Decoy pricing: adding a useless option that sells

Quick answer

Decoy pricing is the practice of adding a third option to your pricing that no one would rationally pick, in order to make a different option look like the obvious winner. The classic example is the Economist subscription page where the print-only option exists purely to make the print-and-digital combo look like a steal. On Facebook ad landing pages, the decoy is usually a feature-stripped middle tier.

The psychology

Decoys work because of the asymmetric dominance effect. When choosing between two options, buyers struggle. When choosing between three options where one is obviously dominated by another, the decision becomes easy — pick the dominator. The decoy doesn't need to sell; it just needs to make a different option look good.

The second mechanic is anchoring on the high option. A three-tier pricing page lets you show a top tier that anchors the value perception, a middle tier you actually want to sell, and a bottom tier the buyer rejects as 'too basic.' Without the top tier, the middle tier looks expensive. With the top tier, the middle tier looks reasonable.

Example offer copy

Pricing on the landing page (the ad CTA points here):

Starter — £29/month

• 5 generations a month


• Email support


• Watermarked output

Pro — £79/month

• Unlimited generations


• Priority support


• No watermark


• Team workspace


• API access

Pro Annual — £79/month, billed annually

• Everything in Pro


• 12 months access for the price of 10


• Priority queue


• API access

(The decoy is 'Pro' billed monthly. The 'Pro Annual' option is what you actually want people to pick — same monthly price but better value, so the monthly option exists to make annual look like the obvious winner.)

Why it works

The monthly Pro plan is the decoy. By itself it looks fine — £79/month for unlimited generations is reasonable. But sitting next to the annual plan at the same monthly price plus two free months, the monthly option becomes the option no rational buyer would pick. That's the whole point. Without the monthly option, the annual plan would look like 'the only Pro option' and would lose its bargain feel. With the monthly option as a decoy, the annual plan is 'the obvious choice.' Asymmetric dominance, doing its job quietly.

FAQs

Won't anyone buy the decoy by mistake?

Some will — that's fine, you still capture revenue. Just make sure the decoy isn't loss-making at scale.

How obvious should the decoy be?

Obvious enough that 90 percent of buyers can spot the better option in 5 seconds. Subtle decoys don't work; they have to feel dominated.

Can I use a decoy on a single-product page?

Yes — show three pack sizes where the middle pack is much worse value than the larger pack. 'One bottle £29, two bottles £55, six bottles £89' makes the six-pack the obvious pick.

Does decoy pricing work for services?

Yes — three service tiers where the middle tier deliberately lacks the most-wanted feature pushes buyers up to the top tier.

Is decoy pricing manipulative?

It guides choice toward the option you want to sell, but the buyer still gets what's on the label. Most pricing has decoys; you just notice them now.

Stop guessing which offer will convert

Pix-Vu generates and tests Facebook ad creative variations against your offer in minutes — not weeks. Upload your product, paste your offer, and get headlines, primary text, and visual variations engineered around proven offer psychology. See it in action at pix-vu.com.