Why the '70% off' isn't what you think it is
A short explainer on anchor pricing. Nothing groundbreaking if you've worked retail, maybe useful if you haven't.
Anchor pricing works like this: the higher price you see crossed out was never a real market price — it's a reference point designed to make the lower price look like a rescue. In most cases, the 'discount' is the price the item was always going to sell at.
If you want to feel this in your bones: check any 'sale' item on an archive site like the Wayback Machine. You'll see the same item has been 'on sale' for 120 straight days. The trick is the timer, not the number.
56 replies · 189+ with you
- GGabriel· Bogotá · 3h
Worked in e-comm for five years. This is the most accurate breakdown I've seen outside of an internal doc.
- NNoor· Istanbul · 2h
The thing that reframed it for me was realising the crossed-out price is a prop. Like, it's scenery. It's there to make you feel fast.
- SSam· Chicago · 51m
My dad worked a department store for thirty years. He laughed when I showed him this. 'We've been doing that since 1974.'