x.99 Pricing

[Gamercave]

I may be out of date here but i believe about a month ago linus stated that LMG as a company would no longer refer to things as X.99 and instead would round up, on a whole i agree with this initiative however this messaging seems not to apply to the LMG merch.

if this policy is no longer in place thats fine the inconcistancy just urked me a tad, also appologies if this is in the wrong place but i believed it would be most relevant here, thanks.

[crazzp]

Linus mentioned that he is going to round up and call all the prices for his rounded up prices. AFAIK he has only done it once. 

 

That's Linus for you, setting a rule right off the cuff and then forgetting about it after that. lols
They are not going to adjust the pricing to be the rounded off number and that's not what he said too in case you're wondering. 

[SansVarnic]

Habits take time to change to change.. Just going to put that out there. LMG and Linus are all Human like the rest of us. People are placing him on a pedestal he neither wants or needs.

 

On 1/16/2023 at 1:43 PM, Gamercave said:

however this messaging seems not to apply to the LMG merch.

I can think of a few reasons why this hasn't changed if they planned to do so (I dont know if they do plan to do it). There is a difference from referring or rounding up a price in a video ie 9.99 to 10 is not the same as changing a price to actual charge for the product in the merch store. It's easier to say 10 dollars than saying 9 dollars and 99 cents... 

Tomato / Tomahto

 

<disclaimer> I am not defending, just giving my opinion.

Edited January 18, 2023 by SansVarnic

[SansVarnic]

1 hour ago, NastyFlytrap said:

If its easier to say 10$ instead of 9.99$, then thats all the more reason to round up, on lttstore aswell

If you're going to make a statement like that do better to explain why your taking that position. You're blanket arguing. Verbalizing $10 and actual charge is not the same, there is probably a reason the prices haven't been changed If they plan to. Do you have any experience doing cost analysis, marketing or price setting? Based on your current comments I am going to assume as much that you do not. Fortunately in this instance I do, I have done all three and additional work on post cost ie warranty and quality control. You cannot simply "round up" a price for the convenience of doing so.

One, if you round up the price you just jabbed your customer base with new increased prices for no reason other than "we rounded it up for our convenience" and two, all the haters that will attack for saying Linus and LMG are just in it for the profit. Logic sucks don't it? This action would likely get LMG in a lot of hot water with Canada's version of the BBB and some consumer laws. Due diligence and common sense are better than just pulling the trigger on something because you feel it's appropriate, that is not how it works. Any company that has ever done something similar has faced legal ramifications for doing so, I don't believe LMG is just going to do it on a whim and suffer the consequences because your lacking argument may or may not have realistic merit. 

Again, I am not defending LMG but I understand their position, and without knowing the details of their business I can make some fairly educated guesses as to why they have not simply rounded off their merch prices, there is precedence for not doing so. 

 

Not sure what your issue is with LMG but having read a lot of what you comment has no real foundation, you seem hateful for a myriad of things that are not consistent with how LMG or Linus operates. Yeah, Linus has diarrhea of the mouth sometimes when he rants but let's turn the table on you and record you for the last 10 years and see what you have said versus how you have acted... now what?  someone posted an SU recently about something that brings to mind a good point... oh, wait it was me. https://linustechtips.com/status/329794/ seems you need to cool down some, re-asses a few things and maybe increase your understanding of common business practices, consumer laws etcetera before diving into the deep end of a conversation you are seemingly ignorant of.

My apologies if I misread you but thus far your arguments are very lacking and don't add up to show that you have a sense of how this works.

 

[Spotty]

3 hours ago, SansVarnic said:

One, if you round up the price you just jabbed your customer base with new increased prices for no reason other than "we rounded it up for our convenience" and two, all the haters that will attack for saying Linus and LMG are just in it for the profit. Logic sucks don't it? This action would likely get LMG in a lot of hot water with Canada's version of the BBB and some consumer laws. Due diligence and common sense are better than just pulling the trigger on something because you feel it's appropriate, that is not how it works. Any company that has ever done something similar has faced legal ramifications for doing so, I don't believe LMG is just going to do it on a whim and suffer the consequences because your lacking argument may or may not have realistic merit. 

What? 

 

A business isn't going to face legal issues by changing the price of their products by 1c. Businesses change the price of the products they sell all of the time. It's not going to impact customers who already purchased those products at $19.99. 

 

All they need to do is go to their Shopify tools and change the item price from $19.99 to $20.00. It'll take 20 minutes tops to change the whole store, plus probably another 20 minutes for the editors to change the prices on the side panel advertisements they insert in to videos. 

 

People already pay a premium on YouTuber merch to support the creator, nobody is going to care about a 1c price increase. 

 

All of this is because Linus made some argument that .99 pricing on products is stupid and he won't use them, and then people rightfully pointed out the double standards of them using .99 pricing on lttstore. Linus can either stop criticising companies for using .99 pricing or he can change the prices on his store.

[crazzp]

33 minutes ago, Spotty said:

All of this is because Linus made some argument that .99 pricing on products is stupid and he won't use them

He didnt say he won't use them on LTTStore.com (Goodness me this is another case of putting words in his mouth). He said it's basically the rounded up figures and he will call it that whenever this kind of .99 appears. 

 

What he needs to do now is to do just that, call it for what it is. 

[Spotty]

19 minutes ago, crazzp said:

He didnt say he won't use them on LTTStore.com (Goodness me this is another case of putting words in his mouth). He said it's basically the rounded up figures and he will call it that whenever this kind of .99 appears. 

Ah, I worded that poorly. I meant he won't use them when referring to the prices of products.

 

Though, if Linus does have an issue with companies using .99 pricing for their products and objects to it, then he should start by setting the example with his own store. People in glass houses throwing stones and all that.

[Neroon]

10 hours ago, SansVarnic said:

and two, all the haters that will attack for saying Linus and LMG are just in it for the profit.

I definitely know someone on this forum who is gonna flood every thread on here with that.

 

That said, Linus takes the moral highground a lot, and in quite a few cases he follows through on that in his business decisions, but definitely not all the time, pricing and superchats being 2 of them. He can easily sort both of them, but he doesn't. Whether or not he will say 10 instead of 9.99 is irrelevant. The whole point of that 1 cent less, is to make people believe it's cheaper then it actually is. He knows this, but like superchats, he has no issue taking advantage of these things.

 

As for changing it, there is no reason to believe this would cause issues with authorities or whatever. In a time where everyone increases their prices, a 1 cent increase is not gonna cause any issues, I don't even see how doubling his prices would cause any issues.

So it's basically just users who could complain.

[Virus__]

As someone who manages a retail store, I have noticed pricing like $49.99 or $49 is way more attractive to customers, than say a flat $50. So from a marketing perspective, rounding up seems silly for pricing as customers aren't the brightest & seeing something start with a lower number even though it's the same as the bigger number realistically brain tells them it's the better deal.

[SansVarnic]

4 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

m just sick and tired of corporate bullshit and i dont differentiate between the BS of one company versus another. Sure, some have more than others, but all bullshit is still bullshit, and i want it to end.

I can agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment.

[JustAnotherHunter]

I made a post about this a little bit ago, and I'll pose a similar question to what I asked before: does anyone know the video(s) that Linus or other LTT staff discussed x.99 pricing? I know it was relatively recently, but I was unable to find the specific instance when I tried digging for it. Just want to get a handle on any pledges that were made without putting words in peoples' mouths.

[Alex T88]

14 hours ago, Virus__ said:

rounding up seems silly for pricing as customers aren't the brightest & seeing something start with a lower number even though it's the same as the bigger number realistically brain tells them it's the better deal.

I think that's quite a bold statement, calling all the customers not being the brightest, given that the vast majority of the population of the planet are at least once in their lifetime customers. Sure. x.99 has a psychological impact on all of us and it's more beneficial for the seller not to round up the price, but in my opinion for every regular customer, no matter what they are buying, they do the round up automatically, it becomes like second nature. For me, personally, no matter what I buy and no matter if it's x.99, x.89, x.79, etc I always see it as a round number, automatically. 

 

3 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

It makes sense from a business perspective, sure, but my objection is that i consider the monetization of these 'brain-tricks' to be immoral.

In the end, the customer pays less when benefiting from x.99 pricing. And, depending how much stuff people buy, throughout their lifetime they can actually save some money. Of course, 1 cent per product/service, doesn't seem like much, but through the years, it adds up. Immoral or not, it's a personal choice / responsibility on how one decides to spend their money. At the end of the day no company shoves anything down your throat, unless you are willing to pay. Unless the company scams you and you don't get what you payed for, I see no problem to use what pricing scheme they desire, if everything is done in a lawful manner.

[Virus__]

12 hours ago, Alex T88 said:

I think that's quite a bold statement, calling all the customers not being the brightest, given that the vast majority of the population of the planet are at least once in their lifetime customers.

If you had the questions I got on a daily basis, you'd understand. Just a snippet of what we get on a daily basis.

"I want 6 wines, do I take them from the shelf?" it's a small store with no store room, I've even had customers argue that I have an "out the back" or they think we carry every single line in a carton ready to go at a moment's notice.

 

Customer walks in stands in the door which is next to the chilled wine "Do you sell any cold bubbly?" my reply "Did you look in the wine fridge?"

 

Another daily exchange. "I just want a cold 6 pack of x beer" "Yep those 6 packs are in the coolroom on your right" "No I want a 6 pack" "Yes those 6 packs are in the coolroom on your right" "But I only want a 6 pack"

 

Store wide open, door unlocked, lights on, and usually serving someone "Are youse open yet?"

 

"You guys got any soft drink?" "We do, bottom shelf of the wine fridge on the right hand side" everytime customer proceeds to go to the far left of the fridge for some unknown reason..

 

Customer staring at the buy one, get one free for $20 wine deal "So how much each are these?" I guess the big A4 sign that says buy one, get one free $20 meant nothing.

 

My favourite is the specials that require our loyalty card to unlock, they stare at the price ticket which is in bright orange & see 2 prices, one that states for loyalty members & one for those without the loyalty card. Had one bloke blow up at me the other day because he didn't have one & still paid for the bottle of scotch, then told me he could get up the road cheaper. I had already informed him it was only the cheaper price with our rewards card, to which he said he didn't have. Then he decided he wanted a refund. All to save $5. I can guarantee that "up the road" was our warehouse brand that is 6km up the road, so thanks for keeping the profits inside our group.

 

Another classic whilst wearing a name badge & shirt that have our company's name on it "Do you work here?" multiple times a day, I might be the only person in the store with them when they ask this.

 

Another I get multiple times a day "Do you have a Woolworths Rewards Card?" to which I usually get "Where am I Coles or Woolworths?" and they proceed to pull out their Coles Flybuys card..

 

 

 

15 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

It makes sense from a business perspective, sure, but my objection is that i consider the monetization of these 'brain-tricks' to be immoral.

It's all marketing. My girlfriend can be bad for buying into some of it.. I've gotta remind me her sometimes that she isn't saving any money, they're just getting her to increase her basket size.

[Alex T88]

@Virus__ I definitely agree, I used to work myself during my college years, in sales. One summer, I worked at a grocery store, at one of our local shopping centers. Memories started to come back, reading your comment. Some laughable and some, not so pleasant. But yes, in general, some customers were like plain daft. I remember there were times, when I actually thought that I was being trolled. Some people are exceptionally hard to handle and to please. E.g. You can't come to an agreement with a customer, that made a formal complaint, because the ice cream is kept in the freezer and not in the fridge like he keeps it at home. 

However, after my experience with the grocery store, I requested a transfer and I was located to the electronics / appliances store. It was a huge difference. Most of the customers, had actual knowledge of what they were buying, they were aware of the specs and of the price/quality/performance ratio and those who were less savvy, they actually had the patience and the capacity of understanding what they were told and making a choice that was fit for their needs in regards to their budget. I found this to be true, in regards to the pricing of what they were buying. The more expensive the product was, the more they made their research and due diligence upon buying the product. Of course, there was a smaller part, who had plenty of money and even if the certain product did not entirely fit their needs and desires they'd buy it, just because they could afford it and they had their mind set on it. Even if a cheaper product would better fit their needs and their expectations in regards to that product.

[Needfuldoer]

10 hours ago, Virus__ said:

"I want 6 wines, do I take them from the shelf?" it's a small store with no store room, I've even had customers argue that I have an "out the back" or they think we carry every single line in a carton ready to go at a moment's notice.

Come on, man! You obviously have a magical "out back" storeroom where you keep exactly what the customer's looking for. You just refuse to sell it to them, for reasons!

 

/s

 

10 hours ago, Virus__ said:

Another classic whilst wearing a name badge & shirt that have our company's name on it "Do you work here?" multiple times a day, I might be the only person in the store with them when they ask this.

I get that same question when I go shopping in my branded work jacket. I work for a national media company, our logo has been broadcast in its current form to every home in the United States for decades and looks nothing like any retail store logo.

 

But apparently, quickly and confidently picking up what I'm shopping for (because I know what I'm looking for and where it is) means I work there?

 

Maybe I should just slowly meander around in a slack-jawed trance, so they realize I'm a real people customer (sorry, "costumer") just like them.

[Alex T88]

11 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

With all due respect, thats the stupidest excuse for the .99 pricing i have ever heard.

With all due respect, it's not an excuse, it's just how things are. It's reality. 

 

11 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

The amount they save is actually insignificant

As I said, it adds up, through the years. In my name, I have over 1000 orders. That is like 10 dollars and change which I saved. In my country, that buy's you a decent meal for example. A free one for that matter. Had the prices would have been rounded up, that money would have been lost. For you, it might not sound a lot, some people in other parts of the world don't even have a monthly wage of $10 U.S.

 

11 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

and saying its a personal choice is like its a personal choice to be a gambling addict, or be afflicted with FOMO

Wrong again. An addiction, a compulsion is something that is happening outside one's control. A shopping addiction, for that matter, is not something that is caused by the x.99 pricing. Definitely not. There's plenty data to back that up. So yeah, "falling" for the x.99 pricing is only on you as a customer. 

11 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

Lawful can still be unethical and immoral.

Maybe you can be more specific and explain how can something be unethical and immoral, by actually costing less. 

 

Later Edit: I really don't get, since you are on such a moral high ground from the rest of us, why do you waste your time on a forum, owned by a company run by hypocrites (that's how you dubbed them), why do you purchase stuff from them and why do you spend your precious time in a place that's way below you and your values ?! This is really beyond my power of comprehension. Because it is clear, that mostly everything that is being expressed here, it's against your pristine morals and ethics.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Alex T88

[Virus__]

On 1/23/2023 at 8:27 AM, NastyFlytrap said:

From a certain viewpoint, everything involving money is 'just marketing'

Still doesnt make it right, and you're an enabler.

You're god-damn right i'm an enabler. Haha.

 

On 1/23/2023 at 1:14 AM, Needfuldoer said:

Come on, man! You obviously have a magical "out back" storeroom where you keep exactly what the customer's looking for. You just refuse to sell it to them, for reasons!

 

/s

 

I get that same question when I go shopping in my branded work jacket. I work for a national media company, our logo has been broadcast in its current form to every home in the United States for decades and looks nothing like any retail store logo.

 

But apparently, quickly and confidently picking up what I'm shopping for (because I know what I'm looking for and where it is) means I work there?

 

Maybe I should just slowly meander around in a slack-jawed trance, so they realize I'm a real people customer (sorry, "costumer") just like them.

They don't seem to get it, most of our supply chain, at least at a store level relies on the just-in-time delivery method.. The supermarkets here get daily deliveries for every department & rarely have any real overstocks out the back unless it's something that was on special that didn't sell..

 

My favourite i'd be in a totally different shop, in somewhat work attire with a name badge on (usually a brewery shirt of some sort) & i'll get asked for something, usually it's the supermarket that our is a sister brand of ours..

 

I understand being accosted when I go to places like JB Hi-Fi on my days off cause I usually wear band shirts & look pretty casual like their staff. But the fact I wear thongs instead of shoes should be the giveaway I don't work there haha.

 

On 1/22/2023 at 10:12 PM, Alex T88 said:

@Virus__ I definitely agree, I used to work myself during my college years, in sales. One summer, I worked at a grocery store, at one of our local shopping centers. Memories started to come back, reading your comment. Some laughable and some, not so pleasant. But yes, in general, some customers were like plain daft. I remember there were times, when I actually thought that I was being trolled. Some people are exceptionally hard to handle and to please. E.g. You can't come to an agreement with a customer, that made a formal complaint, because the ice cream is kept in the freezer and not in the fridge like he keeps it at home. 

However, after my experience with the grocery store, I requested a transfer and I was located to the electronics / appliances store. It was a huge difference. Most of the customers, had actual knowledge of what they were buying, they were aware of the specs and of the price/quality/performance ratio and those who were less savvy, they actually had the patience and the capacity of understanding what they were told and making a choice that was fit for their needs in regards to their budget. I found this to be true, in regards to the pricing of what they were buying. The more expensive the product was, the more they made their research and due diligence upon buying the product. Of course, there was a smaller part, who had plenty of money and even if the certain product did not entirely fit their needs and desires they'd buy it, just because they could afford it and they had their mind set on it. Even if a cheaper product would better fit their needs and their expectations in regards to that product.

It's honestly kind of fun in a deranged way. Maybe i've been doing this far too long haha.