Invisible wrote:
> There's some interesting psychology in there. I mean, like, "buy 1, get 
> one free". Sounds great, right?
> 
> So how about "buy 1, pay for 2 even though you only bought 1". Suddenly 
> it doesn't sound so great, does it? :-P All they're really doing is 
> doubling the marked price of the individual item.

Uh..."buy 1, get 1 free" doesn't mean "buy 1, pay for 2".  it means buy 
one, pay 1/2.  at least, that's how it works at the local grocery store.

> Apparently it's a well-known fact that whether something is presented as 
> a cost or a discount has a large effect on consumer behaviour. If you 
> say "buy 10 and get a 10% discount", people think that's great. If you 
> say "buy less than 10 and get a 10% surcharge" it's not so great. 

Except that's not the same thing at all.  Things *cost more* in small 
amounts.  When you buy in bulk, you can get a reduced price because the 
cost of production *really is* less.

--
Tim Cook
http://empyrean.freesitespace.net

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Tim Cook wrote:
> Uh..."buy 1, get 1 free" doesn't mean "buy 1, pay for 2".  it means buy 
> one, pay 1/2.  at least, that's how it works at the local grocery store.

I think that's actually a law in many US states.

> Except that's not the same thing at all.  Things *cost more* in small 
> amounts.  When you buy in bulk, you can get a reduced price because the 
> cost of production *really is* less.

Or "we'll forego some of our profit to get rid of this stock we're paying 
rental space to hold, so we can put something more popular there."

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   There's no CD like OCD, there's no CD I knoooow!

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On Tue, 26 May 2009 12:31:26 +0100, Invisible wrote:

>  And when they complained that he
> sent a bunch of dimes rather than a form, he said he did it by mistake,
> and demanded that they *return* the money to him, so they sent him a
> cheque for $0.18 or whatever it was.

That's *great*.  I actually have a cheque around here somewhere that's a 
refund from a pay phone.  I was making a local call ($0.25 at the time), 
used my last quarter, and the damned phone ate it.  I called the operator 
and asked for credit, and they asked for an address to mail me a cheque - 
and then I had to place my call *collect*.

Cute, eh?

Jim

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On Tue, 26 May 2009 13:31:26 +0200, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>
> Did you hear the story about the guy who sent back an envelope full of  
> dimes, just heavy enough to put it into the next postage class, so the  
> advertiser had to pay extra duty on it? And when they complained that he  
> sent a bunch of dimes rather than a form, he said he did it by mistake,  
> and demanded that they *return* the money to him, so they sent him a  
> cheque for $0.18 or whatever it was.

http://bash.org/?127039

Follow-up:
http://bash.org/?743595


-- 
FE

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Fredrik Eriksson wrote:
> On Tue, 26 May 2009 13:31:26 +0200, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>>
>> Did you hear the story about the guy who sent back an envelope full of 
>> dimes, just heavy enough to put it into the next postage class, so the 
>> advertiser had to pay extra duty on it? And when they complained that 
>> he sent a bunch of dimes rather than a form, he said he did it by 
>> mistake, and demanded that they *return* the money to him, so they 
>> sent him a cheque for $0.18 or whatever it was.
> 
> http://bash.org/?127039
> 
> Follow-up:
> http://bash.org/?743595

Right. So *definitely* 100% balony then! ;-)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On 26-5-2009 20:54, Fredrik Eriksson wrote:
> On Tue, 26 May 2009 13:31:26 +0200, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>>
>> Did you hear the story about the guy who sent back an envelope full of 
>> dimes, just heavy enough to put it into the next postage class, so the 
>> advertiser had to pay extra duty on it? And when they complained that 
>> he sent a bunch of dimes rather than a form, he said he did it by 
>> mistake, and demanded that they *return* the money to him, so they 
>> sent him a cheque for $0.18 or whatever it was.
> 
> http://bash.org/?127039
> 
> Follow-up:
> http://bash.org/?743595

Can't be a follow up. This is within a day from when it happened (where 
were you earlier? at work) whereas the guy in the first one already has 
the check in hand. So either check was by e-mail or he did the same 
stunt twice with GTE Visa or the order of the events is impossible.

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Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
> That's *great*.  I actually have a cheque around here somewhere that's a
> refund from a pay phone.  I was making a local call ($0.25 at the time),
> used my last quarter, and the damned phone ate it.  I called the operator
> and asked for credit, and they asked for an address to mail me a cheque -
> and then I had to place my call *collect*.

Talking about mentally small cheques: Did you hear about the peple who got mail
that they owed a company $0,00 - and every attempt to settle that debt failed,
because... well, how'd you pay $0,00 :P

Some guy finally wrote them a letter claiming to have enclosed the $0,00 in cash
;)

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clipka wrote:

> Talking about mentally small cheques: Did you hear about the peple who got mail
> that they owed a company $0,00 - and every attempt to settle that debt failed,
> because... well, how'd you pay $0,00 :P
> 
> Some guy finally wrote them a letter claiming to have enclosed the $0,00 in cash
> ;)

I don't know about that, but I did see a *verified* report about a 


some interesting looks from the people at the bank. And when he 
explained why, they weren't sure if their computer systems could 
actually process the cheque.)

It was on a special about electricity providers doing dumb things. Like 
the women who had just moved house. Opened her first bill, and saw it 

much electricity in just 6 months, the wires to her house would have to 
be molten copper due to the extreme current involved...

(The electricity company suddenly stopped chasing her once it was 
mentioned on TV. Funny, that.)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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>> There's some interesting psychology in there. I mean, like, "buy 1, 
>> get one free". Sounds great, right?
>>
>> So how about "buy 1, pay for 2 even though you only bought 1". 
>> Suddenly it doesn't sound so great, does it? :-P All they're really 
>> doing is doubling the marked price of the individual item.
> 
> Uh..."buy 1, get 1 free" doesn't mean "buy 1, pay for 2".  it means buy 
> one, pay 1/2.  at least, that's how it works at the local grocery store.

I don't follow.

>> Apparently it's a well-known fact that whether something is presented 
>> as a cost or a discount has a large effect on consumer behaviour. If 
>> you say "buy 10 and get a 10% discount", people think that's great. If 
>> you say "buy less than 10 and get a 10% surcharge" it's not so great. 
> 
> Except that's not the same thing at all.  Things *cost more* in small 
> amounts.  When you buy in bulk, you can get a reduced price because the 
> cost of production *really is* less.

Sure. But your local Tesco is going to buy (and transport) 12,000 tins 
of beans (or whatever) no matter what, so how many of them *you* buy is 
irrelevant. And yet, if you buy 10 of them, they give you 10% off the 
price. (Or, more accurately, if you buy less than 10 they charge you extra.)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Darren New wrote:

> Or "we'll forego some of our profit to get rid of this stock we're 
> paying rental space to hold, so we can put something more popular there."

That's slightly different. If something isn't selling too well, or if 
it's last season's product or something, they'll maybe do a "clearance". 
But plain tins of baked beans, they always have those in stock. The 10% 
off isn't to help them get the shelf space back; it's to make you buy 
more of them.

Random fact: Last time my sister came to stay at our house, she 
discovered *sixty eight* packs of tea in the building. I'm talking about 
the big packs that last half a year. Basically when they're on sale, my 
mum buys as many as will fit in the trolly (or maybe takes two trollies 
- I am *not* kidding!) and stockpiles them. When they're not on special 
offer, she doesn't buy any.

For tea it works. For, say, icecream... not so much. But she hasn't 
worked that part out yet.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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