The actual advice is to put it at 12000
No, the actual advice is to not use whole/round numbers. So, 11,999 or 11,995 is better than 12,000 due to left-digit bias.
The actual advice is to put it at 12000
No, the actual advice is to not use whole/round numbers. So, 11,999 or 11,995 is better than 12,000 due to left-digit bias.
Well, it makes sense and seems plausible to me. With the speculated origin being the late 1800s when there were no cameras and no software system used for tracking inventory.
How is this a shower thought?
“I wonder why most prices end in 99. If I were a retailer I would use whole numbers to make things easier”
Is that better? Is it dumbed down enough? The alternative is to not post and contribute to the community.
Which is exactly validating what I wrote in my post title…people watch merchants use the left-digit bias and then go ahead and use whole numbers when they sell their own items. That’s what the post is all about!
I don’t really understand the “decent person” comment.
Left-digit bias is a default way that the human brain works.
Humans also tend to like fat, sugar, and salt. So, when you go to a restaurant if they add more butter to a recipe than you would at home are they unethical?
Ending in 98 or 97 or whatever does not negate it. You focused too much on that 99.
“…when the leftmost digit of a number disproportionately influences decision-making”
The marketplace probably matters regarding 99 pricing. On Craigslist it looks different than Amazon marketplace or eBay. I sold books on Amazon and all the big sellers used 99 but then when some college kid (with little or no feedback) listed a used textbook they would use a whole number. So, trustworthiness based on 99 doesn’t work that way on Amazon or eBay. The whole number listers are the ones with little sales history and no feedback for you to judge.
I personally use a nickel less than the dollar or $5 less than $100. If I want to sell something for $400 I will list it at $395.
I agree with that strategy. Makes sense.
Yeah, if I want to sell something for $400 then I list it at $395 rather than $399.
Not trying to debate you at all. You are free to believe what you want to believe.
The title of my post is that people see those 99 prices and then continue to sell their items using whole numbers without questioning it. So, in your responses you validated my post title.
I do not have the patience to deal with someone looking to haggle.
Not trying to start a debate with you and I know you’re just talking about a $10 item (and I agree with you on that) but your comment about “not looking to haggle” being the reason you’d use a whole number is not in agreement with another psychological trick.
When Negotiating A Price, Never Bid With A Round Number
So, round numbers actually invite people to haggle more than precise numbers.
I understand. But what if you’re selling a refrigerator or laptop for $400? You could list it for $399 or $395. The left-digit bias is not just pennies / cents. It applies when going from $99 to $100…$399 to $400…$999 to $1000 etc.
It’s not just pennies / cents. It applies when going from $99 to $100…$399 to $400…$999 to $1000 etc.
If you’re selling a car and you want $4000 for it then it’s best to list it for $3999 or $3995. Sure, you’re giving up $1 or $5 but you’re making that price look much more attractive due to the left-digit bias.
If at any point left-digit bias stopped working then merchants would increase the price by a penny or a dollar (when going $99 to $100). Walmart is not going to leave money on the table. It still works.
That sounds a lot like when people say, “I’m not affected by advertising at all”. I am sure the effect has influenced some of the purchases in your life.
And even if you are 100% immune to it my point is about selling items to other people. You’re trying to get other people to buy the item you have for sale. Your brain rounding up does not allow you to take advantage of the well-known left digit bias which affects everyone in the world except you. So, if you round up when you sell an item you lose some advantage.
I think about that quote often. Good one!
Thanks for sharing that! That’s what I was thinking of when I made the post…just someone who intentionally gives up the rat race.
Yeah, that sounds like the story of the The Buddha. I think he chained himself to a tree at one point and refused to eat.
Plenty of people are trying to deny that this effect exists or that it works. You can create a bunch of hypothetical one off straw man arguments where left-digit bias may or may not be the best solution or be irrelevant to the chain of events that make the sale happen. However, the act of pricing things at 99, 98, 95 etc. has been around for 140 years and has been studied by psychologists, marketers, and corporations.
All of the resistance to pricing things using left-digit bias present in this thread validates my post title. Merchants have been pricing that way for 140 years and yet when people sell their own items they don’t - and as this thread shows they don’t for a variety of reasons but none of those reasons makes the effect not real.
Why the hell is the post so controversial? Merchants do this, individual people do not. That’s it.