the price of things today

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why do prices end in .99 - this makes no sense - is it to keep those qwho the produce the 1p in a job

― james, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

http://www.fhu.com/images/roym.jpg

Oh, my little one. Tis' obvious you know nothing of the world of mass retail. Why would the Crunch Berries be at the eye level of a child?

Youngsters!

― The Saviour of Modernist Rock, The Supreme Allah, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Two theories I've read:

1) If the cashier must open the register to get the customer's change (say the item is $9.99 and the customer pays with a $10), that makes it less likely for the cashier to simply pocket the bill.

2) Customers perceive "$34.95" as less than "$35," which can help an indecisive customer to decide to buy the item.

Also, it means that the seller can legally advertise the product/service as "Less than $X!"

― j.lu, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was told it was because pyschologically, a pound (or multiples thereof) is a disinhibitor to purchase - keeping below that mark might make someone more amendable to parting with their money. Admittedly, the immediate response is that psychologically, we see 99p as meaning 1 pound (or dollar etc) but even if it doesn't affect the majority, there may be a few people out there for whom it does, and so it persists.

I actually have no idea.

― Nathan Barley, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Inspired by J.Lu's reference vis-a-vis the Straight Dope elsewhere, here's Cecil's take.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was told it was a scam by ink manufacturers.

― N., Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Do you know what this country needs today? A seven cent nickel. If that works out, next year we can have an eight cent nickel. Think what that would mean! You could go to a newsstand, buy a three cent newspaper, and get the same nickel back again. One nickel carefully used would last a family a life-time."

- Groucho Marx

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

it's a tax thing and also to do with the money supply.

though we are heading toward the age of having no physical money. i find this slightly strange, money is purely conceptual but still i have none.

― jel --, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't understand the Groucho Marx quote.

― N., Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

He wants to devalue currency because small newspapermen are being hung on a cross of gold, do you see?

― Sterling Clover, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't understand the ink-manufacturer scam. Surely 9s require slightly MORE ink than 0s as they contain an extra tail bit.

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

No no. It took me a second to get it as well. A nickel is 5 cents. Always has been, always will. But if you created an 8-cent nickel, why, you could theoretically use the "extra" three cents forever, since the change from buying a 3-cent paper with an 8-cent nickel would be 5 cents. A nickel. And you'd just get the same one back as you used, since the shopkeeper already has it in his hand. Simple, really.

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

And all of this culminates in that pinnacle of commerce - the 99-cent store! Everything in the store is 99 cents, with some items being multiple of them for 99 cents. I saw a box of 12 condoms there, must be made of recycle bicycle tires. Do they have these (uh, the 99- cent stores, not condoms) in the UK?

― nickn, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

yes but they're called POUND STORES!!

― mark s, Saturday, 15 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Bizarrely, all of the pound stores in my area (it's a cheap area - there are several) now advertise selling items for £1 or over. They are advertising that nothing is cheaper than £1!

― Martin Skidmore, Saturday, 15 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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