12 comments

  • Nice ShoesNice Shoes, over 8 years ago

    Hmmm, why try and trick people? Your design skills have a value. Stand behind them.

    3 points
    • Paul DessertPaul Dessert, over 8 years ago

      Why do you feel it's tricking people?

      0 points
      • Nicholas KatsambirisNicholas Katsambiris, over 8 years ago

        How would you justify the price of:

        $4999 over $5000

        Is the $1 difference an actual cost . Or a representations of a sales tactic/trick?

        2 points
    • Lior FrenkelLior Frenkel, over 8 years ago

      You are so right! And the post claims just the same: - This subsection starts with the headline: "Do Not Underestimate Your Customers" And then: "But should you use odd pricing in your price offers? From my experience, you shouldn’t." And: "I can’t even tell you how sorry I felt for that – in my client’s mind my proposal instantly became a cheap sale. I’ll never do it again."

      I did a mistake, then learned from it, and wrote about it...

      4 points
      • Nicholas KatsambirisNicholas Katsambiris, over 8 years ago

        Completely agree, and i myself have used the exact same tactic when i was freelancing. I don't fall for it myself so why should i expect my customer's too. Great Article btw.

        0 points
    • Roy AbbinkRoy Abbink, over 8 years ago

      Unfortunately that's how most marketing works. Your meat is not coming from cows who live a long and happy life in the greenfield. But the packaging suggests that they did.

      1 point
  • Ryan LeaseRyan Lease, over 8 years ago

    As someone who has gone through countless menu revisions in a previous life, I might be able to offer some more insight on some of these points.

    1) Restaurants remove dollar signs for psychological reasons, but also because they can. I highly doubt you've ever been to a restaurant in America that listed their prices without the dollar sign and then were shocked to find out that everything was actually listed in British Pounds.

    There is also the air of familiarity about a restaurant menu that allows you to omit things that you might not in other mediums. If you have been to restaurants with any frequency, you're pretty aware of how the pricing schemes go. Everything is in dollars, and that's pretty much how it's been for years. It would be pretty surprising if my meal turned out costing 14 cents instead of 14 dollars. I'm not sure that pricing SaaS items carries the same familiarity, but I could be wrong as well. It would be interesting to see if you have any customer comments on whether your new "sans dollar sign" pricing models seem confusing.

    Finally, there are also layout/typography issues that are also thrown into the mix, but that's a discussion that is probably better served by people here that are way more experienced with such things.

    2) We didn't do this, and I feel it's sort of disingenuous to do this to your customers. That dish may well be worth 155 dollars, but I have no idea what it is and why it's on this menu. Looking at the rest of their menu online, this isn't the only example of them doing that. Personally, as a proprietor, I would feel horrible having someone order a dish I knew was purposely overpriced to make the rest of the dishes look like a better deal. If you're wanting to create value for your customers, this is not the way I would do it.

    3) We waffled back and forth on this, but if I remember the numbers correctly, I don't think it made to big a difference one way or the other. I think we eventually settled on even numbers or halves (3 or 3.5), and nothing else.

    2 points
    • Joel CalifaJoel Califa, over 8 years ago

      The response to #1 is spot on. Context is everything, especially when borrowing from a different medium.

      0 points
  • Calum SmithCalum Smith, over 8 years ago

    So glad somebody's making the round number point. Rounding from XX.99 to XX.00 makes everything feel much more straightforward, and to my mind more trustworthy. Like you're not trying to squeeze money out of them, that's just how much it costs.

    2 points
    • Lior FrenkelLior Frenkel, over 8 years ago

      True that. In some countries now, the governments are trying to ban the use of xx.99 even in supermarkets!

      3 points
  • A B, over 8 years ago

    I don't agree with removing the dollar sign. It helps me scan the menu much quicker. Once it's removed, the price becomes some ambiguous number. Bad UX imo.

    1 point
  • Jonathan YapJonathan Yap, over 8 years ago

    The guardian has a write up about this awhile ago http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jul/28/tricks-restaurant-menu-boost-profits

    0 points