I have not found much information on the psychology of pricing and odd numbers. I once took a class in which the instructor referred to the “Law of Odd Numbers.” Googling “Law of Odd Numbers” does not reveal very much. Yet, for some reason the pricing of items in a store at $1.99 instead of $1.90 or $2.00 results in more sales of that item. Following is an article from The Washington Post about real estate agents and the importance of their favorite or lucky numbers. Have you a “lucky number?”
Some practitioners are convinced that selling real estate is a numbers game – a lucky numbers game.
Washington D.C.-area Long & Foster associate Juliet Zucker made multiple offers on a condominium on behalf of a client, but none of them were successful. Finally, she wrote an offer that ended in the number “18,” which in Hebrew symbolizes “chai,” which means life. The ploy was successful. Her client signed a contract for $384,118.
When Margaret Rome, a Baltimore-are practitioner, began selling homes 20 years ago, she drove a Porsche 944. In its honor, she ended the price on her first listing with 944. It sold within a week. Since then she, has used the number for every property.
Why is this? Nobody knows for sure. "You shouldn't sweat the weird stuff, because it will just drive you nuts,” Kelman says.
Source: Washington Post, Ylan Q. Mui (08/08/2009)
Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted from REALTOR.org with permission.”
