300 or 299 ??

So in RL you pretty much cannot buy ANYTHING with a whole number of dollars. A few decades ago some marketing guy decided that $99.99 sells alot more that $100, and now those useless pieces of copper we call pennies will never ever go away.

So why hasn't this time honored practice come to Second Life? Why do we ACTUALLY ask for 400 Lindens when we want 400 Lindens despite years of MBA wisdom? Don't get me wrong, I think it's refreshing...but WHY? Is it because of the kinds of people that play SL? Is the "one under" practice obsolete but only done away with in new economies like SL?

Share your thoughts

I think it's because we don't have the concept of "cents" or fractional Linden $.

I think it is because some people in their heads see 300 as three hundred dollars and 299 as two hundred dollars.....plus some. I tend to round up, so 289 and 299 mean three hundred to me......for most purposes.

Who doesn't love a round number?

0

Mmmm. Round. Like pie. 0.o Hey!

π

Mmmm! Better!

Honestly? I think it's because not everyone in Second Life understands that practice exists for what it is, Aimee.

And Hank, I'm not so sure. Usually the point of the concept is so the first digit appears lower for the ADD-adept public to see. The concept of "cents" doesn't mean much to this, save the possiblity it makes residents think in "whole dollar" terms.

And I think that, after this thread, people who don't already will start using this tactic.

Now... what I'm amazed we don't see are sellers who sell products with rebate forms to feed into scripted objects ten sims away.

I think part of it is because SL is small, and all interactions are just naturally more personal because of this.

Myself, I don't really want to insult anyone's intelligence by charging 299.

Jeffrey - that's a hilarious idea. No doubt, someone at some point will take it seriously

Now only ninetey nine ninety nine ninetey nine!


Sorry, Mike TV is hard to forget. c.c

In my RL experience, if I quote a client 900, they're more likely to pass or take time to think than if I quote, say, 880. Wouldn't screw around with quoting 899, though.

So why don't I do this in SL? My prices are mostly really low, so I would be shaving a large percentage of the price to make it look good (instead of insulting). More importantly, I'm peddling my wares in SL for fun (mostly). And I'm arithmetically retarded. So, when I dive into my vault to swim in my L$ like Scrooge McDuck, I don't want to have to take off my shoes to work out how much I made today. Hooray for round numbers!

Well this is definitely done with land. 2999, 3999, 4999 ect.

The wise white woman speaks the truth. Ugh!

She sure speaks the truth, but "wise white woman"? Since when??? I'm surprised!

I am a round-upper...so those 299 prices don't seem anymore attractive compared to 300..as my brain says they are both the same...

But then again I don't feel something on sale is really on sale, it is finally at it true price and worth buying now, instead of the inflated "lets make some easy money" price..(Yes we all have quirks! lol)

Ms. Chung does this. Check out the prices on many of her plots of land sometime.

oooo I like this.

Want To Hire scripter to make my rebate machines...

crap, also need hire someone make me something that other people would buy...

This viscious SL circle keeps biting me right in the booty. Why O Why couldnt I been born into the FIC.

I think the idea of charging $9.99 for something thats basically $10 started in RL so you had to open the till to get the change and didn't end up slipping the money in your pocket.. Can't remember where I read it though.. So much useless information becomes even MORE useless...

Life would be so much easier if things were more rounded....

I agree with you 99.932%

25 or 6 to 4?

I don't know the answer to this age old question Aimee but one thing I do know is that in FL (First Life) I am insulted when I see something for $19.95. Did the MBA who invented this actually think I would think I was only paying $19 for a $20 item? In SL there is a plot of land next to my estate that is selling for $129,999. I might be tempted to buy it except that the dummy who is selling it has insulted my intelligence so he/she is out of luck!

Now for the shameless plug. All of the items at our little shop are in selling in increments of 5. In other words they are 25, 50, 100 etc with none of that fakey advertizing. The Lindens said that prices are supposed to drop beacuse of the recent cut in our salaries so we at SexGirls have taken them at their word and are selling our products at giveaway prices!

Enough of the shameless advertizing. Now what was the question again?

well, i have never been to college, and dont know nuffin about marketing practices. i think that there is a psychological point involved about bang for the buck here tho. many times people assume if it costs more, its a better product. deep in our id, somehow, our brains process 19.99 as larger than 20 bucks just cuz it takes a lot more to say it. or something like that. is this to deep?? i dont know what i am talking about bear in mind.

i have one crummy little product i sell in sl. just from my own experience, selling that product at 50 dollars, it did not sell nearly so well as when i moved it up to 85 dollars. i think two things go on there. someone looks at a 50 dollar price and think its cheap, and therefore a cheap product, poorly made. then they look at an 85 dollar price and think, well, its not 100 dollars, so is a bargain.

consumer psychology is an interesting subject.

so sayeth:

marilyn

Stop the nine hate!

If we all used 0's, alot of 9's would be out of work and have to lower themselves to being 6's.

As it is in RL, so shall it be in SL.
-Ancient Linden Proverb

As it is in RL, so shall it be in SL.
- Ancient Linden Proverb

Hmm, I think its a combination of things...

1) We don't have cents. I think if we did, you'd see alot more things priced simularly to this. Why not charge 299 instead of 300? Because you're cheating yourself out of that 1L$!

2) We don't have taxes. Most things that cost 19.99 or .95 in RL, end up costing 20+ bucks anyway because of taxes. I think partly why they sell items for lower prices is because you end up paying around 20 or more anyway.

3) We're all used to it and we figure its stupid.

I personaly never see something as 19.95 or .99 I always round up automaticly and scoff "Pft, thats 20 bucks." or some such. And I always find it funny when car comercials say "Cars under 15000!!" and the price is 14,999.

I think it'd be neat if we had some form of cents, I'd love to give people a .1 for their thoughts, or see items that are .1 instead of 1.. Think of that, all those 1L$ items would be undercut by .1!

i also think it's a generational thing.

one, we don't have the kind of advertising vehicles that allow you to market "under $200" when you charge $199. The fact is in RL people deceptively market prices all the time and i find myself disappointed all the time. Take a look at Dell's adverts. $400 for a computer. Yeah for a plastic and metal shell maybe. Dell is just an example, happens all the time.

Now younger generations are MUCH more jaded about advertisements in general -- and by younger i probably mean under 40, the TV generation. I think within the intimate environs of SL, where nothing is a must-purchase, that the don't deceive, don't insult your customer plays a factor here as some have noted.

however, you might start seeing more on the web-based stores if things are ranked by price and people want to play with their rankings.