Which price would you rather pay

[Miss Chicken]

This message has appeared on a site I often buy games from

- In order to provide the best local experience to our users, you will see prices inclusive of VAT if you are buying from a VATable country.
- Prices have increased slightly to a visually normal looking price when inclusive of VAT (i.e. if a straight conversion of a game from $6.99 plus VAT priced the game at $7.82, we adjust to a more familiar looking price of $7.99).

So I am asking people here - would you rather pay $7.82 for something or the more 'visually normal' looking price of $7.99?

 

[auntiehill]

Um...is this a trick question? Of course I'd rather pay the lower price. DUH.

Visually appealing price? That's a joke, right?

 

[Count Zero]

I really dislike those x.99 prices, anyway. Just man up and say it's x+1.
In this case, how about making the price more appealing by rounding it down to 7.80?

 

[Miss Chicken]

Visually appealing price? That's a joke, right?

No, they are serious and many of the European customers are really annoyed by the explanation.

Just imagine if Amazon.com etc decided to change their prices to 'visually normal' prices.

 

[RandyS]

I'd rather get it for free.

Whatever it is.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I love how they rationalize skimming a little extra margin off the top.

 

[Canadave]

While I'm a fan of places that include sales tax in their prices, that's just stupid.

 

[Miss Chicken]

When I logged on this morning I was surprised to see the prices of games in Australian dollars. Up to then the prices was always in US dollars and regular games were $6.99. The new price in Australian dollars is $7.99. As the Australian dollar is almost equal to the US dollar I went to the forums to see if there was an explanation for the increase. I saw that they were putting it down to VAT and I comment that Australians do not have to pay GST (similar to VAT) on overseas orders that are under $1000 in value.

An fellow Australian told me to go into my account and change my currency to US dollars and I could get the games at the American price. I do have to pay for currency conversion (which will be charged either by Paypal or my bank depending on the payment method I use) but this only brings my payment up to about $AUD7.35. This means that they have rounded the price Australians pay up by more than 60 cents!!! At least Australians have the options of paying in US dollars.

I wouldn't mind if this was a genuine rise in games but to say that they are doing it to make the new price 'visually normal" is a bit much.

 

[Naira]

I really dislike those x.99 prices, anyway. Just man up and say it's x+1.

That.

 

[DonIago]

Wow, this reminds me of those old Atari commercials - "Under $50!!!"

$49.99 is not significantly below $50 to merit such excitement.

What the heck is "visually normal" supposed to mean anyway? Was someone saying something like "$23.62? My god, that price is so gay!!!" (eye-roll) For the record, I -am- gay and loathe that expression.

Oddly, I'll go for the cheaper price. Big shock there.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Hey, I wonder if I can pull that with the I.R.S.:

"Dear I.R.S.,


Today I got my income tax return check for $557.00. I have adjust it to a more familiar looking price of $599.99; please issue the new check.


Thanks"

 

[Mr Silver]

Lol! are they crazy or something? how can they justify that? "Visually Abnormal" looking prices is part of the reason people love Airport "Tax Free" lounges, if this company would like more business then i'd suggest they skim the additional £0.02 or $0.02 off their prices and market it as less rather than more, thats just daylight robbery and pretty Economically Unethical

 

[RJDiogenes]

That's pretty stupid. The reason businesses use the x.99 prices is because they are more visually appealing-- $7.99 appears to be cheaper than $8.00-- but at least it's reduced. Rounding up to create the illusion of a rounded-down price is retarded.

See if you can buy your games at Amazon or something at a normal normal price, rather than a visually normal price.

 

[Lorna]

I don't like all that £X.99 pricing crap which is why I like to shop at Iceland's. All their prices are rounded so instead of £1.99 it will just say £2.
I'd happily lose the penny change if it means I don't have to look at a silly .99 price tag.

 

[Miss Chicken]

The $1.99 prices are even more stupid in Australia because we don't have one or two cent coins. So if you buy a single thing for 99c you have to pay $1.00 for it. If you buy three things for 99c (total cost $2.97) you end up paying $2.95 as price have to rounded up or down to the nearest 5c.

 

[RJDiogenes]

That could happen here, too. Every so often the possibility of eliminating the penny is raised; it would save a fortune.

 

[Holdfast]

I really dislike those x.99 prices, anyway. Just man up and say it's x+1.

The .99 prices still do work on the average consumer though. Even though everyone knows on a rational level that, say, $199.99 is the same as $200, emotionally they still react differently to the two prices, which is why the practice continues.

Emotionally, people conceptualise prices by the first digit because it has visual primacy. So even though they "know" it makes no difference, they still act as though it's cheaper. I remember reading a study where pizza sales increased by an amazing 15% simply by knocking the price down from a rounded figure to a .99 figure. With those kind of sales results, you can see why the practice persists.

Figures ending in .95 also work well, because people are so used to seeing a 9 at the very end that seeing a 5 at the end makes them "feel" that it's a lot cheaper.