Certain items -- those with that hard-to-define quality called exclusivity -- have the odd property, when they become available for sale, of selling rapidly even though they are extremely expensive. In fact, trying to sell such an item fast by asking too low a price is a serious error, since it calls into question the very thing -- exclusivity -- that is supposed to be the item' s chief appeal. Ttherefore, given that a price that will prove to be right is virtually impossible for the seller to gauge in advance, the seller should make sure that any error in the initial asking price is in the direction of setting the price too high. The argument recommends a certain pricing strategy on the grounds that ['the error associated with this strategy, unlike the error associated with the rejected alternative, is likely to go unnoticed', 'this strategy has all of the advantages of the rejected alternative, but fewer of its disadvantages', 'experience has proven this strategy to be superior, even though the reasons for this superiority elude analysis', 'this strategy lacks a counterproductive feature of the rejected alternative']