fanatico wrote:
Certain items—those with that hard-to-define quality called exclusivity—have the odd property, when they become available for sale, of selling rapidly even though they are extremely expensive. In fact, trying to sell such an item fast by asking too low a price is a serious error, since it calls into question the very thing—exclusivity—that is supposed to be the item’s chief appeal. Therefore, given that a price that will prove to be right is virtually impossible for the seller to gauge in advance, the seller should make sure that any error in the initial asking price is in the direction of setting the price too high.
The argument recommends a certain pricing strategy on the grounds that
(A) this strategy lacks a counterproductive feature of the rejected alternative
(B) this strategy has all of advantages of the rejected alternative, but fewer of its disadvantages
(C) experience has proven this strategy to be superior, even though the reasons for this superiority elude analysis
(D) this strategy does not rely on prospective buyers estimates of value
(E) the error associated with this strategy, unlike the error associated with the rejected alternative, is likely to go unnoticed
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
(A) Yes. The strategy is to price the item high to maintain an aura of exclusivity. The counterproductive feature of pricing the item low is that it may lose its exclusivity: “
In fact, trying to sell such an item fast by asking too low a price is a serious error, since it calls into question the very thing—exclusivity—that is supposed to be the item’s chief appeal.”
(B) No. The strategy is to price the item high. The advantages of the rejected alternative (pricing the item low) are not mentioned in the passage.
(C) No. The strategy is to price the item high, and the passage implies that this is the superior strategy because it preserves or increases the “exclusivity” of the item.
(D) No. This is not mentioned in the passage.
(E) No. The “error” is in pricing the item at other than the “right price.” The passage does not indicate that an error in pricing the item high will go unnoticed, but does indicate that there is a greater disadvantage in pricing the item low.