.00 or .95 or .99 pricing

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Any thoughts on whether having prices ending in .99 vs rounding to the
nearest dollar actually makes a difference to consumers?
When something is $19.99, any reason not to make it an even $20?


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.00 or .95 or .99 pricing



Actually I heard the story as a marketing ploy. They could advertise
"Under $10.00" and have the item listed as $9.99 or $9.95 etc.
Supposedly, some marketing genius believed it is a subconscious thing
that a consumer is less likely to buy the same item at $10.00, than at
$9.99 or $9.95 - as the logic goes "its less than 10 bucks"...so its not
as expensive.

I think there is actually some validity to that.

Vic Vega
WolfPaw Computers
Miva Merchant Hosting Specialists
"Put the power of the pack to work for you!"(sm)
Ph: 1 (866) WOLFPAW
www.wpcomp.com


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Adam
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 8:18 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [mru] .00 or .95 or .99 pricing


A lot of people wonder why the price of things is always xx.99 or xx.95
instead of just an even amount.

The story I once heard goes that in times past (and prior to sales tax)
when everyone paid for things in cash, store owners did this
deliberately
so that cashiers would be required to take a customer's money, open the
register and make change as opposed to simply accepting an exact dollar
amount and being able to quietly slip it in their pocket. Anyone else
ever
heard of this? It's possible I dreamed it.

Then eventually having things priced that way became so commonplace that
to
do it any other way just seemed odd no matter the medium or payment
method. I think seeing round numbers just kind of freaks people out.
When
Mt. Everest had it's height calculated for the first time using the old
methods, they found the height to be exactly 29,000 feet. The first
measuring party figured no one would believe that they'd actually gone
and
measured it if they presented such a figure so they deliberately lowered
it
by 4 feet to 28,996. Later tests showed it to actually be a couple
dozen
feet taller.

A. <~~ bottomless trivia abyss

At 01/29/2004, you wrote:
>Any thoughts on whether having prices ending in .99 vs rounding to the
>nearest dollar actually makes a difference to consumers? When something

>is $19.99, any reason not to make it an even $20?
>

.00 or .95 or .99 pricing



I have all my prices ending in .95 , maybe I should raise it 4 cents.
Had I done that in December, I would have made an extra $32

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of WolfPaw Computers -
Miva List
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 5:46 PM
To: 'Adam'; [email protected]
Subject: RE: [mru] .00 or .95 or .99 pricing


Actually I heard the story as a marketing ploy. They could advertise
"Under $10.00" and have the item listed as $9.99 or $9.95 etc.
Supposedly, some marketing genius believed it is a subconscious thing
that a consumer is less likely to buy the same item at $10.00, than at
$9.99 or $9.95 - as the logic goes "its less than 10 bucks"...so its not
as expensive.

I think there is actually some validity to that.

Vic Vega
WolfPaw Computers
Miva Merchant Hosting Specialists
"Put the power of the pack to work for you!"(sm)
Ph: 1 (866) WOLFPAW
www.wpcomp.com


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Adam
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 8:18 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [mru] .00 or .95 or .99 pricing


A lot of people wonder why the price of things is always xx.99 or xx.95
instead of just an even amount.

The story I once heard goes that in times past (and prior to sales tax)
when everyone paid for things in cash, store owners did this
deliberately
so that cashiers would be required to take a customer's money, open the
register and make change as opposed to simply accepting an exact dollar
amount and being able to quietly slip it in their pocket. Anyone else
ever
heard of this? It's possible I dreamed it.

Then eventually having things priced that way became so commonplace that
to
do it any other way just seemed odd no matter the medium or payment
method. I think seeing round numbers just kind of freaks people out.
When
Mt. Everest had it's height calculated for the first time using the old
methods, they found the height to be exactly 29,000 feet. The first
measuring party figured no one would believe that they'd actually gone
and
measured it if they presented such a figure so they deliberately lowered
it
by 4 feet to 28,996. Later tests showed it to actually be a couple
dozen
feet taller.

A. <~~ bottomless trivia abyss

At 01/29/2004, you wrote:
>Any thoughts on whether having prices ending in .99 vs rounding to the
>nearest dollar actually makes a difference to consumers? When something

>is $19.99, any reason not to make it an even $20?
>

.00 or .95 or .99 pricing



Here's a link to a very interesting study done by Ohio State University, on
people's perceptions when choosing a .99 or .00 cost item.
<A HREF ="http://www.beesource.com/news/article/99or00.htm">http://www.beesource.com/news/article/99or00.htm</A>

Allan

----------------------------------------------------
- Merchant 4 Training Videos -
Pixel Composer Productions
<A HREF ="http://www.pixelcomposer.com">http://www.pixelcomposer.com</A>
Merchant 4 Videos on CD-ROM
Graphics Paks and Miva Themes
----------------------------------------------------

At 04:21 PM 01/29/2004 -0800, mandeep janda wrote:
>Any thoughts on whether having prices ending in .99 vs rounding to the
>nearest dollar actually makes a difference to consumers?
>When something is $19.99, any reason not to make it an even $20?
>

.00 or .95 or .99 pricing



A lot of people wonder why the price of things is always xx.99 or xx.95
instead of just an even amount.

The story I once heard goes that in times past (and prior to sales tax)
when everyone paid for things in cash, store owners did this deliberately
so that cashiers would be required to take a customer's money, open the
register and make change as opposed to simply accepting an exact dollar
amount and being able to quietly slip it in their pocket. Anyone else ever
heard of this? It's possible I dreamed it.

Then eventually having things priced that way became so commonplace that to
do it any other way just seemed odd no matter the medium or payment
method. I think seeing round numbers just kind of freaks people out. When
Mt. Everest had it's height calculated for the first time using the old
methods, they found the height to be exactly 29,000 feet. The first
measuring party figured no one would believe that they'd actually gone and
measured it if they presented such a figure so they deliberately lowered it
by 4 feet to 28,996. Later tests showed it to actually be a couple dozen
feet taller.

A. <~~ bottomless trivia abyss

At 01/29/2004, you wrote:
>Any thoughts on whether having prices ending in .99 vs rounding to the
>nearest dollar actually makes a difference to consumers?
>When something is $19.99, any reason not to make it an even $20?
>

.00 or .95 or .99 pricing



There was also a study done by the Harvard Business Review (sorry, its paid for content)
that basically concluded that .99 prices where definitely effective...go figure.

-Bruce
......................................
PHOSPHOR Media
Featuring: StoreMan - A smarter way to manage Miva Merchant(tm) Store Content.
Download a hassle-free demo today
<A HREF ="http://www.phosphormedia.com/go.mv?ID=listsm">http://www.phosphormedia.com/go.mv?ID=listsm</A>
......................................


> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of PixelComposer
> Productions
> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 6:03 PM
> To: mandeep janda; [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [mru] .00 or .95 or .99 pricing
>
>
> Here's a link to a very interesting study done by Ohio State University, on
> people's perceptions when choosing a .99 or .00 cost item.
> <A HREF ="http://www.beesource.com/news/article/99or00.htm">http://www.beesource.com/news/article/99or00.htm</A>
>
> Allan
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
> - Merchant 4 Training Videos -
> Pixel Composer Productions
> <A HREF ="http://www.pixelcomposer.com">http://www.pixelcomposer.com</A>
> Merchant 4 Videos on CD-ROM
> Graphics Paks and Miva Themes
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> At 04:21 PM 01/29/2004 -0800, mandeep janda wrote:
> >Any thoughts on whether having prices ending in .99 vs rounding to the
> >nearest dollar actually makes a difference to consumers?
> >When something is $19.99, any reason not to make it an even $20?
> >
>
>

PAY PER CLICK TRACKING - make a module please!



I've resorted to ridiculous measures to accurately track payperclik. I wish
someone would come out with a module and let me beta test it, or come out
with a package that really tracks things in the way that is needed to track
this stuff, clickthrough, buythrough, etc.

Just to give you an idea, we spend thousands a month in PPC ads, and we use
all of the major services, Google, overture, kanoodle, ah-ha, findwhat,
looksmart, etc.

I am still using a combination of Copernicus's tracking, urchin, hand
monitoring, and now Affiliate manager. Each of them has their own problems.
I can't get an accurate sort or filter by certain date periods of activity.
Or I can't get a true clickthrough on a specific source= or page hit
scenario. Or I have to wait until the end of the month to find out if it
worked properly, and they all have too large of variances for me to believe
that they do.

The cost on this module has to be justified by a month rate that it takes me
to put together a report, not by a percentage of what I spend. I spent $80
on the Affiliate Manager, and don't mind the output there. My point is, none
of these things have something that *reports* or exports so that I can
analyze the information alongside my budget.

I'm tired of buying modules, and the Qwtracker is too expenisive at this
point to try it out and find out it has the same problems. A trial would be
nice, or any of the module developers that I listed maybe you want some
input into more features for effective tracking.
Thanks for listening to my frustrated rants.

.00 or .95 or .99 pricing





okay, but is there any difference between, say, 49.95, 49.98, and 49.99? And
don't say "yeah, a few pennies..." :-)





> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of PixelComposer
> Productions
> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 9:03 PM
> To: mandeep janda; [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [mru] .00 or .95 or .99 pricing
>
>
> Here's a link to a very interesting study done by Ohio State
> University, on
> people's perceptions when choosing a .99 or .00 cost item.
> <A HREF ="http://www.beesource.com/news/article/99or00.htm">http://www.beesource.com/news/article/99or00.htm</A>
>
> Allan
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
> - Merchant 4 Training Videos -
> Pixel Composer Productions
> <A HREF ="http://www.pixelcomposer.com">http://www.pixelcomposer.com</A>
> Merchant 4 Videos on CD-ROM
> Graphics Paks and Miva Themes
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> At 04:21 PM 01/29/2004 -0800, mandeep janda wrote:
> >Any thoughts on whether having prices ending in .99 vs rounding to the
> >nearest dollar actually makes a difference to consumers?
> >When something is $19.99, any reason not to make it an even $20?
> >
>
>

.00 or .95 or .99 pricing



I think so... I prefer to buy gasoline at service stations that sell gas at a
price ending in 9. I think it's something like $1.529 per gallon right now. :)
:)

Tom

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of WolfPaw Computers -
> Miva List
> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 7:46 PM
> To: 'Adam'; [email protected]
> Subject: RE: [mru] .00 or .95 or .99 pricing
>
>
> Actually I heard the story as a marketing ploy. They could advertise
> "Under $10.00" and have the item listed as $9.99 or $9.95 etc.
> Supposedly, some marketing genius believed it is a subconscious thing
> that a consumer is less likely to buy the same item at $10.00, than at
> $9.99 or $9.95 - as the logic goes "its less than 10 bucks"...so its not
> as expensive.
>
> I think there is actually some validity to that.
>
> Vic Vega
> WolfPaw Computers
> Miva Merchant Hosting Specialists
> "Put the power of the pack to work for you!"(sm)
> Ph: 1 (866) WOLFPAW
> www.wpcomp.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Adam
> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 8:18 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [mru] .00 or .95 or .99 pricing
>
>
> A lot of people wonder why the price of things is always xx.99 or xx.95
> instead of just an even amount.
>
> The story I once heard goes that in times past (and prior to sales tax)
> when everyone paid for things in cash, store owners did this
> deliberately
> so that cashiers would be required to take a customer's money, open the
> register and make change as opposed to simply accepting an exact dollar
> amount and being able to quietly slip it in their pocket. Anyone else
> ever
> heard of this? It's possible I dreamed it.
>
> Then eventually having things priced that way became so commonplace that
> to
> do it any other way just seemed odd no matter the medium or payment
> method. I think seeing round numbers just kind of freaks people out.
> When
> Mt. Everest had it's height calculated for the first time using the old
> methods, they found the height to be exactly 29,000 feet. The first
> measuring party figured no one would believe that they'd actually gone
> and
> measured it if they presented such a figure so they deliberately lowered
> it
> by 4 feet to 28,996. Later tests showed it to actually be a couple
> dozen
> feet taller.
>
> A. <~~ bottomless trivia abyss
>
> At 01/29/2004, you wrote:
> >Any thoughts on whether having prices ending in .99 vs rounding to the
> >nearest dollar actually makes a difference to consumers? When something
>
> >is $19.99, any reason not to make it an even $20?
> >
>
>

.00 or .95 or .99 pricing



At the company I used to work for, we used to adjust the prices for
internal use and use them as codes. For example, all the products ended
in .99 but if it ended in .98, we knew it was "on sale" (we did those
by hand and didn't use a module). Keep in mind that you can search for
prices in the MIVA admin, so if you type in .98 in the search in the
product admin, then we would see anything we discounted.

--
Kevin P Murphy
Web Designer
Stubborn Donkey Productions
<A HREF ="http://www.stubborndonkey.com">http://www.stubborndonkey.com</A>

On Jan 29, 2004, at 6:29 PM, Bruce - PHOSPHOR Media wrote:

> There was also a study done by the Harvard Business Review (sorry, its
> paid for content)
> that basically concluded that .99 prices where definitely
> effective...go figure.
>
> -Bruce
> ......................................
> PHOSPHOR Media
> Featuring: StoreMan - A smarter way to manage Miva Merchant(tm) Store
> Content.
> Download a hassle-free demo today
> <A HREF ="http://www.phosphormedia.com/go.mv?ID=listsm">http://www.phosphormedia.com/go.mv?ID=listsm</A>
> ......................................
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [email protected]
>> [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of PixelComposer
>> Productions
>> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 6:03 PM
>> To: mandeep janda; [email protected]
>> Subject: Re: [mru] .00 or .95 or .99 pricing
>>
>>
>> Here's a link to a very interesting study done by Ohio State
>> University, on
>> people's perceptions when choosing a .99 or .00 cost item.
>> <A HREF ="http://www.beesource.com/news/article/99or00.htm">http://www.beesource.com/news/article/99or00.htm</A>
>>
>> Allan
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------
>> - Merchant 4 Training Videos -
>> Pixel Composer Productions
>> <A HREF ="http://www.pixelcomposer.com">http://www.pixelcomposer.com</A>
>> Merchant 4 Videos on CD-ROM
>> Graphics Paks and Miva Themes
>> ----------------------------------------------------
>>
>> At 04:21 PM 01/29/2004 -0800, mandeep janda wrote:
>>> Any thoughts on whether having prices ending in .99 vs rounding to
>>> the
>>> nearest dollar actually makes a difference to consumers?
>>> When something is $19.99, any reason not to make it an even $20?
>>>
>>
>>

PAY PER CLICK TRACKING - make a module please!



I have to agree.

I bought a couple of modules - one being Qwtracker - and have only used
it once.

Michelle
www.invitationhaven.com
We create your personalized photo announcement or invitation to be a
gift and become a lasting memory


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Slinky
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 9:19 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [mru] PAY PER CLICK TRACKING - make a module please!

I've resorted to ridiculous measures to accurately track payperclik. I
wish
someone would come out with a module and let me beta test it, or come
out
with a package that really tracks things in the way that is needed to
track
this stuff, clickthrough, buythrough, etc.

Just to give you an idea, we spend thousands a month in PPC ads, and we
use
all of the major services, Google, overture, kanoodle, ah-ha, findwhat,
looksmart, etc.

I am still using a combination of Copernicus's tracking, urchin, hand
monitoring, and now Affiliate manager. Each of them has their own
problems.
I can't get an accurate sort or filter by certain date periods of
activity.
Or I can't get a true clickthrough on a specific source= or page hit
scenario. Or I have to wait until the end of the month to find out if it
worked properly, and they all have too large of variances for me to
believe
that they do.

The cost on this module has to be justified by a month rate that it
takes me
to put together a report, not by a percentage of what I spend. I spent
$80
on the Affiliate Manager, and don't mind the output there. My point is,
none
of these things have something that *reports* or exports so that I can
analyze the information alongside my budget.

I'm tired of buying modules, and the Qwtracker is too expenisive at this
point to try it out and find out it has the same problems. A trial would
be
nice, or any of the module developers that I listed maybe you want some
input into more features for effective tracking.
Thanks for listening to my frustrated rants.

.00 or .95 or .99 pricing



The .99 thing was intended to be a psychological thing that makes people
feel that the price is less than it really is. As Bruce indicated, there
still seem to be support for this in marketing research papers. Heck it
even works on most of us... Something for $9.95 is more likely to be
perceived as costing $9 and change than $10. If someone asks, you are
likely to say $9 or $9 and change or even $9.99 when it is just as easy to
say $10, and even more appropriate considering that the sales tax will make
it over $10.

The article that Allan sent in his post is quite supported by research as
well. The caveat is that restaurants are individualistic as in a burger
from one place is never regarded as a burger from another, let alone real
food. So this works nicely in the restaurant world to communicate quality.
It works also in naturally pricey places since the .99 can be perceived as
quite stupid. In industries that are less elastic, the psychological effect
of the $9.99 vs. $10 is very applicable. As Marv mentioned, there seem to
be a particular penny figure that fits well with your crowd, and that should
be experimented with and adjusted. One client found that pricing an item at
$72.86 made him the most money. It was an imported item and it was
perceived as the "accurate" price based on the exchange rate. Never mind
that the price was $72.86 for many years ;-)

FWIW, there are other benefits for the .99 outside of the powerful
psychological perception of value. Discounts and coupons are often created
with a full dollar amount as minimum. "20% off offer: $10 off $50" makes
the customer motivated to by the $59.97 item and get the $10 since the
$49.99 is not eligible. You end up selling a higher ticket item for a less
% discount.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Miva HeLp! <A HREF ="http://www.mivahelp.com">http://www.mivahelp.com</A>
E-commerce for the rest of us; Tutorials, articles, and tips
Search available modules at http://mivahelp.mvcentral.com/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


> Any thoughts on whether having prices ending in .99 vs rounding to the
> nearest dollar actually makes a difference to consumers?
> When something is $19.99, any reason not to make it an even $20?