Why is US$1, $20, $50, $100, $150, $250 the sweet spots for anything these days?

Everywhere I go, you'd see the prices listed. $1 for a burger at McDonalds, $20 for a haircut, $50 for a cellphone plan, $100 for a reduced price phone, $150 for any type of touch-screen "iPod Touch-esque" device, and $250 for anything like an iPhone, a Nexus, etc.

Especially at $50 and $250, many companies here in the US entice you with these two prices. Is it that they know we usually have between $50-$250 usually to spend? I don't understand why they price things like this.

150 differ 20 largely companies 50 us pricing 1dollar 100 250

asked Jun 29 '12 at 12:26

DJ Scooby Doo
9.5k●232●279●379

3 Answers:

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In the UK everything is 99p this 99p that.

Just to make people think that something is cheap.

Same thing over there.

answered Jun 29 '12 at 12:27

Jackster1337
8.5k●178●213●300

same thing here its 99cents though.

(Jun 29 '12 at 12:53) swagmanT

Yeah $1 here in the US is basically anything food related now. $1 McDouble, $1 Arizona, etc.

(Jun 29 '12 at 13:52) DJ Scooby Doo

I thought $5 and $10 were the sweet spots, cheap and easy. At least on the streets and store fronts that's what I notice. Could be regionally relevant as metropolitan areas have higher cost of living.

If you are speaking about the numbers strictly, I find it even odder to see simple numericals that end in 0. Normally a business would prefer $99.99 over $100 because it's generally the same profit but it has an immediate psychological affect of being less than $100, which can be a positive reinforcement for customers to make a purchase.

answered Jun 29 '12 at 12:51

Kris
326●2●6

Yeah, $5 and $10 are sweet spots too, $5 Little Caesar's pizza, $10 for a subway sub and the works, etc. I hate it when companies put prices like $1.88, makes no sense to me. Why not just round it to $2 since it's already close to it.

(Jun 29 '12 at 13:51) DJ Scooby Doo

Well those small amounts add up really fast if you buy things on a regular basis. I believe that they do it because $1.88 or $1.99 sounds like a better deal than $2 making you more willing to buy it. Something like that, anyway I'm glad they do that, it ends up saving people quite a bit of money in the long run.

(Jun 29 '12 at 21:56) Zbob750

Wouldn't it seem weird to see something that costs $7? For some reason it sounds like a rip-off.

Physiologically thought, numbers like '0' and '8' are easy on your eyes. It's more pleasing to see numbers like that rather than a '7' or '4.' This can even make you decide on what to buy. For example, would you rather buy something that costs $147 or $150, $197 or $200(or $199)? Even thought a product can be payed for with a smaller amount, it's not always better.

And like Chris said in Google I/O, a gadget for $200 is "geek impulse." @Kris explained this.

answered Jun 29 '12 at 15:54

Abel Luna
451●11●12●24

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Asked: Jun 29 '12 at 12:26

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Last updated: Jun 29 '12 at 21:56

Why is US$1, $20, $50, $100, $150, $250 the sweet spots for anything these days?

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