We all love a great deal!  There is something about getting an item for less than asked for.  It provides a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.  The feeling is so powerful that we can not wait to tell our friends about it. Take a look at this example from a book called Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely.  You are looking for a newspaper subscription and the following price choices are available.  Which one is the better deal?

1. Internet-only subscription for $59.
2. Print-only subscription for $125.
3. Print-and-Internet subscription for $125.

Did you answer option 3?  It does seem like a better deal because you get both print and internet access for the same price.  Do you think anything could have influenced your decision to pick option 3 instead of 1 or 2?  According to the research experiment conducted in the book, option 2 is a decoy price.  This means option 2 was purposefully provided to guide you into choosing option 3.  Why?  Because this pricing model is a scheme to sell more print-and-internet subscriptions. In the experiment, 84% chose option 3 when all three options were available.  Option 2 was chosen zero times and option 1 was chosen 16 times.  When option 2 was removed from available choices, option 3 was chosen 32 times and option 1 was chosen 68 times.  This a complete reversal.  Option 1 was chosen 68% of the time over option 3. Now, forget the numbers and the experiment for a second.  What was your initial goal when looking for a newspaper subscription?  It was to get a newspaper subscription right.  By default, anything more than that is paying too much even if it is “a deal”. Confused?  I would not blame you if you were.  The world of marketing is very confusing.  Their goal is to get people to buy.  The simplest way to safeguard yourself against tricks like the pricing example above is to remember what your main goal is.  Anything above that is paying too much, regardless of the “deal”.