Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1249
4 / the tasting panel / june 2009 This is going to seem trivial, and perhaps you'll think that I've run out of really important issues to rant about. Au contrai- re, gentle readers. I have many arrows quivering in my quiver. But this is something I have always wondered about. What's with the $9.99 and the $5.99 prices? What's wrong with $10 and $6? Do retailers really think they are fooling the public with this antiquated mercantile ritual into thinking the wine (or spirit) is cheaper than it is? I have to admit that I don't buy wine that often. Do regular wine shoppers look at the $5.99 price and say to themselves, "Wow, that wine is only around $5"? Or do they look at the price and say, "Hmm, that wine is almost $6?" Are they confused by the randomness of the prices, or is it just something they have come to expect? Research on "psychological pricing" has come to different con- clusions, with some studies indicating that consumers are rational beings and are not tricked by a penny drop in price, while other studies fi nd that shoppers act in non-rational, subconscious ways and are highly susceptible to .99 syndrome. Now that almost all wines and spirits (and millions of other items) sport .99 prices, it seems strange and even shocking to fi nd a prod- uct priced at an even dollar amount. Part of the argument, mer- chants say, is that pricing items a penny lower than their actual price makes consumers think that the goods are priced as low as possible. Using reverse psychology, some high-end stores employ whole-dol- lar pricing to make their merchandise seem more luxurious. And, indeed, most luxury California wines are priced in whole dollars. Phelps Insignia at 199.99? I don't think so. You may have noticed, I do not use .99 in my Blue Reviews. I al- ways round the number up to the nearest dollar. It looks a whole lot neater, and it saves our typesetter from having to stockpile a bunch of extra nines. I'm interested to know how you feel about .99 prices. Do you think they really serve a purpose, or are they just a tradition that has been going on so long that nobody stops to question it? If I were buying a mixed case of wine, it would be so much easier to add the wines up in my head without having to add in all the .99s. I also feel—once I've fi gured out that $5.99 is almost the same as $6—that someone doesn't think I'm very bright. It's like "We'll try this little maneuver and see if you fall for it." I may be slow, but I think I get it. From the Editor .99 Syndrome