: Niki http://www.marktaw.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/why-things-cost-1995/#comment-2788 Niki Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:51:22 +0000 http://www.marktaw.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/why-things-cost-1995/#comment-2788 I heard the same thing about reducing theft. Beyond just not ringing something up, it's more difficult to ring something up at the wrong price even if someone does give you exact change. For example, if you have products that are 19.99 and 18.95, but none that are 18.99, it's difficult to ring up a product at the wrong price and just stick a dollar in your pocket. You'd have to constantly do penny-involved math & fill your pockets with change if you wanted the register to balance at the end of the day. I heard the same thing about reducing theft. Beyond just not ringing something up, it’s more difficult to ring something up at the wrong price even if someone does give you exact change. For example, if you have products that are 19.99 and 18.95, but none that are 18.99, it’s difficult to ring up a product at the wrong price and just stick a dollar in your pocket. You’d have to constantly do penny-involved math & fill your pockets with change if you wanted the register to balance at the end of the day.

]]> By: rubadubud http://www.marktaw.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/why-things-cost-1995/#comment-2822 rubadubud Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:10:20 +0000 http://www.marktaw.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/why-things-cost-1995/#comment-2822 Nah, some people just see 19.95 as being a whole lot less than 20 bucks. One thing that has always ticked me off is gasoline prices. If one buys precisely 1 gallon at 32.9 (that was the usual price when i started driving) how does one come up with 9/10 of a cent? How did that ever get started and why is it legal? Nah, some people just see 19.95 as being a whole lot less than 20 bucks.

One thing that has always ticked me off is gasoline prices. If one buys precisely 1 gallon at 32.9 (that was the usual price when i started driving) how does one come up with 9/10 of a cent?

How did that ever get started and why is it legal?

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