We judge things relative to nearby alternatives, not in isolation.
More quotes£34 for a bag of coffee sounds deranged. Thirty-seven pence for a cup sounds almost responsible. Same arithmetic. Different neighbours.
Nespresso packaged coffee into convenient pods and moved the comparison from a supermarket bag towards a café cup. The unit changed the opponent. Suddenly the important number measured one drink rather than grams of coffee, and the till receipt felt different before the price moved a penny.
A meal kit can stand beside raw ingredients or takeaway. A taxi may look expensive beside a bus and cheap beside missing the flight. A course can look expensive beside a book and cheap beside repeating the same mistake for a year. Before cutting the price, ask which neighbour the buyer has naturally chosen and whether a more useful comparison already exists. The frame works best when it reflects the decision already happening in the buyer’s life, rather than one invented backwards to make finance feel attractive.
Comparison can easily become accounting cabaret. “Only 83p a day” loses its charm when £3,000 leaves the account now. An invented rival price that nobody has paid is a stage prop. A fair comparison uses the alternative somebody might realistically choose for the same job.
Look at the company your price keeps. Which unit does the buyer use? What are they replacing? Does the package reveal value or hide the total? Thirty-seven pence made grams the wrong conversation. That is framing with commercial purpose; the full price remains visible and the buyer can still do the sums.