High–low pricing


High–low pricing is a type of pricing strategy adopted by companies, usually small and medium-sized retail firms, where a firm initially charges a high price for a product and later, when it has become less desirable, sells it at a discount or through clearance sales.
Prospective customers may be unaware of a product's typical market price, or have a strong belief that "discount" is synonymous with "low price", or have strong loyalty to the product, brand or retailer.

Usage

There are many big firms using this type of pricing strategy. Competition in shoemaking and the fashion industry is partly through high–low pricing. But some firms will not provide discounts and work on a fixed rate of earnings following everyday low price strategies to compete in the market.
An alternative way to use high–low pricing is to increase the price for a short time, sometimes as much as 500%, after which it is "discounted" to what its normal selling price. After the price is reduced to the "sale" price, it may often stay at that price for a long time, sometimes longer than two weeks, after which customers may begin to question whether the reduction is genuine. Artificial discounts of this sort are illegal in the United Kingdom.