Make Your Price Felt (Not Just Heard)

_{[Read time: 1.5 minutes]}

I want you to watch a one‑minute scene from American Fiction.

The scene itself has its own lesson.

But that’s not the one I’m writing to you about.

I want you to notice something so subtle, 99.9% of people will miss it.

It plays out in the first 13 seconds.

John Ortiz places 3 bottles of Johnnie Walker on his desk, one by one.

First, Johnnie Walker Red. As he sets it down, he says,

“Twenty‑four bucks.”

Then, Johnnie Walker Black.

“Fifty bucks.”

Finally, Johnnie Walker Blue. He pauses.

“One hundred sixty dollars.”

Notice he didn’t say 160 bucks.

He said 160 dollars.

That single word shift changes how the price lands.

“Bucks” feels casual. Disposable.

“Dollars” feels deliberate. Weighty.

The number is the same, but the psychology is completely different.

Do you want to downplay cost? Use bucks (or some other informal variation of a currency)

Do you want to elevate value? Use dollars.

There’s no universal right answer.

It’s a tradeoff.

But once you hear the difference, you can never unhear it.

Because a price isn’t just said or heard.

It’s felt.

Thank you for reading.

See you next week.

— Peter

P.S. If you want your pricing to land exactly the way you intend, I’ll show you how.

P.P.S. Not sure if pricing is the thing you need to fix to make? Book an audit that literally pays for itself.

(…if you remember my old $10K in 1 day business audits…well its back with major upgrades. Perfect for those who’ve outgrown the scrappy startup phase — but are buried in half-solved problems not sure which one is worth investing big bucks to fix).