To wit: the Mint will also sell you in line with Chinese numerology collectible bills with “777”s or “888”s in their SNs with a decorative envelope. Bless the marketing exec who’s finding nontraditional markets for collectible currency.
Sevens are a massive number in Chinese numerology: The 7 parts (yin/yang/metals), the 7 steps, 7 captures, etc.
Eights are symbols of prosperity, wealth, generosity, good fortune in business, etc.
Six is a kinda useless number for money -- Smoothness and whatnot are less for money and more for one's tongue. You'd name a wine after a six (I've seen "Dice Wine" referring to 6-sided dice) but not look for it in bills
Well, https://hsbc.banklocationmaps.com/en/chn/shanghai only lists one branch at a street address of 666, and that one is really just sharing the address of the commercial center where it's located, but that still seems like enough for this point.
8 is heavily represented. 6 is a runner-up. 7 doesn't appear to be significant in this context.
Consider the branch phone numbers:
3888 3888
3888 8468
3888 8900
3888 1200
6279 8582
3888 3111
3888 1318
3888 1188
3888 6455
3888 8618
3888 8688
3888 1218
3888 6388
There is technically one 7 in there, but it seems clear that the bank would have preferred not to have it. Counting only the second halves, 8 is overwhelmingly popular, so is 1 (for reasons I don't know), 6 is only barely ahead of what's typical, but still in third place, and 7 doesn't even exist.
For those who are interested: the Chinese character for 8 is a pair of downward lines, close together at the top, far apart at the bottom. Looks a bit like / \. The idea behind it, as far as I know, is that it represents things growing larger, which is why it is of interest where wealth is concerned.
The sold listings for "miscut dollar bill" would beg to differ.
I am _always_ and _continually_ surprised at what people will pay for things. Literally _nobody_ scaled back their consumption or purchasing during post-COVID inflation. Home prices are sky-high but it's still a sellers market because buyers are scared that prices will jump again and instead of simply being a difficult purchase, maybe next year it will be an impossible one. Must be easy money being a realtor right now.
Every time I have sold something on Craigslist or FB Marketplace in the last few years, I list it 25% higher than what I'd actually pay if I were buying it myself and expect to be negotiated down to something sensible. So far, excluding the low-effort moronic "what's your lowest price" texts, exactly ZERO buyers have tried to negotiate down.
I have come to the conclusion that most people simply have no upper limit to what they will pay for something they want. A few will scoff and turn away. Some will complain about it on the Internet, but most will buy it anyway. I don't run a business but if I did, this would be my golden rule of pricing.
I think people have an upper limit. Sure, $7 eggs might be below the limit but if you want into a grocery store because you wanted to make french toast and the eggs are $25 are you buying them or just eating something else?
I would agree that the upper limit is above what the common price is though. This should really be a good thing because you want people to consume goods; that makes the economy go in a circle. For necessities like food and gas (energy) the government goes out of its way to subsidize them.
I just think most people don't feel like putting in the work to figure out what a clearing price for an action would be when selling not-auctioned items. This is where things like RealPage get dangerous because it will find the best price and that best price is not what the median people can afford.
