Merchant Archive
Thread: Uneven prices.
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Tarnak_Archvold
Sun Feb 15, 2004 3:10 am
#1
In real life shops items often cost an un-even amount, line 0.99£ instead of a 1$ or 9.95£ instead 10£.
I can think of two possible reasons for this.
1) the way people remember prices will make them remember the 9,95£ as a 9£ item instead of a 10$ item...
2) The customer satisfaction in greater when the customer get some change back.
Now, my question is, does anyone use this system in thair shops? And if so who, is simply to look more shop like?
I can think of two possible reasons for this.
1) the way people remember prices will make them remember the 9,95£ as a 9£ item instead of a 10$ item...
2) The customer satisfaction in greater when the customer get some change back.
Now, my question is, does anyone use this system in thair shops? And if so who, is simply to look more shop like?
JoeMenthol
Sun Feb 15, 2004 11:01 am
#3
It's psychological. People "think" they're paying less than $50 if you price at $49.95 at first glance.
Songe
Sun Feb 15, 2004 12:46 pm
#4
I think the reason for those prices is so stupid in RL that I would never apply it in game lol.
Urata
Mon Feb 16, 2004 1:19 am
#5
I think of charging something like 5999 credits for something as an insult to the intelligence of my customers, I would never do it.
Xieflow
Mon Feb 16, 2004 1:46 am
#6
I've taken a few psychology classes.
Prices that end in an odd number ( $5.99 , $6.01 ), seem "cheaper" or a "better deal" often
prices that end in an even number ($6.00 , $5.88 ), seem more expensive, and better quality
Prices that end in an odd number ( $5.99 , $6.01 ), seem "cheaper" or a "better deal" often
prices that end in an even number ($6.00 , $5.88 ), seem more expensive, and better quality
DingoBoi
Mon Feb 16, 2004 10:51 am
#7
when I first started the game, I bought and resold items on the bazaar. Things like harvesters were going for about 1k. I priced mine at 995. Mine sold first. and was also at the top of the list if sorted by price.
It works in game for the same reasons it does in real life, because, well, people are stupid. No offense to the un-stupid people. 
Crile
Tue Feb 17, 2004 4:33 am
#8
I would think the stupid people would be the ones paying an extra 5 credits for the same exact item.
SueDenim
Tue Feb 17, 2004 8:07 am
#9
It *is* irrational, but testably proven to work in real life!
There's actually a whole branch of economics dealing with this sort of thing - "behavioral economics," and it's quite interesting. Most descriptions of economic theory assume that consumers are "rational actors." In fact, it appears that real consumers are, in fact, [i]irrational[/i] in various systematic ways! This doesn't disprove the fundamental theories for various reasons, but the effects of irrationality on markets is very interesting.
Personally, I just use round numbers myself these days in the game. But I used to price things at, say, 599 instead of 600 when selling on the bazaar, for a couple reasons. The psychological effect was part of it, but there was a more practical reason too. Earlier in the game's development, e-mail sales notifications didn't tell you whether the sale came from a vendor or a bazaar sale. So I made the bazaar sales priced at x99, so I could distinguish them myself for my own record keeping. Once they started improving the e-mail notices, I stopped doing that.
There's actually a whole branch of economics dealing with this sort of thing - "behavioral economics," and it's quite interesting. Most descriptions of economic theory assume that consumers are "rational actors." In fact, it appears that real consumers are, in fact, [i]irrational[/i] in various systematic ways! This doesn't disprove the fundamental theories for various reasons, but the effects of irrationality on markets is very interesting.
Personally, I just use round numbers myself these days in the game. But I used to price things at, say, 599 instead of 600 when selling on the bazaar, for a couple reasons. The psychological effect was part of it, but there was a more practical reason too. Earlier in the game's development, e-mail sales notifications didn't tell you whether the sale came from a vendor or a bazaar sale. So I made the bazaar sales priced at x99, so I could distinguish them myself for my own record keeping. Once they started improving the e-mail notices, I stopped doing that.
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