This is a safe copy of the tricks real stores use. Flip the switches, try to buy, feel the squeeze. Buy with tricks on and your Rationality Score drops and your Psychological Budget takes a hit.
The fake impulse buy
Countdown timer, fake scarcity, inflated anchor price. The usual suspects. Can you close the tab?
Limited "Neon Drop" Colorway
Hyper-Hype Air Sneakers
That $250 isn’t real. It’s bait to make $95 look cheap.
The Dirty Tricks
3 activeFlip the tricks on and off, then buy or skip. Heads up: with the timer live, letting the clock hit zero counts as a buy. Freezing is a decision too.
Pick something and find out
Buy or skip, either way your score and budget up top will move. No pressure. (Okay, lots of pressure.)
The Escalation Pit
Bid against a bot for a $20 bill. Catch: the loser pays their bid too. See how far sunk cost pulls you past $20.
The Escalation Pit
Bid on a $20 bill · catch: the loser pays their bid too
$0
behind
$1
leading
$0
Nothing yet. Keep it that way.
Bid history
- ›The bot opened the bidding at $1.
The tricks you just ran into
Scarcity Mindset
"Only 2 left" turns your brain off.
When something looks about to run out, you panic and stop thinking. Suddenly you need it. You did not need it four seconds ago.
Anchoring Effect
The first price you see ruins every price after it.
The first number you see becomes the anchor you judge everything else by, even when that number is made up.
Sunk Cost Fallacy
Throwing more money at something just because you already did.
You keep paying/playing because of what you ALREADY spent, even when quitting is obviously the smarter move. The past money is gone either way.