Pricing Psychology – $95 vs $97 vs $99 vs $100

Somebody asked today:

Does anyone know of any formal studies that go into the ‘mental block’ between paying $97 and $100?

As copywriters, there are often psychology principles we can point to and say, this works because of the (social proof, authority, fear of loss…) concept.

Interested to see if there is a particular term that explains the positioning of a product at $97 vs $100 because it somehow feels like more than it is.

I’ve read a lot on it but from my experience, it has more to do with how the price fits in with the rest of your product prices. I’d say the popular choices nowadays are $95, $97, $99, $100 (i’m leaving out $98, $99.99, and $100.00).

If you’re intending this product to be your flagship product, $95/$100 looks great against $45, $47, $60.

If you’re intending to offer discounts, $99/$100 can be easily discounted since they look like “regular prices”.

If you’re intending to make this your CHEAP product, $97 looks great against $160, $164, $168.

If you’re intending to make this your PREMIUM entry-level product, $95 looks great against $495.

Again, my point is to compare this price against your other prices, not necessarily just against the possible options of only that product itself. There are far more examples that I’m not putting here but I’m think you get the idea.