In my shop I like round prices: €20,000, €19,000 or simply €15,000. So not €19,995, €18,995 or €14,995. Not that this couldn’t work in an offline shop, but online it doesn’t work. Why not?

If you look at the filters on the portals, which are used surprisingly little, you’ll see that many price fields are filled in by default. See the table below.

Up to and including

Marktplaats, Gaspedaal, Autotrack, Autoscout24 and VIABOVAG have these amounts pre-filled. Of course you can overwrite them, that is if anyone does. All those filters, after all, work the same way: they’re ‘up to and including’. And that’s important.

If you use a price filter of €18,000 to €20,000, for example, then a car priced at €19,995 appears in the results, but so does a car of exactly €20,000.

Okay, by €5 you’re the ‘most expensive’, but your car does get shown. With a better description and better photos you’ll definitely get that click. But the beauty of it is: at €20,000 you also join in on the next filter setting, for example €20,000 to €22,000. Then all of a sudden you’re the ‘cheapest’. With the right pricing strategy you potentially double the number of views.

Fractional figures

If you look at the so-called ‘fractional figures’, the same applies. Those are the amounts that portals have pre-set and that end in €500, such as €7,500, €12,500 and €17,500. So if you have a car around €17,000, don’t put it online for €17,495, but for €17,500.

I’ve been applying this pricing strategy myself for years, ever since Jasen Rice shared this approach with us during a #DCDW event. I’ve been a big fan of it ever since. And it really works!

With discounting it’s trickier. If you want to follow my strategy, you actually have to drop by €1,000 straight away instead of by €250. That’s why I only discount once I’ve first applied all the lessons from Rolf Westgeest from “Voordat je gaat afprijzen“. I want maximum visibility on the portals.

Conclusion? By all means do what you want in terms of pricing, but don’t close your eyes to reality. Even if, as a Porsche specialist, you like to always have prices end in 911. Maybe that actually still works in that particular niche.

Offline, so in the shop, prices ending in €995 work fine. But online, with the filters that our potential customers use, in my experience it works less well. Do give it a try yourself. I’m curious about your experience.