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WASHINGTON - The science of pricing is serious business. In this Money Quick Tips we look at the science behind pricing and how the human mind responds to various price tags.

Here are some of the tricks of the trade and things to be mindful of whether you are a consumer buying or a businessperson selling.

According to behavioral psychologists and marketing specialists, approximately 90% of prices end in 9 or 5. Three digits (0, 5, 9) account for nearly 97% of all price endings.

Several things happen when you see $9.99:

• We tend to round down to the nearest round figure, in this case 9. Rounding upward involves an additional mental decision vs. simply storing the first digit in your head.

• We read from left to right and are more likely to retain the first number in a sequence before mentally checking out..

So in the case of $9.99, a consumer will likely recall the price is $9.00.

Because we focus on the first number and tend to round down vs. up, an item will sell better at $8.75 than the same item priced at $9.00.

By extension, an item priced at $8.25 will likely sell just as well as the same item priced at $8.00. If you have your own business, keep this in mind, when pricing your products.

As numbers get higher, so do the pricing stakes. In the case of these three numbers ($750 vs, $825 vs. $675), consumers will view them as roughly the same -- over $500.

They will not start to view them differently or balk at the price until it hits $900, at which point it may be viewed as nearly $1,000.

To get more information, check out http://usat.ly/Uolwtm.

(Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY)