99-cent fetish cheapens commerce In the United States, it's been a truism for so long that most consumers are numb to the fact: the last few digits of a price are rarely significant, because they're always nines.
If you price something at $1.00, you're a fool, because the hordes of 99-cent competing products will eat your lunch; 99 cents is less than a dollar, you see. This nearly insignificant numerical difference seems to expand in the shopper's mind, making the 99-cent item much more affordable.
I'm still researching the origins of this plague; I don't know when and by whose hand it started. But advertisers are hooked and can't quit. I've seen motorcycles for sale at $9999.99, the most egregious 9-ism I've found; one could argue that all 6 digits are artificial and the price has no relation to value or expected profit at all.
Gas stations still are allowed to price to the tenth of a cent per gallon, a relic from the days when prices were 20 cents (more likely, 19.9); this final digit has always been 9, except in 1979 when prices first jumped above $1.00 and the older pumps didn't handle that many digits; as a quick fix, they were rigged to display half the price, and the real price was then something point 8.
Shopowners know that they're doing: recall the many price stickers you've seen crowing "Compare at $30.00 / Our price $19.99". Advertising teems with such misleading comparisons, as its mission is to convince you to buy something you would not otherwise decide you need.
The final insult is that prices don't include sales tax, so your "under $10" item costs you *more* than $10. Isn't commerce great?
It doesn't have to be that way. In New Zealand, for example, tax is included in the price; many, but not all, merchants price things on more even amounts (e.g. in whole dollars), and tipping is reserved for good service, instead of the compulsory income-supplement system we have here in the U.S. You can walk into a restaurant, order a $30 bottle of wine and two $20 entrees, get competent service, and pay $70. Total.
Such things would never catch on in America, even if you overcame the "we live in the best country in the world, why change things" mindset. Including tax in prices, while nominally not changing a thing for the consumer, would make things appear "more expensive." Having restaurants pay their waitstaff a living wage, so that tips were forthcoming for outstanding service or special engagements, would similarly bump up entree prices about 15% to keep things revenue-neutral. Try this in a country where merchants are always looking for the "sweet spot" just underneath a perceived price barrier. Things will stay the way they are.
There are a few relatively sane spots in this din of shouting and hucksterism. My ISP, for example, offer various levels of support at $20, $25, and $30 a month. Some high-end department stores will have the temerity to price a $130 pair of shoes at $130, or even a $400 dress at $400; possibly this exploits another psychological rule-of-thumb that more expensive items are sometimes perceived, absent any other means of comparison, as being higher in quality.
The 9-fetish ("nonomania"?) insults and misleads, taking the shopper for a sucker (which is often true). How can you fight this, when everyone seems to do it? You might pick on one store with a chronic "their price $40 our price $29.99" habit and send a letter stating "if you don't knock this off I'll never set foot in your store again." Perhaps you could "culture-jam" and stick homemade "$20" stickers over the "19.98" price tags. Any suggestions?
