odd-even pricing

Odd-even pricing is the retail trick where $9.99 looks magically cheaper than $10.00, because your brain grabs the first digit like a koala to gum leaves.

“Odd” prices (lots of 9s) scream bargain and push volume; “even” prices (neat round numbers) whisper premium and polish.

You’ll see it everywhere from supermarket tags to car-yard windscreen stickers, nudging perception without changing reality by more than a few cents.

It works often enough that marketers keep doing it—and we keep nodding along, wallets trembling but weirdly compliant.