The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Shopping Spree

Shopping Spree

Rules

Four prizes are shown as is a target price. The contestant must pick three prizes; if the sum of their prices is above the target price, they win all four prizes.

Random fact

I have nothing exciting to say about this game, so instead, enjoy this video of the Family Channel game show $hopping $pree from 1997:

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 32-47): 117-70 (62.57%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/4 (25%)

Which prize was the cheapest? (seasons 40-47)

• The prize on the far left: 17 playings (20.73%)
• The second prize from the left: 24 playings (29.27%)
• The second prize from the right: 24 playings (29.27%)
• The prize on the far right: 17 playings (20.73%)

Strategy

Don't worry about identifying the cheapest prize right away; instead, just pick the most expensive prize each time. Usually, there's a prize or two that's obviously a good choice to pick. So choose that one or those two and then you can narrow down what you think the cheapest prize is from there, based on how much you have left to spend. If you're completely clueless about the prices, pick the endpoints (i.e. the prize on the far left or the far right), as they have been slightly more likely to not be the cheapest prize. But that's not a strong trend, so only use that as a last resort.