The Death of the Marketing Penny Avoiding Silly Advertising Tricks

The Death of the Marketing Penny Avoiding Silly Advertising Tricks Were all slobbering dogs, drooling on command for todays Pavlovian advertisements. Weve been trained by well-paid marketers and advertisers and scholars of demography. We catch a glimpse of a deceiving price point like $9.99, and even though we know were being tricked to think the price is lower than $10, we accept the trick; we allow ourselves to fall for marketings illusion of lower prices. You may have noticed (although you likely didnt notice) that The Minimalists recently killed the marketing penny. That is to say, we stopped buying into deception of the dot-ninety-nine marketing maneuver (whenever possible). After all, if youre kind enough to support our cause, we dont want to trick you; we want you to know what youre paying. Thus, if you purchase one of our books, it wont be $XX.99, it will be $1 or $5 or whatever price we believe is honest and fair. We realize that such a stance isnt cool or sexy or even very interesting. And were aware that this change will likely hurt our sales. But perhaps it will help us be slightly better human beings in the process. And thats a price were willing to pay. Thats not to say that people who still participate in penny-of-deception marketing are wrong or ill-intentioned. Most people dont think about it (we didnt for a long time); they are simply going with the flow. But that flow happens to be a slipstream we no longer want to wade in. You, too, can make a conscious effort to do likewise. You, too, can refuse to fall for slight-of-hand pricing. Simply round up to the next dollar before every purchase and  voilà! Your awareness for the magic trick will help you kill the illusion. If you find value in The Minimalists, consider donating a dollar.