As long as I’ve been around, retailers have been pricing their goods at a few cents less than a round dollar figure. (For example, $9.99 or $19.95.) I was wondering, when did this practice start? Who was the first to put it in use? Do they actually think they’re fooling anybody into believing they’re paying a meaningfully less amount?
Cecil knows.
The Infallible Master speaks. (It should come as no surprise).
“Wielders of the big shovel”. Heh, that tickled me. This must’ve been written back in the day, when Cecil was still funny. 
I had heard that it was the Woolworth’s stores who really got into pricing things for odd cents (not just x.99). To encourage the cashiers to use the cash registers, the items were all priced at odd prices that couldn’t be easily added up. This was to help accounting and to prevent employees from skimming the cash.
I read this a long time ago and I can’t find anything online, so I’m not sure if it’s true or not.