I agree that value pricing is stupid. We had a unique home. I think we were about the only brand new house in the Poway school district on 5 acres with ocean view and under $900K. The point of the range is to show up in the MLS for people searching up to $799K, so they’ll come out to see the house. Once they fall in love with it, you negotiate with them for the higher price you really want.
It’s more of a point of pride/ego to get the full amount. This is the problem that the 22,000 sellers out there all have. Sellers’ ego prevents them from listing at market value. They are emotionally attached to their homes and don’t want to “give away” even $5. It’s crazy, I know. I am thrilled with the price we got, but only because I believe the future offers would have got lower.