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As far as prices side by side ... well, I play World of Warcraft, which means I buy things off the in-game auction house. If something's 10 gold and 9.99 gold, I'll buy the 10g one -- and tell both vendors why. I doubt if it does any good (the weasel instinct is strong) but it makes me feel better.
It's difficult to tell if 2.99 works better than 3.00. There are more factors involved in a purchasing decision than price. In a simple real-world example, I have often paid more for a product on eBay, Amazon, etc., because the seller had a better rating. One of the things I'm buying is some assurance that the seller will actually send me what I bought and it won't be broken. Price, and whether or not it looks like he's trying to weasel me, is part of the seller's reputation. Companies spend a lot of money buying reputation -- they don't sponsor sporting events, for instance, for the love of it. To me, whether or not they choose to price their products in a way that makes them look like weasels is a part of that reputation. Sure, I might buy from a weasel -- if I need a widget and all the widgets are 2.99, I'll pay 2.99 -- but I'm still going to think "they're weasels" somewhere in my head. They're throwing away my goodwill after trying, via advertising and sponsorship, to buy it. (of course, since I see the sponsorship and image advertising for the cynical, hollow efforts that they are, they don't work very well on me either; I may just be a lost cause)
I do know, though, that one of the reasons I actually enjoy buying books from Baen is their simple $6 (or $5 or $4) pricing. It makes them look honest. Honest pricing will get far more of my business than sponsoring every golf tournament on the planet ever will. (besides, I hate golf)
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