The Harley Hahn Experience

My Philosophy

Joining The Harley Hahn Experience costs $20. Although $20 is a round number, it's not a number you see much in stores or in advertisements. You would be much more likely to see a price like $19.95.

So why don't I charge $19.95?

This sounds like an insignificant question: after all, does anyone really care about 5 cents? However, the answer is more important than you might think — at least if you are going to be one of my readers — so I'd like to take a moment to discuss it.

Look around and you will see many prices that are slightly less than a round number, such as $19.95, or $2.49, or $399.99. Why should this be the case? Why, for example, should gasoline cost $1.659 per gallon and not $1.66?

We all know that, for practical purposes, $19.95 is the same as $20; that $2.49 and $399.99 are virtually the same as $2.50 and $400. Moreover, a bit of simple arithmetic will show you that, if you pay a tenth of a cent less per gallon of gas, you would have to buy 1,000 gallons(!) just to save 1 dollar.

Clearly, the savings are not significant, so why do so many companies use such prices? The answer is because they are trying to trick you.

Although, $19.95 is pretty much the same as $20, people who set prices seem to think that, to you — the consumer — $19.95 will feel like less money; and if it feels like less, you will be more inclined to buy. In other words, the people who set prices do their best to manipulate you emotionally, to try to get you to buy more than you might otherwise.

Does such misleading pricing actually make a significant difference? Personally, I doubt it, but who really knows? My point is that it is dishonest.

That is why, when it came time to set the price for joining The Harley Hahn Experience, I decided on $20 and not $19.95. Being honest is very important to me, and if you are going to be one of my readers, I want you to appreciate that: not because 5 cents is important, but for a much more important reason.

When you join The Harley Hahn Experience, you will be able to read a lot of my writing, including three full books. Within that writing, you will find a great deal of advice and opinion. It is important to me that, when you read my advice and think about my opinions, you believe I am being intelligent, straightforward, and honest. I want you to feel that I am on your side, because I am.

Because you are one of my readers, my goal is to treat you the way I like to be treated. That is why, for example, you won't find any ads or pop-up windows on my Web site. That's also why I charge $20, not $19.95, to join the The Harley Hahn Experience.

Right now, this may not seem like a big deal. However, once you start reading, and see what I have to teach and explain to you, what I have said on this page will be a big deal.

For now, I am asking you to believe me: that I mean what I say, that I know what I am talking about, and that, when you spend $20 to join The Harley Hahn Experience, you are going to get your money's worth.

So that is why the membership fee is $20, not $19.95. The difference in money may be small, but the difference in attitude is enormous.

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