T Nation

TC: Take The Penny!

Off Topic
#1

Yo TC,

Think of me as James Dean in East of Eden…take my penny, take myyy pennyyy, take myyyyyyyyyy pennyyyyyyyy !

Quit charging me .99 on all the wonderful products you hawk.

I was reading about Superfood and honestly, truthfully was ready to order my 3 month supply…and then I notice…it’s $39.99…

I’m not the kind of guy that’s accused of paying attention to things and I guess that’s why I have heretofore never noticed every product costs X.99

C’mon…TC…buddy…charge me $40 bucks for Superfood…this “ni’nine cent” garbage reeks of estrogen, infomercials and all things ovulating.

When you and Shugs go out for 99 cent happy hour beers and all-you-can-eat weenie-beanies, do you two give the bar wench 3 quarters, 2 dimes and 4 pennies? I should say not. When you gather the fellahs around for a game of poker is it 99 cents to ‘ante up’ ? I should say not. When you end up at some sad, desolate strip club at 2 in the morning are you putting 99 cents in the stretched out garters of the overweight, tobacco-stained dancers? I should say not.

Take the penny !!

#2

The hilarious part is that this pricing dates back to the first cash registers.

Had the items been prized 5,3,10 dollars and so on, they would have added up to a round sum without the need to use the register and maing it easy for the employees to steal from the company.

Pricing something at xxx,99 made use of the cash registry almost always necessary because of the spare change.

For a internet order that is totally irelevant and yet people are so used to it they automatically price things that way.

Strange thing, kind of like the QWERTY keyboard.

#3

I hate that shit (not talking about this site specifically). It is all psychological. It is a way of making people think something is cheaper than it is.

If an item is listed at $4999.99, it will be advertised as a great deal under five thousand dollars. There have been times when I said that a specific item was, say, $200 and the salesman actually corrected me and said it is $199.99.

One of the first times I bought something, I fell for that. My parents would give me two dollars a week. I found a toy that was $2.99 and, barely reaching over the counter, I was told that I owed $3.24. I thought, “Three dollars! It was 2.99.” I cried. I learned my lesson. I was probably 3 or 4 years old.

It gives you the illusion of saving money.

#4

Yea but if you buy 5000 Superfoods, you get one free if you saved that penny.

I’d rather have a free Superfood than not.

#5

Awesome sen say. Well written, funny, to the point. Well done. And a valid point too as orion also points out.

#6

[quote]sen say wrote:
…this “ni’nine cent” garbage reeks of estrogen, infomercials and all things ovulating.
[/quote]

Haha.

#7

[quote]sen say wrote:
Yo TC,

Think of me as James Dean in East of Eden…take my penny, take myyy pennyyy, take myyyyyyyyyy pennyyyyyyyy !

Quit charging me .99 on all the wonderful products you hawk.

I was reading about Superfood and honestly, truthfully was ready to order my 3 month supply…and then I notice…it’s $39.99…

I’m not the kind of guy that’s accused of paying attention to things and I guess that’s why I have heretofore never noticed every product costs X.99

C’mon…TC…buddy…charge me $40 bucks for Superfood…this “ni’nine cent” garbage reeks of estrogen, infomercials and all things ovulating.

When you and Shugs go out for 99 cent happy hour beers and all-you-can-eat weenie-beanies, do you two give the bar wench 3 quarters, 2 dimes and 4 pennies? I should say not. When you gather the fellahs around for a game of poker is it 99 cents to ‘ante up’ ? I should say not. When you end up at some sad, desolate strip club at 2 in the morning are you putting 99 cents in the stretched out garters of the overweight, tobacco-stained dancers? I should say not.

Take the penny !!
[/quote]

Well said.

#8

[quote]Chewie wrote:
I hate that shit (not talking about this site specifically). It is all psychological. It is a way of making people think something is cheaper than it is.

If an item is listed at $4999.99, it will be advertised as a great deal under five thousand dollars. There have been times when I said that a specific item was, say, $200 and the salesman actually corrected me and said it is $199.99.

One of the first times I bought something, I fell for that. My parents would give me two dollars a week. I found a toy that was $2.99 and, barely reaching over the counter, I was told that I owed $3.24. I thought, “Three dollars! It was 2.99.” I cried. I learned my lesson. I was probably 3 or 4 years old.

It gives you the illusion of saving money. [/quote]

I think although it may not be scientifically proven, that the first number you see in the price has an effect on your thoughts. Or at least the first two. Biotest likes selling supplements, so I imagine that if they believe this will help things sell by being able to have the first two digits lower than the full dollar, then they’ll do it.

If it makes your life better, buy more ZMA and Power Drive.

#9

I agree, I think the $xx.99 theme is tired. Then again, a lot of really fucking dumb people must think that penny off is a sweet deal otherwise it wouldn’t be everywhere.

#10

I fucking hate .99 pricing. I am positively gleeful when a place charges a round dollar.

#11

My favorite is when an expensive item, such as a car, is priced at $29,999. I would like to wipe my ass with the extra dollar and hand it to the salesman.

#12

What about the 99 cent store vs. the dollar store. How psycholigically fucked off does one have to be to think he’s speding “less” at the 99 cent store?

#13

[quote]mazevedo wrote:
What about the 99 cent store vs. the dollar store. How psycholigically fucked off does one have to be to think he’s speding “less” at the 99 cent store?[/quote]

I thought I saw Ren running into a 99 cent store…

#14

Terrell Owens charges $99.81 for his signature workout bands. How fuckin’ obnoxious can this prick get? Seriously.

#15

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

#16

[quote]MikiB wrote:
Yea but if you buy 5000 Superfoods, you get one free if you saved that penny.

I’d rather have a free Superfood than not.[/quote]

Nice, I like the way you think. If you don’t want to take my penny I’ll be happy to keep it. But if you do I wouldn’t care one way or the other. I don’t get suckered in by the .99 thing so I don’t care. But if you think that is annoying, how about when you buy gas and they tack on the .9 cent?

On second thought, don’t take my penny. It helps round off 9 gallons of gas.

EDIT: And I am glad that no one notice that I am a moron that doesn’t know how to do math.

mike

#17

[quote]pushharder wrote:
I’m thinking there should be a check box like on your income tax form where we can all send the extra penny. Then once a week Biotest would wire the proceeds to the

Free Bushy Legal Defense Fund

OR

Rent a Chopper and Fishing Trawler to Argentina Procurement Fund[/quote]

I wish I could write a subroutine that would funnel a fraction of each penny into my bank account.

#18

I love the folks on T-Nation…you people always make me laugh!!!

;->

#19

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:

I wish I could write a subroutine that would funnel a fraction of each penny into my bank account.[/quote]

I think Red October had this capability.

#20

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
I wish I could write a subroutine that would funnel a fraction of each penny into my bank account.[/quote]

Its not stealing. Its borrowing… From innotech technologies.