Nice Try, Amit: Customers Ain’t That Dumb

Remember that guy Amit? The banker with a side hustle running a Subway? Well, guess what: he’s onto his next adventure.

This time, it’s a tiny café where he serves masala tea, puff pastries, and samosas. No corporate menus, no assembly-line food: just warmth, flavor, and connection.

But Amit, being Amit, wanted to be smart about pricing. He stumbled upon something called the decoy effect: a trick big chains use to make you spend more without realizing it.

Here’s how it works:

Say you’re buying tea. The menu says:

• Small Tea - $2

• Large Tea - $5

• Medium Tea - $4.50 (Wait… why?)

That medium tea isn’t meant to sell. It’s a trap: a way to make the large tea seem like a steal. Customers see the 50-cent difference and think, "Might as well get the large!" They spend more without realizing it.

Amit thought, “Genius! I’ll use this to boost sales!”

But when he told me, I nearly choked on my own tea. “Amit, your customers aren’t fools.”

People don’t go to small cafés to be tricked. They go for honest flavors, real conversations, and the comfort of knowing they’re valued. If Amit started playing games like Dunkin’ or Starbucks, he’d lose what made his café special.

He leaned back, thinking. Then he smiled. “You’re right. I don’t need tricks. I just need to serve the best masala tea in town.”

And that’s exactly what he did. Soon, Amit’s café wasn’t just another shop: it was a place where people gathered, where every sip of tea felt like home.