A sale that ends tonight
Something you have vaguely wanted is on sale. Was $80, now $45. A timer says the offer ends in 12 minutes. You have the money.
What do you do?
Step 1: What Would You Do?
There is often more than one good answer. Pick one and see what happens.
Step 2: What That Was
The name for what you just worked out.
A price is not a fact about an object. Somebody chose it, and they chose it to make you more likely to buy.
Showing you a bigger number first
A $60 item next to a $200 one looks reasonable. Alone, it might not. The first number you see changes how the second one feels.
Anchoring is when the first price you see changes how the next one feels.
Making you hurry
Countdown timers, "only 3 left", "ends tonight". Hurrying removes thinking, and thinking is what stops purchases.
Small and repeating
$4.99 a month is $60 a year. Monthly prices are quoted because $4.99 sounds like nothing and $60 sounds like something.
Step 3: Try It
These ones do have right answers.
Name the Tactic
Match each thing you might see with what it is designed to do.
Match the tactic to its purpose.
Tap a card on the left to start.
Step 4: Somewhere Else
Same thinking. Different situation.
Not shopping at all
A friend says: "decide now, I need to know, everyone else has already said yes." It is about a weekend plan, not money.
Is this the same thing?
Step 5: Quick Check
Two questions, then you are done.
Question 1 of 1
Is a "was $120, now $60" sign proof that $60 is a good price?
Step 6: Your Life Mission
Something to do away from the screen. Nobody is checking.
Count the tactics
- Open any shopping app or site.
- Count how many urgency or discount tactics you can see on one screen.
- Pick one and work out what question it wants you to skip.
Why: Once you can name them, they stop working nearly as well.
Step 7: What You Learned
- Somebody chose the price, and chose it to work on you.
- The first number you see changes how the next one feels.
- Monthly prices hide yearly totals.
- Hurry is a tactic, not information.
For the grown-up
None of this is dishonest and it is worth saying so. Sales are real, stock does run out. The skill is not cynicism; it is noticing that the presentation is designed and asking the question it is designed to prevent.
Watch for the leap to "everything is a scam". A student who distrusts all prices makes as many bad decisions as one who trusts them, just different ones.
The subscription arithmetic lands hardest when done on their own subscriptions, if they have any. $191 a year is a different sentence from $15.97 a month.