the.com/sticker price

The number everyone sees and almost no one actually pays.

means The full, undiscounted price officially listed on a product — especially a car — before any haggling, rebates, or incentives knock it down.

from Literal before figurative: the term comes from the actual paper sticker — the Monroney sticker, named after the U.S. senator whose 1958 law required it — glued to new car windows listing the manufacturer's suggested retail price and features. The label stuck so firmly in American life that 'sticker price' peeled off the windshield and onto everything else expensive, from college tuition to sticker-shock headlines.

origin
named after window stickers on new cars
negotiation bait
set high so discounts feel generous
college twist
most students pay far less via aid
anchor effect
shapes what you think is fair
the.com · every word