Three Ways Companies Trick You Into Buying Stuff

You probably know a lot of the ways companies trick you into buying stuff . . . like making something 49.99 instead of $50.It makes me not even want to buy stuff anymore. Well, it makes me not WANT to buy stuff, but I still buy it.  Maybe it's because I'm just weak, I don't know.   But here are three tricks you might NOT know about.

1.  They put things in tall, skinny packages.  In most cases, they could fit the same product in a short, wide package.  But studies have found that when we see a tall, narrow box, we automatically think there's more in it.

2.  They CLAIM something's cheap, and we believe it.  In a study, researchers offered overnight shipping for "a $5 fee."  Then they changed the ad so it said "a SMALL $5 fee" . . . and suddenly 20% more people were interested.

3.  Price anchoring.  That's the term they use when they put a price on something that's way higher than they EVER planned on selling it for.

Like at a clothing store, you might see a tag that says the "original" price was $56.  But in reality, the store NEVER sold it for that price.  They just put it on there, because then you see $32 and think it's a DEAL.  JC Penney actually stopped doing it for a while in 2012.  But their sales dropped so much, the CEO got fired for it.

Does any of these things factor into your shopping habits?  Will you look at shopping the same way?  What are some of your tips for saving money when you go shopping?

Monetarily yours,

Behka