New bakery in my neighbourhood and their sales strategy

Yesterday evening I was a little hungry and my stomach was asking for something sweet. So I went to the new bakery that opened two weeks ago just across the street. They had tons of applie pie, banana bread and many other biscuits and cakes which looked really good, but I decided to have two donuts.

When I ordered them, the shopkeeper said to me: "Three donuts cost the same as two, 1.50€ - so I'll give you three, ok?". "Ok", I answered, although I wasn't that hungry. "One donut is 0.90€ and two or three donuts cost 1.50€", the shopkeeper repeated. When I went back home I couldn't stop wondering whether such a "three for two" strategy was really appropiate for that new bakery. Shouldn't they sell two donuts at, let's say, 1.30€ and three at 1.50€?

I suppose you all know "TheEconomist", a monthly business news magazine. Some time ago they used a very similiar sales strategy as the bakery from my neighbourhood. I don't remember the exact prices, but a subscription to the printed version of The Economist cost around 60€, while the suscription to the online version cost 120€. And there was also a third option: the subscription to the print and online version also cost 120€. So what was the sense of the second option (online version only)? Who would prefer it over the third option? Most probably... nobody. Most likely, the second one was a kind of a benchmark for the other two and it made the third option look less expensive.

I guess the new bakery from my neighbourhood tries to apply the same sales strategy: three donuts may seem less expensive if they cost the same as two. I'd say it's a good idea as many people will end up buying three donuts instead of one. Nevertheless there may be one hitch: some people may want to eat only two donuts and not three, especially if they're on a diet or if they just count their calories (with one of those fancy calorie counters). But this is something that the bakery will have to figure out – I'll let you know you if they stick to this sales policy or not.