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Comment by nobrains | Hacker News Reader

Off topic: Do you consider $99 $499 $1999 $99.99 etc. pricing to be unethical?

No, because you are still making the same financial commitment in the end, and the buyer will be aware of that decision.

This pricing technique is just to make someone look.

So, if this is unethical, so is a brightly lit sign, or a couple well-placed adjectives in a sales pitch.

Yes it is unethical, because it's there to trick people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pricing

Perhaps, but there is a small benefit to the consumer. A whole number can indicate the brand is positioned towards upper-class consumers and that a price conscious consumer should look for cheaper alternatives.

It’s not a significant benefit, restaurants are the best application I can think of, but the harm that occurs from it is similarity miniscule.

Why would it be? Rounding up is not a surhuman effort and if someone gets tricked by that they probably have bigger issues in life.

It does not follow that you have huge personal issues if you mistake a 59.99 price tag for 50 dollars and make a purchase, when you would’ve reconsidered it at $60. If that didn’t happen often enough, it wouldn’t be common practice.

Whether a price is $59.99 or $60.00 conveys a notable degree of information to the consumer. I wouldn’t be quick to assume it’s taking advantage of people’s innumeracy.

If you look closely enough, that is. It’s happened to me that I saw a useful product, only remembered its rounded down price when later discussing a potential purchase with my girlfriend, decided to buy, then realized I fell victim to this sales tactic. I imagine that happens a lot more often than someone getting useful information out of the price tag (not) ending in 99. It’s not a big deal either way, just a bit dishonest IMO.

Apparently it is a superhuman effort -- else those companies wouldn't be using this trick.

Rounding up might be easy. Getting rid through the act of rounding up the instictual psychology that "this is less than the round" is not easy at all, might even be near impossible at the feelings level.

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