Penny Pinching

So since the Feds have stopped making the penny, I’ve been seeing signs posted on the doors of all the merchants and stores I frequent asking patrons to pay with exact change or to bring in their loose pennies to sell. Maybe the Feds will resume making the penny at some point. Or maybe they won’t. But anyway, the situation got me to thinking. I wonder why merchants haven’t changed their prices, rounded up or down, to the nearest nickel. Take MA for example. We don’t tax food, certain clothing and certain healthcare products, among other things. So just price those items some increment of 5 cents. For taxable items, such as most consumer goods, price them so the sale price PLUS the sales tax adds to an increment of a nickel. May take a lot of work, but I’m sure some chief inventory officer somewhere has a spreadsheet of all items stocked in the store, their acquisition cost and the sticker price. Do some quick multiplication and division, and voila -a new master price list is generated.

Thoughts?

Quote: GenoDRPh

So since the Feds have stopped making the penny, I’ve been seeing signs posted on the doors of all the merchants and stores I frequent asking patrons to pay with exact change or to bring in their loose pennies to sell. Maybe the Feds will resume making the penny at some point. Or maybe they won’t. But anyway, the situation got me to thinking. I wonder why merchants haven’t changed their prices, rounded up or down, to the nearest nickel. Take MA for example. We don’t tax food, certain clothing and certain healthcare products, among other things. So just price those items some increment of 5 cents. For taxable items, such as most consumer goods, price them so the sale price PLUS the sales tax adds to an increment of a nickel. May take a lot of work, but I’m sure some chief inventory officer somewhere has a spreadsheet of all items stocked in the store, their acquisition cost and the sticker price. Do some quick multiplication and division, and voila -a new master price list is generated.

Thoughts?

I've been putting everything on a card for a long long long time
I only use cash at the casino and dispensary.
I have pennies
I plan to use them when I cash out my sports bets to bring up to next whole dollar
I have 680 dollars riding on the tournament
I put 20 dollars on 34 underdogs taking the points
I didn't bet last night but got money on tonight's games
1 team playing tonight has just 1 loss and is also an underdog
Starting to consider using cash for gas if there is a cash discount

...And another thing.

Why do gas stations still list prices with a ".9" fraction, e.g. "$4.54 9/10?"

Quote: missedhervee

...And another thing.

Why do gas stations still list prices with a ".9" fraction, e.g. "$4.54 9/10?"

Psychological $4.54 in big, bold letters, with the 9/10 much smaller, looks better than $4.55.

Asking to buy a galllon of gas and demand "exact change."

Quote: GenoDRPh

So since the Feds have stopped making the penny, I’ve been seeing signs posted on the doors of all the merchants and stores I frequent asking patrons to pay with exact change or to bring in their loose pennies to sell. Maybe the Feds will resume making the penny at some point. Or maybe they won’t. But anyway, the situation got me to thinking. I wonder why merchants haven’t changed their prices, rounded up or down, to the nearest nickel. Take MA for example. We don’t tax food, certain clothing and certain healthcare products, among other things. So just price those items some increment of 5 cents. For taxable items, such as most consumer goods, price them so the sale price PLUS the sales tax adds to an increment of a nickel. May take a lot of work, but I’m sure some chief inventory officer somewhere has a spreadsheet of all items stocked in the store, their acquisition cost and the sticker price. Do some quick multiplication and division, and voila -a new master price list is generated.

Thoughts?

I have no sympathy for 99.9% of retailers who have to round up or round down as it obviously doesn't matter in the long run, but with exceptions:

* some states had laws you can't round up, though for most places this is still no big deal if you ask me.

* In special situations I could see where rounding might be a problem, as in a vendor who has only a few inexpensive products, a certain price is traditional and important, and the same sale keeps repeating over and over with a round-down.

* Self-checkout machines that can't handle this and aren't programmable. Although I don't really sympathize, I hate self-checkout. Hire cashiers, you asses! [hypocritical statement since I sometimes grudgingly find self-checkout convenient]

Quote: odiousgambit

I hate self-checkout. Hire cashiers, you asses! [hypocritical statement since I sometimes grudgingly find self-checkout convenient]

The only self-checkouts that have really annoyed me are fast food restaurants. Always trying to upsell at each step instead of letting you complete the order. I can only speak to McDonalds and Taco Bell though. I haven't been to anything else, at least recently.

Quote: odiousgambit

I have no sympathy for 99.9% of retailers who have to round up or round down as it obviously doesn't matter in the long run, but with exceptions:

* some states had laws you can't round up, though for most places this is still no big deal if you ask me.

* In special situations I could see where rounding might be a problem, as in a vendor who has only a few inexpensive products, a certain price is traditional and important, and the same sale keeps repeating over and over with a round-down.

* Self-checkout machines that can't handle this and aren't programmable. Although I don't really sympathize, I hate self-checkout. Hire cashiers, you asses! [hypocritical statement since I sometimes grudgingly find self-checkout convenient]

Self-checkouts use the same barcode scanners and pricing info from manned registers, in ,my experience.

I too have handled cash infrequently for quite some time. Exceptions being the ags station I go to is cash only. I did go to a bakery today to by some pastries for my Muslim friend and his family for the end of Ramadan. I wanted to leave the girl a buck or two in the tip jar, but didn't have cash and already selected "no tip" at the annoying prompt on the tablet. I may have to start carrying around a few singles, just in case,from now on.

Cashed out a sports bet in Vegas
It was some dollars and 20 cents
I gave casino 3 quarters and 5 pennies to round up to next dollar
They took the quarters. Told me they didn't want the pennies.
Still rounded me up to next dollar

Quote: GenoDRPh

Self-checkouts use the same barcode scanners and pricing info from manned registers, in ,my experience.

I think some machines just shut down if they don't have pennies, unable to round up or down to nearest nickle