Cheap Tricks

There's a science to pricing. And within it, a specialty that deals with deals... Or more precisely determining the discounts it takes to make things sell well regardless of whether the products are actually good buys.

More than the initial cost, savvy consumers must consider cost of use and whether any resale value is retained.

Ellen Ruppel Shell writes about science and public policy, teaches science journalism at Boston University and is the author of Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture.

Audio: BBC, PRI & WBUR's Here & Now, November 27. Host: Robin Young.