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Good Faith Business Practices: Intro, and Clean Pricing
by Andrew
If there’s a single underlying principle in running WeDrink, it’s to always follow Good Faith Business Practices. Simply put: always having the best interest of others in mind. We offer this promise to our patrons and supporters, other businesses we work with, and to each other within WeDrink.
For a while now society has idolized not exactly the best of idols, be it the most lavish athletes, musicians, actors, or other celebrities. At the same time we have repeatedly praised the un-praiseworthy in the business world, where cutthroat and deceptive tactics brought them everything; everything we saw and wanted for ourselves.
But times are changing… I can feel it, and I’m starting to see it in a number of new businesses as well as some celebrities.
From time to time I’ll be sharing the details of a different Good Faith Business Practice of WeDrink or another noteworthy business. Today I’d like to talk about our choice to use Clean Pricing.
American businesses love their 19.95’s, their 199.99’s, and their 17.65’s. Nothing sells better than tricking customers into thinking they’re paying less (just ask anyone from the real estate loan industry).
WeDrink will never do this. These are deceptive mind-games, and they make purchases frustratingly complicated.
This didn’t even dawn on me until a trip overseas. From restaurants to retail, it was always 20 euro, 50 euro, 5 euro; never any change to bother with. It was convenient, and I didn’t have to stop and remind myself what I was actually paying. Until then I had never even conceived the possibility of a business giving me a simple, clean price. I remember promising myself “if I ever run a business, I’ll stick to clean numbers”.
Shady pricing isn’t too far from the Subliminal TV Advertising from the 50’s, and the Family Guy episode making fun of them
That’s why WeDrink uses clean, even numbers, like 16 and 18, with no change to deal with.
We’re not hiding anything. And we thought it’d be easier to do the mental math for figuring how much is going to charity from our “50% of sales” promise. ‘Cause nobody likes dividing an odd number by two, let alone a crazy number like 17.65.
I’m interested to hear any comments on how you all feel about this, and if there is a shared weariness with conventional pricing mind-games. Also, keep an eye out for more posts on Good Faith Business Practices.
Best,
-Andrew
This post is dedicated to the memory of Billy Mays, the great pitchman himself, and sole exception to the pricing game rule. May your oxi always be clean, your augers awesome, and your putty always mighty.
