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Comment by suprgeek | Hacker News Reader

So pricing wise Fitbit Charge-$130, Fitbit Charge HR-$150 and Fitbit Surge-$250.

Why even have the entry level Charge? For 20 bucks more I get (allegedly) accurate Wrist based Heart Rate Monitoring, so why would I not spring for the Charge HR over the Charge?

The top end model is a whole $100 more expensive and going into Moto 360 pricing - too expensive IMO.

Better structure:

Charge $99

Charge HR $149

Surge $199

The fact that all of these get 5 days or more of battery life is the key for me. I do not want another thing in my schedule that I need to top up daily - no way.

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If they didn't have a $99 model, one would think the $150 is expensive. There is have a crippled, just slightly lower-priced model so that people who want to "optimize" the price think that they're so clever by getting the level-up. Just like one thinks "Cool, I'm getting twice the amount of pop for 25 cents more!" but you would have been happy with a single can of Coke for a dollar, now you have a 32oz cup of fountain Coke for $1.75.

Regarding the battery (Flex owner here), I find that the slightly-more-than-once-weekly charging schedule annoying. If it could last 8 or 9 days, I would just charge it at the same time every week. Now I have to keep monitoring this thing and figure out when's a good time to charge it so I don't miss steps.

That's the definition of price anchoring... That makes look like the $150 device is a bargain, because for ONLY $20 more you get the HRM, distracting from the more objective consideration of the price of the item.

How does price anchoring work with physical products though?

They still have to manufacture the product at the lower price point because someone will buy it, do they just manufacture less stock for the lower price point (and higher for the other two) and hope the demand doesn't exceed the stock levels?

Regarding the Surge, if it competes with offerings like the Garmin Forerunner 220 (and the GPS is accurate) it might be a really good price point. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into-sports/running/forerunn...

They're still selling the One and Flex at $100.

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