Several things: 1. What you are missing here is that the highest price should be presented first. As we read left to right, the highest pice becomes an ancor point and the consecutive prices appears more affordable. 2. Furthermore if you have the dollar sign removed, it not longer "price" but a "number," thus prices appear more affordable. 3. You typically want to the price difference between the middle choice and the most expensive choice narrow. This send a message to the buyer that the lowest cost choice is "too cheap", not good enough, while for a relatively affordable additional cost, the buyer can buy the most exspeneisive and thus "best" option.