In 2014, I wrapped up some volunteer work in Africa and decided to check something off my bucket list: a photography trek with the mountain gorillas. They live in only one part of the world, they’re critically endangered, and you need a special government permit. So I reached out to a handful of tour companies that arrange those permits along with transportation, accommodation, and meals. I shared what I was looking for and asked for quotes.

The quotes came back, and within five minutes I could see these companies had been copying each other’s homework. Word for word. “Stay in the heart of Africa, see these majestic creatures, sleep in deluxe accommodations, eat delicious food.” Same brochure language, four different letterheads. The only thing that varied was the number at the bottom.

Three of them landed around $2,500. The fourth was half that.

What was my first thought about that much cheaper option? What’s wrong with it? Am I hunting my own food? Am I the food? Am I sharing a tent with the gorillas? Is it really just a bunch of people in monkey suits?

I didn’t investigate the cheap one. I didn’t call them and ask what was different. I didn’t give them the benefit of the doubt. I just moved on. The quote document looked identical. The website looked identical. The list of amenities looked identical. It was the price tag alone, and that was enough.

That’s the price-quality effect. We use price as a proxy for quality. Expensive must be good. Cheap must be junk. It’s why you’d never eat at a 99-cent all-you-can-eat shrimp buffet.

You already know this as a buyer. You’ve stood in a store or sat at an online checkout and picked the pricier version of something for no reason other than wanting the good one. Maybe you bought the pricier tent for this weekend’s camping trip or the more expensive necklace for your mom for Mother’s Day. No spec sheet, no review, no real evidence. You used the price tag as your evidence. There’s such a thing as suspiciously cheap. There’s also such a thing as reassuringly expensive.

The effect runs stronger in some industries than others. When buyers can’t easily judge quality before they commit, such as services, expertise, or anything where the result shows up months later, price does a lot of the talking. Where quality is obvious and easy to compare side by side, it does less. But there is no industry where it plays no role at all.

Which means some of your customers, some of the time, on some of your opportunities, are looking at your price and using it to judge your quality.

What are you telling them about you?

Don’t be suspiciously cheap.