Selling a house, condo or commercial property in today’s sluggish economy is tough. First and foremost, make sure the price is right. As a consumer nation, we are constantly buying stuff. As a result most of us don’t do a whole lot of selling, which means we don’t have much experience at setting prices.
Just as in retail storefront marketing, the asking price needs to “look slim”. $1.99 is insignificantly less than $2. Yet retailers continue to use this trick, because there’s ample evidence it works.
As “Anglos”, we read from left to right. The leftmost digit is the most significant since it’s the number we first see when comparing the asking price to our mental image of what we think the price ought to be. This brain game then proceeds to the next digit, then the next, until we truly comprehends the entire numerical figure.
Keep this in mind when pricing your next item for sale. For example, an asking price of $349,999 might just sell your home when $350,000 won’t.
