Charm Pricing
A price ending in 9 feels meaningfully lower than the round number above it.
What it is
People read numbers left to right and anchor on the first digit, so $299 registers as "two hundred and something" while $300 registers as three hundred. The effect is strongest for value-led offers and weakest, even negative, for premium ones, where round numbers signal quality.
The research
Identical dresses priced at $39 outsold the same dress priced at $34, because the 9 ending signalled a deal more strongly than the lower price did.
Anderson and Simester, 2003
How to use it
End in 9 for value, round for premium
A $49 template and a $5,000 strategy engagement are priced correctly. A $4,999 strategy engagement reads as discount.
Drop the cents
$49 reads smaller than $49.00, because it has fewer characters.
Related
Sources that shaped this entry: Kolenda.io.