People used to download music for free, then Steve Jobs convinced them to pay. How? By charging 99 cents. Prada and other luxury stores stock a few obscenely expensive items - just to make the rest of their inventory seem like a bargain. Why do text messages cost money, while e-mails are free? Why do jars of peanut butter keep getting smaller in order to keep the price the 'same'? The answer is simple- prices are a collective hallucination.

In Priceless, the bestselling author William Poundstone reveals the hidden psychology of value. In psychological experiments, people are unable to estimate 'fair' prices accurately and are strongly influenced by the unconscious, the irrational, and the politically incorrect. It hasn't taken long for marketers to apply these findings. 'Price consultants' advise retailers on how to convince consumers to pay more for less, and negotiation coaches offer similar advice for businesspeople cutting deals. The new psychology of price dictates the design of price tags, menus, rebates, 'sale' ads, mobile-phone plans, supermarket aisles, real estate offers, wage packages, tort demands, and corporate buyouts. Prices are the most pervasive hidden persuaders of all.



'Priceless is an instructive and entertaining romp through the hits of recent research on decision making, which will leave you amused, smarter, and wondering about what money and prices really mean.'
-Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus, Princeton University, and winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics

'A powerful argument that should be a wake-up call to everyone who still subscribes to the old model of economics.'
-Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational- the hidden forces that shape our decisions

'If you can get this book for under $100, grab it! After you read it, you will better understand why the price you paid felt like a bargain.'
-Max Bazerman, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, and coauthor of Judgment in Managerial Decision Making