OK, whats with the 7?

by Bewley
29 replies
The last couple of months I have been doing lots of research regarding IM and I getting sick to the back teeth of all the 'get rich quick' schemes that promise me $1000s in earnings for only a few hours work per week (yeh right!) - but for now, that's another story.

Why is the number 7 so special? $7 for this, $17 for that, 'how I made $7 million dollars'. When I go to a store, it is 7.99, 17.95, 27.99, 27.50! Please let me in on the secret - or am I missing something glaringly obvious?
#get rich quick schemes
  • Profile picture of the author Jackbgd
    I've heard there's been some reasearch about it and then they figured that the number 7 appeals to most people. Which is kind of true - for example, when you tell someone "think of a number from 1 to 10" usually the first thing that pops into their head is 7.

    That's part ot the reason I'm selling my book for 47$
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    • Profile picture of the author Bewley
      Originally Posted by Jackbgd View Post

      I've heard there's been some reasearch about it and then they figured that the number 7 appeals to most people. Which is kind of true - for example, when you tell someone "think of a number from 1 to 10" usually the first thing that pops into their head is 7.
      Thanks Jack - just tried this out on the wife and she picked....7 Has anybody got a link to point any research on this please?
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  • Profile picture of the author ezminisites
    Yes, I too have had more success with ending in the number 7 however, all those late night infomercials still end in $xx.95 or $xx.99... hmm...
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  • Profile picture of the author firedragon
    Hmm, Seven is better than Nine when it comes up to paying,

    but I for me psychologically it is the nine, I would buy the product for 6.99 instead of 7, it is almost the same, but I have the lower number in the front and that is what I see.

    Just my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author Diana Lane
    7 x 7 = 49
    49 x 7 = 42
    42 = The Answer To The Secret Of The Universe
    Or so 'they' say.

    Once upon a time, someone tested the results he was getting and revealed that prices ending in '7' got the best results for him. Soon, 'they' were saying that too, repeating it parrot-fashion with no testing to see if results were the same in their own fairy tale niches. Before long, the lemmings had joined the parrots (you can probably read the full story somewhere. For $7.77) in an almighty union which spanned half of cyberspace.

    And they lived happily never after.

    There's nothing magical about the number 7, and there's nothing magical about doing something just because everyone else is. What causes a bite in one niche can often be completely different to what causes a bite in another. Even within IM there are lots of different little niches and approaches. Offering everyone a price with the same digit on the end of it every time just because other people are makes as much sense to me as everyone offering the same product.
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    • Profile picture of the author Diana Lane
      Originally Posted by jitterbug978 View Post

      :p 49 x 7 doesnt = 7 lol :p
      Oi! It does in MY fairy tale

      ...the fairy tale which forgot to mention the Evil Typo Gremlins which roamed the Information Superhighway...
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      • Profile picture of the author Bewley
        Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

        Oi! It does in MY fairy tale

        ...the fairy tale which forgot to mention the Evil Typo Gremlins which roamed the Information Superhighway...
        And in many of the offers and promotions I have read, 2+2=5

        Thanks for the feedback guys.
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        • Profile picture of the author dle45
          I think it is because Mickey Mantle was number 7!

          Just kidding he is just one of my favorite baseball players of all time.

          It is odd that the number 7 is the perfect number can be traced back through the bible.
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          • Profile picture of the author Aitor Astobieta
            Yes dle45, I was about to mention that the number 7 is found throughout the Bible as the number of perfection.

            There are 7 days in a week.

            According to Genesis, God created the world in 7 days.

            In the Book of Revelation, there are 7 seals and 7 trumpets.

            The number of the AntiChrist is 666. It is close to the perfection of 777, but not quite.

            Thus, the internet marketer shall abide by two commandments:
            1. Thou shalt not price thy products $6, $46, $66, $96.
            2. Thou shalt always end your price numbers with the number $7.
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  • Profile picture of the author firedragon
    Number 7 is a prime number and it was used throughout in history and is supposed to have magical powers. But so does 13, etc.

    Witches like/ed to use this number as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
    Test. Walmart uses .88 exclusively and it works for them. So don't take .99, $7 or anything else at face value until you have sales to back it up.

    For the most part though, 7 tends to be used in internet marketing. .99 is used in mainstream sales. I have no idea who started it or tested it.
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    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      Originally Posted by BlueSquares View Post

      I have no idea who started it or tested it.
      I've seen a number of newspaper ads from the 1850's that had ads where the price ended in 7. It's been around a while.

      I couldn't dig up a good example right off, but check this out. They even had **** style continuity scams back then: The History Project - University of California, Davis
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      • Profile picture of the author Lance K
        I think this excerpt from the movie "There's Something About Marry" is definitive proof...


        (source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129387/quotes)

        Hitchhiker: You heard of this thing, the 8-Minute Abs?

        Ted: Yeah, sure, 8-Minute Abs. Yeah, the excercise video.

        Hitchhiker: Yeah, this is going to blow that right out of the water. Listen to this: 7... Minute... Abs.

        Ted: Right. Yes. OK, all right. I see where you're going.

        Hitchhiker: Think about it. You walk into a video store, you see 8-Minute Abs sittin' there, there's 7-Minute Abs right beside it. Which one are you gonna pick, man?

        Ted: I would go for the 7.

        Hitchhiker: Bingo, man, bingo. 7-Minute Abs. And we guarantee just as good a workout as the 8-minute folk.

        Ted: You guarantee it? That's - how do you do that?

        Hitchhiker: If you're not happy with the first 7 minutes, we're gonna send you the extra minute free. You see? That's it. That's our motto. That's where we're comin' from. That's from "A" to "B".

        Ted: That's right. That's - that's good. That's good. Unless, of course, somebody comes up with 6-Minute Abs. Then you're in trouble, huh?
        [Hitchhiker convulses]

        Hitchhiker: No! No, no, not 6! I said 7. Nobody's comin' up with 6. Who works out in 6 minutes? You won't even get your heart goin, not even a mouse on a wheel.

        Ted: That - good point.

        Hitchhiker: 7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office.

        Ted: Why?

        Hitchhiker: 'Cause you're f*ckin' fired!


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    • Profile picture of the author Lance K
      Originally Posted by BlueSquares View Post

      Walmart uses .88
      So does Dale Earnhardt Jr. for merchandise on his site.
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      "You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want."
      ~ Zig Ziglar
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  • Profile picture of the author Diana Lane
    I've met several people (in 'real' life, not online) who assure me that '88' is associated with Nazism. H being the eighth letter of the alphabet, 88 is supposed to be an abbreviation for 'Heil Hitler' and is some kind of shortcode that Nazi supporters and racists use to identify each other. I think this is taking numerical symbolism (and a lot of other things) too far and didn't believe it the first time someone told me, but I've heard it enough times now to realize that plenty of people do make the association.

    Needless to say, I don't really fancy appealing to the market sector which feels compelled to buy a product because the price ends in .88
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    • Profile picture of the author Kevin Riley
      Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

      I've met several people (in 'real' life, not online) who assure me that '88' is associated with Nazism. H being the eighth letter of the alphabet, 88 is supposed to be an abbreviation for 'Heil Hitler' and is some kind of shortcode that Nazi supporters and racists use to identify each other. I think this is taking numerical symbolism (and a lot of other things) too far and didn't believe it the first time someone told me, but I've heard it enough times now to realize that plenty of people do make the association.

      Needless to say, I don't really fancy appealing to the market sector which feels compelled to buy a product because the price ends in .88
      Too true. We tested out a .88 price point here at the Labs. It was horrible. I awoke to find the hamster had hung flags with swastikas everywhere, and they were all goosestepping around the labs, wearing armbands, and saluting "Sieg heil". They had even rounded up all the mice and were loading them in boxcars. I quickly put the prices at .95 points.
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  • Profile picture of the author acedalright
    There are 7 days per week

    There is a movie called 7

    There was a movie called 7 brides for 7 brothers

    There was a movie called 6 days and 7 nights

    There are 7 voices in my head...


    ...Telling me to burn things!


    But seriously, 7 is good it's all good (snaps fingers)
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    • Profile picture of the author PapiShasho
      Banned
      [DELETED]
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      • Profile picture of the author Will_Surren
        Since

        the number 8 is for Hitler....
        then I think the special numbers should be the 6 and the 9 they are on both sides of 7. If you already took care of had 8.

        But then you still come to a number ending in 7

        $6.97


        Here is the Real Deal!!!

        If you tell everyone that


        $47 is the number....


        ...that makes everyone buy then you have it stuck in their heads. Then when they see the price of $47 they associate the numbers with BUY. Now $47.77 is the price to really get them sucked in.


        There is a


        big conspiracy....


        it is called

        "Brain Entrainment"
        &



        it is meant to

        trick every newbie internet marketer

        into purchasing products that end in 7.

        That is why so many people scroll through the sales letter fast just

        checking out the bold text quickly

        to get to the bottom of the page.

        They want to see if there is a 7 in the price.


        If not they want to move on to the next product so they can find the one that says buy.

        Because 7 = Buy :rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author rbecgolf
    7 is considered a lucky number.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ofthemix
    I've read many places that .99 is the best to end a price with because it gives the psychological illusion of being a dollar less than the price really rounds up to. Sounds stupid to me, but hey, maybe that's not why I'm not rich yet. I don't subscribe to either method of ending in .99 or in a 7. Everything I sell has .00, .25, .50, or .75 at the end. Though smarter people than I claim that there's a strategy behind what you end your price with, I can't help but think that people think waaay too hard on that sort of thing.
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    • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
      Many years ago Ted Nicholas tested different endings for price points in direct mail sales letters and found that prices ending in the number 7 got a better response.

      That little piece of wisdom has been picked up and repeated by online marketers.

      Of course these days having the number 7 in your price point does NOT increase response (we've tested other price points and it seems marketers using the 7 are throwing away $2 every time they make a sale).

      It doesn't matter to them though because they BELIEVE that the number 7 is magical when it comes to price.

      Kindest regards,
      Andrew Cavanagh
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  • Profile picture of the author PPCJunky
    The # 7 represents "completeness" like how there are 7 steps to a lot of things
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  • Profile picture of the author hebsgaard
    Over time it seems to have become as much of a tradition as anything else. It seems that a lot of people, including yours truly I'm afraid, have fell into the trap of thinking that you can't go wrong with prices ending with 7. That leads to the misconception that you don't have to split-test and I'm guessing for us lazy marketers that's too tempting to resist.
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  • Profile picture of the author john_kennedy
    So, I'm sitting here reading this thread and the SO walks through the room and I ask her to pick a number between 1 and 10. - Her response? 7.

    Go figure.

    John
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    To me, it isn't so much the research, put pushing the "price point" a bit.

    Price points are prices that require "more" to make a sale.

    For example, it probably takes "more" to make a sale for $10, than it does for $5.

    So, if I feel the price for a product to sell is $5, I'll push it to $7. People tend to round $7 down to $5 in their mind, and I'm betting that I won't lose many buyers at $7 than I would have made at $5. Plus, it's 40% more than $5, so even if I lose a few, I will probably make more money from $7 than from $5.

    Same with $17 vs. $20, but in reverse. I feel more people will buy at $17 to make with worthwhile, as $20 is another common "price break" in folks' minds. If I do decide to sell for $20, I'll likely make it $22, with the feeling that I'll still get everyone that would have bought at $20.

    Simply, I tend to sell my lower-cost products usually for $7, $12, $17 or $22. Basically, I'm just adding $2 to $5, $10, $15 and $20. Thne "7" is insignifigant other than that. If I added $3 or more, then I feel people will "round up" in their minds, not down.

    Don't take this as gospel, as I'm not a big tester. It's just what my instincts and experieince tell me is best.
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  • Profile picture of the author Biggy Fat
    Seven is the number of completion.

    Seven days in a week. Seven Wonders of the World. God made the world in six days and on the seventh day he rested.

    And seven is one of the luckiest numbers out there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Hancox
    $24.97 over $25 does NOT make you more likely to buy a particular item... BUT research has shown that people will buy more, in general, when prices are like this!
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