The Psychology of Pricing

Quotes from wisebread.com: “Party Like It’s 19.99: The Psychology of Pricing”

The use of “9” sends a signal that an item is a great value and possibly the lowest price available. Sale prices end in 9s and .99 so often that shoppers associate these numbers with a markdown even when the starting price contains a 9.

Consumers tend to place more emphasis on left digits than right ones (also known as the left-digit effect). And they “ignore the least significant digits rather than do the proper rounding.” I like to think that I round $19.99 up to $20.00 rather than mentally truncating the last two digits to $19.00, but research suggests that most people retain the first two numbers only, possibly because people have gotten used to .99 as a price ending.

[…]

Sellers use 0s and .00 to convey that products are of premium quality.

From the buyer’s perspective, these prices seem arbitrary, not reflecting cost but rather the seller’s preference. Actually, that is the message intended by those selling luxury and high-end brands. A designer handbag at Neiman Marcus is priced at $625.00, not $624.99; similarly, Godiva sells its chocolate truffle assortment for $36.00, not $35.99. The seller can, theoretically, name a price rather than be subject to clamor by consumers for lower pricing. [..]

To summarize: If you want it to looks like a good deal use “9” at the end. If you want to play the luxe stuff, use “0”. Now let’s see how we can implemente that in a quotation :).