The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: The Showcases

The showcases

Rules

Two contestants participate. A showcase with multiple prizes is shown to both contestants. The contestant who has won more up to that point in the show decides if they want to bid on that showcase or pass it to the other contestant. The second showcase is then presented and whoever didn't bid on the first showcase bids on the second one. Whichever contestant is closer to the actual retail price of the showcase they bid on without going over wins their showcase. If the winner was less than or equal to $250 away from the price of their showcase, they win both showcases.

Random facts

• Do NOT call this the showcase showdown!! The showcase showdown refers to the wheel, not the showcase round at the end of the show. There's probably no easier way to make a normally casual, easy-going Price is Right fan suddenly go ballistic than by calling this segment the showcase showdown.
• The closest difference between the two contestants was $1:
  
• In 2008, Terry Kneiss bid perfectly on his showcase. There's a whole documentary about how that happened which I highly recommend.

Who won? (Seasons 29-46)

• The top winner won their showcase 43.09% of the time.
• The runner up won their showcase 49.98% of the time.
• A double overbid happened 6.93% of the time.

Pricing patterns

• Showcases are never below $20,000. (The last time a showcase cost less than $20,000 was in season 42, 5 years ago).
• The last three digits of the price of each showcase are always between -251 and -999, inclusive. (I believe the last time the last three digits of a showcase's value were between -000 and -250, inclusive, was season 40, 7 years ago. I haven't been able to check this exhaustively, so I welcome correction. But I do know it's been a long time.)

Strategy

While nothing beats knowing the prices of the prizes, you should use that last bullet point above to your advantage. The reason they don't use prices ending between -000 and -250 is believed to be that the producers don't want a contestant to win both showcases by bidding a value that's divisible by $1,000. For example, they don't want bids like $23,000 to win both showcases, so they'll add an excursion to a trip or an option to a car to raise the price of a showcase from $23,123 to $23,452. Thus, the bid of $23,000 doesn't win both showcases. As a result, the last three digits of your bid should never be between -000 and -250, inclusive. So instead of bidding $23,000, bid $23,251. And thus your minimum showcase bid should be $20,251 when you combine the two bullet points in the pricing patterns section above. So to sum up:

• Your bid should be at least $20,251.
• The last three digits of your bid should be between 251 and 999 inclusive.