@hedwards:

I fled sort of and I can at least say I have a job. Protip: If you ain't making 5,000 PLN /month you can't afford shit around here, at least in Warsaw :D.

Even if it tricks you for a second, that is not when you make your purchase. You'll correct yourself long before you're able to pull out your credit card.

As far as I know it started out as a tax dodge. Meaning a $10 item would require the shop pay more VAT than they would on a $9.99 item. Of course, I don't think that's why the practice remains today.

$10 would seem more honest to me.

This.

Brains are useless on that front. They like the shiny first number and discard any and all information that follows.

i say they invent their currency. like legit compassion tokens. You get them by loving your neighbor.

I love you, neighbor. =D

Come on guys, it's a penny.
The true evil here at GOG is their sale that get us to part with our money, not this penny difference businesses.

That's an unfortunate combination of numbers if I ever did see one.

I like to compare it to fancy pants network administrators that decides to change their DHCP table to something retarded like 59.221.153.199 and they put a fucked up subnet range and then they call you to troubleshoot a problem with a network printer.

lets sell everything 192.168.0.1$

and forget everything I just said.

I've heard that Estonia is nice too.
I tried that once, I ended up with a $500 fine and time served.

Yep, especially on the number of digits changeover.

$5.99/$6.00? Still works, but not as much so.

$9.99/$10.00? Works wonders on a large portion of people, at least Americans. Why? The number of digits makes $10 seem like it's 'so much more'. Someone might say "Man, no way am I spending TEN DOLLARS! on that!" but for the same thing be like "Dude, this is only nine bucks!" >.> I've seen it happen.

It's not the worst marketing trick though..

Sale prices for merely a fraction of the regular price, or the regular price simply being listed as a sale price.. simply because people will see 'sale' and think "I'm saving money, and I don't have time to think about it rationally because there's a sale and it might end."

Us rational human beings, who actually take the time to weigh the pros and cons of a purchase.. are not the target audience of these tricks, they know we will buy based off of rational decisions. Impulse shoppers are the ones the tactics target. ;)

Me too , I am NOT for a price raise either.... :-D


(So I think that GOG.com should leave that as is)(OK! , if GOG.com wishes to sell the games cheaper then they could set the standard price as $4.99 and $8.99 for all I care !!)
:-D

Interesting to read all the comments and the history of $x.99

My main points for the change were

1] It doesn't cost GOG any money to change (in fact they would get 1 cent more per game).

2] Leaving $x.99 as it is transmits the wrong message. It makes GOG seem like all the others and that it's trying to use a cheap trick to get money (even though that's not what GOG does).

3] Changing would transmit a positive message about GOG. It would differentiate them also visually from all other game sellers out there and it would reinforce GOG's image as an honest and transparent seller.

In the end, it's all about the message and relationship with the community that sets GOG apart and this would reinforce those messages even more.

There might be legal/contract reasons why that can't be changed easily, but I am sure that GOG is capable enough to manage that.

PS: any comment from GOG moderators maybe ? :)

Just my (no pun intended) two cents on the matter: I don't see if as a "cheap trick." Sure, to some $9.99 may look cheaper than $10.00 would, but it's not like it's screwing people out of money. And, I'm not sure how charging one penny more would mean they don't look like they're screwing people out of money. Nine dollars or ten, all the purchases I've made were more than worth it.

And honestly, if anything's to blame for people overspending on GOG, it's not $x.99, it's the nostalgia factor, which (present company included) is a much bigger factor in buying waaaaaaaaay too many games from GOG.

Really, the only issue I could possibly have with the $x.99 thing, is that it's not a nice, round number when I look at my bank statement online... but then we're having a whole different conversation about me being anal retentive. :P