Basic Trope: Items are priced slightly below a round number to create the perception of a lower cost.
- Straight: The Shops of Troperia sells an item for $19.99.
- Exaggerated: The Shops of Troperia sells an item for $19.99999999999999.
- Logical Extreme: The Shops of Troperia sells an item for $19.99,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999.
- Downplayed: The Shops of Troperia sells an item for $19.
- Justified:
- They want to make the item feel cheaper, as people tend to round down the price in their mind.
- They want to ensure that employees open the cash register by providing change rather than pocketing the payment.
- Inverted: The Shops of Troperia sells an item for $20.01.
- Subverted:
- The Shops of Troperia adds one cent to the purchase price just before the item is bought.
- The item's price, when including sales tax, exceeds a round number.
- A flat 1¢ sales tax is applied to every item sold, resulting in a rounded-off price.
- Double Subverted: ...But then they decide to reduce the price by one cent to maintain this trope.
- Parodied:
- The price is $19.999... with an infinite number of 9's, which is mathematically equivalent to $20.
- The Troperian Mint introduces a 99¢ coin for the sake of convenience.
- Zig Zagged: The Shops of Troperia keeps changing the price, alternating between $19.99 and $20.
- Averted: The items are priced at round numbers instead of prices ending in 9.
- Enforced: Truth in Television.
- Lampshaded: "Why do prices always end in nines?"
- Invoked: A savvy salesperson offers to reduce the price by one cent to create the perception of a lower cost.
- Exploited: A crafty shopper uses the pricing strategy to negotiate a further discount on an item.
- Defied: Someone suggests increasing the price by one cent to make it a round number.
- Discussed:Bob: "Have you noticed how most stores price their items with prices ending in one or more nines in the cents place to make them look cheaper?"Alice: "Yeah, it's a common marketing tactic."
- Conversed: "In most stores, the prices end in one or more nines in the cents place to make them look cheaper."
- Implied: After purchasing an item, the character's bank account balance decreases from $545.67 to $525.68, suggesting the item's cost was just below a round number.
- Played for Laughs: The Shops of Troperia sells an item for $19.99, but the character comically insists that it's practically giving it away for free.
- Played for Drama: The protagonist, struggling with financial difficulties, becomes emotionally overwhelmed when the price of an item is one cent higher than they expected, symbolizing their financial strain.
Back to ...And 99¢
