Next time, instead of buying, take the idea home. Think about it first.
this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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Does the rule of nines really apply for amounts this high? Just call it 180k ffs.
The idea of psychological pricing is that the price is perceived lower. But as you imply, the price is in the image is (to me at least) perceived higher, with all the 9s. Especially the 99 cents seem counterproductive to include...
I like to round to .2 mill for simplicity
I just had to have one! I do yoga in the morning after waking under my piano. Then I run around the neighborhood picking up fruits and vegetables that others just leave behind. Sometimes I do endulge and will pickup a pie or whatever they might have in the fridge that morning. Thr yoga helps to get in and out before people wake up. Then I head over to my first of several jobs. Piano mortgage won't pay itself.
They've really got it all!
I had to deliver one of these coffins one time doing last mile logistics. What a shit show! Dude said he was at home when we called and that under no uncertain circumstances were we allowed to deliver it for the next few hours. Like dude! I can't just drive around with this thing for hours, making other deliveries! I get that you're probably in a rough place, but the world doesn't stop for one person. We decided to never take on this type of contract again.
I would get the pink one but I wonder how much Costco charges for cremation? I'd prefer cremation because lower cost & hassle & environmental impact. Welcome to Costco. I love you. Can't think of any other place that sells law degrees AND livestock ♥️
They might just toss you in with the $1.50 hot dogs if you ask nicely.
There is no way you could reasonably demo a piano in Costco.
What costco is this? They tend to tailor their stores a little to the clientele. Mine sells a lot of instant ramen. What neighborhood is this, ElonMusktown?
Tangentially related; Tori Amos has been touring with a Bösendorfer for ages. If you enjoy the piano, you should give the songs linked on the page a listen.
... and that's why I even know Bösendorfer as a brand.
At least one of her touring pianos is a custom job that has extra keys on the bass end.
Bells for her was recorded on some specially altered up right also.
Are you my new best friend?
I'm so glad my parents bought me a $50 electric keyboard to lose interest in....
If it said $180,000 I'd say no...
But $179,999.99 that's a bargin!
It'll still cost you $180,000 though, good luck getting a penny back these days.
If you sweet talk the clerk she might round it down to 179,999.95
They're obviously going to pay by credit card. Imagine the cashback.
My problem is that I fall for it every single time.
I can barely afford the storage building payments for all of these pianos.
I don't know what I'm going to do if I end up falling for it again.
Reminds me of this joke (spoiler tag for length, it's not unsafe for work or anything):
spoiler
One day, a young man goes to apply for a sales job at a major department store. He tells the sales manager that he doesn't really have any experience, but he is willing to try his hardest to learn. The manager likes his attitude and decides to give the guy a chance.
At the close of business the next day, the sales manager decides to stop in to see how the kid is doing on his first day.
He asks, 'How many sales did you have today?'
The salesman answers, 'One.'
'How come only one,' asks the manager. 'Most of my salesman have 20-30 per day! How much was the one sale you made?'
The salesman answers, '$133,344.00'
'What? What did you sell?'
'Well, a guy wanted a small fishing hook, so I sold him a medium fishing hook, then I sold him a large fishing hook. Then he needed a rod, so I sold him a light action rod, the upgrade to a medium action rod, and then changed it to a fully balanced combo. Then I told him he was going to need a boat, so I took him to the boating department and sold him a 14-foot motor boat, then upgraded him to a 20-foot cabin cruiser. Then I told him that his Volkswagen wouldn't be able to tow the boat, so I took him to the car department and sold him a sport utility vehicle.'
'A guy came in for a fishing hook and you managed to sell him all of that?' asked the manager.
'No, he came in for a box of tampons, and I said, 'Hell, your weekend is shot anyway, why not do some fishing?'
Honestly I feel that's just a way to introduce horrendously high prices in their stores so when people walk past them, they notice it and then the 2000$ TV isn't looking that expensive anymore in comparison.
This is exactly why they do it. It's a very old sales technique: show them something wildly outside their price range so that they are more open to items that are just a little above what they wanted to spend.
Not everything is a jedi mind trick unless 'providing a fun attraction'' is a trick.
I don't think a large corporation like costco is doing anything if that thing doesn't yield some kind of return. Even the choice of lighting in the store and choice if music is selected to subconsciously affect your purchase behavior.
Employee owned co-ops don’t have much of a marketing R&D or lighting budget, and no Costco warehouse I’ve been to has music (or even a PA system, come to think of it).
Warehouse management’s sales tactics tend to be unsophisticated bordering on obsolete compared to traditional retail.
For example…
OP’s indiscriminate use of the x99.99 formula dilutes its effectiveness throughout the warehouse. This is especially true for big ticket items.
Too many 9s in the sticker also makes customers doubt they are receiving any kind of wholesale bargain, if only because they begin to envision increasingly large arbitrary markup hidden in that portion of the price.
ETA: but you’re right that one of the original sales dynamics relied on in Costco’s warehouse model is placing higher ticket and luxury items by the entrance such that customers must walk past them to get to what they actually came for. That trick is old but still works.
This is a "fun attraction" that kids under 12 will sense from the other end of the store, make a beeline towards, and break within 8 seconds of touching it
But that price is for a 6 pack, who needs 6 grand pianos?
As much as people joke about stuff like this, a University's music program or something could probably take advantage of something like that.
At work, we used to get the discounted NetJets subscriptions (still like $15k) from Costco because it was a crazy good deal and we would charter flights for some emergency issues where it made financial sense to use a private/charter flight to get on-site faster because the issue is costing $20-50k/minute of downtime.
Sure, your average person isn't taking advantage of those deals, but someone does or else Costco wouldn't offer them.
No joke, it looks like that may be the price for both units you can see there. Hard to tell from the sign, but it has two product codes with a + between.
Seems a bit steep for a single grand piano, and just about right for two.
Might just be the piano + bench SKUs
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Costco Syndrome: Go in for a pack of gym socks, come out with a 9-ft television and a trampoline.
Two trampolines, got to get the value pack.
That's where I got my law degree
Welcome to Costco, I love you
I also got my degree from costco!
How much off for the floor model?
That’s not even a good deal. You can get one in Germany for 150.000$. (Tax included)
But then I'd have to pay for shipping it from Germany, and probably a tariff on top of that
You could take a plane to Germany, buy one and bring it back in your luggage. If it doesn't have the packaging anymore they can't declare it an import!
Your piano has been crushed into a cube.
Hey! You can't leave your cube there!
"I'm not parking it; I'm abandoning it." -Bill Murray, Stripes
I have to admit I appreciate the behavioral psychology behind Costco’s layout.
They put the expensive things first and up front so that, on your way into the store, you’ve been mentally anchored to high prices (even if they’re prices for things you’d never buy). If you even considered or said to yourself “well, maybe someday” about their TVs, computers, or pianos, you are spending the rest of your time in Costco seeing prices for everything else and saying to yourself “hm, this might be a little expensive (even if it’s not), but at least it’s not the price of those grand pianos/TVs/computers in the entrance. Sold!”
Iirc they also purposely don’t label what foods or items are down which aisles so you have to go down them and, on the way, perhaps see something you hadn’t thought you needed before.
Pretty sneaky but effective stuff.
If they have one with the additional low octave I'm in
you can see the little flap I think that you can lift up to get at it
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