.99 problem

[Aghanim]

Why everyone really loves to put those .99 everywhere?? It seems that the current pricing trend is to put as many nines as possible, like $89.99

And this: http://www.newegg.com/Internal-SSDs/SubCategory/ID-636

There is .95, there is .99, and there is the the correct but endangered species .00

[Dodgey]

I'm sure that it is just to make you think that it is cheaper than it really is, I mean $99.99 sounds a bit cheaper than $100.

[christok]

Back in ye olden days, you bought your stuff with funny little tokens called "cash", at a physical building called a "brick-and-mortar store". In those times, shop owners would set the price slightly lower than a round number. The purpose was to make the "cashier" (who receives payment and ensures that the goods aren't stolen) give you "change" (the amount of "cash" left over after paying the price with a round-numbered value token).

If, at the end of the day, the cashier performed a man-in-the-middle attack by keeping some of the "cash" they received (which would not be otherwise detectable until the inventory is counted), there would be a mismatch in the amount of change the cashier had remaining. This would result in the cashier going to prison, but not as long as if they had done it on a computer.

[KvickFlygarn87]

I'm sure that it is just to make you think that it is cheaper than it really is, I mean $99.99 sounds a bit cheaper than $100.

It is a bit cheaper

[Endersmens]

When i read the title, i imagined this thread being about version .99 of KSP. *shutters*

Anyways, if we didn't have .99, macklemore never would have bought it!

[comicbstudeo]

i was thinking of 0.9 recurring = 1 much more interesting

[WinkAllKerb'']

next product i launch on the market will be 100.1$ and due to current stat of thing it might work ;op

[Dodgey]

It is a bit cheaper

Hush hush you

[Noname117]

I think (I am not certain of this though, do not take my word on it) that the .99 and the .95 are used as a way of "categorizing" items. For example, items with a .99 might be at normal price while items with a .95 may be on sale.

[pxi]

I had heard another theory, namely that by not having a round number, the cashier has to give change, therefore having to put it through the register and not simply pocketing the cash.

The seems cheaper than it is theory is what I'd go with personally.

[EuSouONumero345]

I just find it annoying to never see round numbers in pricing (OCD ftw).

So I demand for no more 9s in pricing

[Nuke]

this is what you call psychological pricing. by taking a penny off, people think they are paying a buck less, because most people dont pay attention to anything to the right of the decimal point. when i go shopping my brain automatically calls ceil(x) on all the numbers before adding them up. it gives me less headaches and i dont have to worry about not being able to cover the sales tax. buying stuff is too hard these days.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Nuke

[Brethern]

Back in ye olden days, you bought your stuff with funny little tokens called "cash", at a physical building called a "brick-and-mortar store". In those times, shop owners would set the price slightly lower than a round number. The purpose was to make the "cashier" (who receives payment and ensures that the goods aren't stolen) give you "change" (the amount of "cash" left over after paying the price with a round-numbered value token).

If, at the end of the day, the cashier performed a man-in-the-middle attack by keeping some of the "cash" they received (which would not be otherwise detectable until the inventory is counted), there would be a mismatch in the amount of change the cashier had remaining. This would result in the cashier going to prison, but not as long as if they had done it on a computer.

Back in ye olden days brick and mortar stores had an allowance system in place. Normally this was $20 that could be missing before people looked into it.

The reason for 199.99 and such and that if an item is $200 people are going to be turned off by the price but 199.99 sounds good because it isn't 200$

[Dispatcher]

As discussed above; this practice forced the cashier to give change, and the customer likely saw the money paid go into the cash drawer: also, the difference of from about 1 to 5 cents (or whatever currency is used) from a whole number also has the effect of making the price being perceived as different. Its the lowest perceived difference. The practice is most obvious at petrol or gas stations; the price per liter or gallon down to tenths of a cent (or other small unit).

[KvickFlygarn87]

Hehe, you've got .99 problems but a female dog ain't one!

[Aghanim]

Alright the question has been answered.

Another question: If we visit a store that we rarely visit, how do you know that the discounted price isn't the normal price?

[Streetwind]

Neat fact:

Some countries (like Canada) have actually discontinued their 1 and 2 cent pieces, because they cost the state more to manufacture than their own value. And they also annoy people a lot, because by the nature of the pricing system discussed here, you are pretty much never going to have anything to use these small denomination coins on. Unless of course you hoard them and then dump them on some poor cashier, who is annoyed in return. So the state simply said "screw it, we're no longer making any".

Prices in these countries now go in 5 cent steps, so you can have 20.00 or 19.95 or 19.90, but not 19.99 or 19.98 on a product.

The call to do the same has been made in other countries, but the most frequent counterargument is that charities fear for their income. Because of all the .99 prices and the resulting amount of useless 1 cent coins in circulation, people tend to get rid of them in bulk via donation boxes. There is so much of this "small change" accumulating in these that it accounts for one of the largest income streams for some charities.

Edited June 3, 2014 by Streetwind

[christok]

Some countries (like Canada) have actually discontinued their 1 and 2 cent pieces, because they cost the state more to manufacture than their own value. And they also annoy people a lot, because by the nature of the pricing system discussed here, you are pretty much never going to have anything to use these small denomination coins on. Unless of course you hoard them and then dump them on some poor cashier, who is annoyed in return. So the state simply said "screw it, we're no longer making any".

Prices in these countries now go in 5 cent steps, so you can have 20.00 or 19.95 or 19.90, but not 19.99 or 19.98 on a product.

The .99 prices still exist in some of those places. The total gets rounded off. And around here, cashiers are usually happy to be handed more change.

[SolarLiner]

my brain automatically calls ceil(x)

I'd rather call round(x) and then get an overestimated total rather than an underestimated one. In fact that's what I do when shopping (even if it happens very very rarely).

[Nuke]

i think you are confusing ceil() with floor(). round(x) is just floor(x+0.5). using ceil() means if something costs $3.99, my mind just sees a 4.

[Comrade Jenkens]

They should really get round to making a 99p (or whatever currency you're using) coin.

[Nuke]

better idea, abolish any coin smaller than a dime.

[KvickFlygarn87]

better idea, abolish any coin smaller than a dime.

Better idea, bitcoinz.

Or dogecoins

[Chrisd857]

Even worse, that 9/10 of a cent at the end of gasoline prices in the US.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/26/us-usa-gasoline-pricing-idUSTRE74P5EQ20110526

[Duxwing]

Another question: If we visit a store that we rarely visit, how do you know that the discounted price isn't the normal price?

If the store has sold the item at some price, then it can thereafter arbitrarily lower the price and declare the item "on sale". If they store has not, then whooooo boy, are they in for a legal butt-whooping.

-Duxwing