🎓 Ariyh’s Pricing Playbook 📘 (+ When to use 0.99 prices)

It’s the day! Ariyh’s Science-based Playbook of Pricing & Promotions is here. Today’s insight is a special extract from the Playbook: When to use just-below pricing ($.99 endings).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 [🎓 Ariyh’s Pricing Playbook 📘 (+ When to use 0.99 prices)]( It’s the day! Ariyh’s Science-based Playbook of Pricing & Promotions is here. Today’s insight is a special extract from the Playbook: When to use just-below pricing ($.99 endings). [Thomas McKinlay]( Apr 5 [Comment]( [Share]( 9,058 evidence-based marketers read [Ariyh]( every week for 3min practical insights 💡 from scientific research 🎓 to get better marketing results 📈 Join them for $0. [Subscribe now]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 📘 Ariyh’s Playbook of Pricing & Promotions It took an intensive 5 weeks of crunch work but I made it: Ariyh’s first playbook is here! And I’m very happy with it. It’s what I envisioned, and more. Much of the credit for the successful outcome goes to you. 177 pre-orders were many more than I expected. They were a huge motivation boost to get it right. So really, thank you. So, now what? 3 things: - The Playbook [just launched on Product Hunt](. I would really appreciate it if you can go there and share your support to help spread the word. - Haven’t bought it yet? You can [get it here]( for $18 if you like. Remember, the price will go up 94% in 48 hours (to $35). - Below - for today’s insight - is a special extract from the Playbook. It’s a combination of several recent studies to answer the question: When should you really use just-below (99-ending) prices? (If you pre-ordered the Playbook, you should already have received an email with it. You can also find it in your [Gumroad library](). P.S.: 10% of proceeds from pre-orders (after Gumroad + Stripe fees) are going to the Ukrainian red cross 🇺🇦 The donation of $285.45 is going out later today. P.P.S.: Congrats to the 3 people who won a copy of the playbook for answering the survey back in February. I’ve already emailed you individually :) --------------------------------------------------------------- Playbook extract: Optimizing the digits of your price Should your price be rounded ($220), just-below ($199), or precise ($223.52)? In this sample of [the playbook](, we’ll take a look at when you should use one of the 3 possible cases (the playbook has all 3, of course). Just-below pricing The latest evidence shows that just-below prices (e.g. $9.99) aren’t always the right choice. 💡 What it is - Just-below prices use amounts that are below, but close to, a rounded number. - For example, $2.99 vs $3.00, $297 vs $300, or $4,950 vs $5,000 🧠 How it works - Because of the [left-digit bias effect](, people focus more on the first digit than the last ones. - The left-digit of the amount [should go down]( for it to be effective (the difference between $1.99 vs $3.00 feels much bigger than $2.00 vs $2.99, although it’s only $0.02 different). - The price discount seems [larger when the left digit is small]( (e.g. 1 or 4 vs 7). 📈 What it does - Good: - Signals good value. - Bad: - Associated with lower quality. - Harder to mentally process and remember. ✅ Use it when - Running a price promotion (e.g. was $55, now $39.99) - [Price is the focus in the buying decision](, rather than quality - You want to cultivate a low price brand image - Your price is low and the purchase is low risk (e.g. groceries) ❗ Special cases - If prices are 4 figures or more, common for many non-US Dollar $ or Euro € currencies (e.g. Indian Rupee ₹, Japanese Yen ¥, Turkish Lira ₺), [repeating the last 3 digits overrides the just-below effect]( (e.g. $3,222). Instead, repeat the last 3 digits with a number below 5 (ideally 1) to give a feeling of better value. For example, use ¥2,111 instead of ¥1,999. - While the 9 ending is popular in western countries, 8 endings are more popular [in Japan]( (where 8 is a lucky number) and [in China]( (where 8 represents prosperity). - Don’t use it when you want customers to [upgrade to a more expensive option]( (try to keep the two prices on the same left-digit level, e.g. $40.50 vs $48.50 for the upgrade). ⚡ Examples Freemium language learning app (e.g. Duolingo) - Context: Trying to encourage free version users to upgrade to the premium version. - Recommended pricing: Just-below pricing (e.g. $4.99 / month). - Why: Users have already experienced the app’s quality so signaling value is more important to encourage the leap. Flatscreen TV - Context: In a retailer with a brand focused on value (e.g. Walmart) - Recommended pricing: Low last 3-digits (e.g. $1,222) - Why: For prices of 4 figures or more, repeating a low number in the last 3 digits shows more value than just-below pricing Premium brand shoes (e.g. Nike) - Special Black Friday discounted price - Recommended pricing: Just-below (e.g. $79.99) - Why: The price promotion overrides the need to signal quality and premiumness through a rounded price --------------------------------------------------------------- Remember: These are recent scientific discoveries. In the future they will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s [how science works](). They may also not be generalizable to your situation. Test risky changes on a small scale before rolling them out widely. --------------------------------------------------------------- If you liked the sample above, you’ll love the playbook. Help spread the word about it [here on Product Hunt](. Remember, it’s only $18 (+VAT) for the next 48 hours. After that, the price will go up 94% to $35. Thank you so much for supporting Ariyh’s first Playbook launch! 🙂 More playbooks will come this year. New to Ariyh? -> Subscribe below for $0 or read other 3min marketing insights [here]( [Subscribe now]( [Like]( [[Comment]Comment]( [[Share]Share]( If you liked this post from [Ariyh](, why not share it? [Share]( © 2022 Thomas McKinlay [Unsubscribe]( 08007, Barcelona, Spain [Publish on Substack](