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Author	Topic: Do we really need 9/10 of a penny in the price anymore?	Topic is locked Back to Topics

purplebears Champion Author Milwaukee Posts:9,158 Points:1,183,720 Joined:May 2009	Message Posted: May 22, 2009 10:30:12 PM Ignore purplebears Report Abuse Perhaps in the days of $.25 gas this practice seemed prudent but not anymore. I think they should stop using the "nine-tenths" of a cent when listing and selling gasoline.

purplebears

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Milwaukee

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Message Posted: May 22, 2009 10:30:12 PM

Ignore purplebears Report Abuse

Perhaps in the days of $.25 gas this practice seemed prudent but not anymore. I think they should stop using the "nine-tenths" of a cent when listing and selling gasoline.

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CaptSquid Champion Author Billings Posts:25,800 Points:3,206,715 Joined:Apr 2004	Message Posted: Jul 11, 2009 11:10:36 PM Ignore CaptSquid Report Abuse Do we really need to keep this topic alive?
rondobbs Champion Author Mobile Posts:8,777 Points:2,829,695 Joined:Apr 2004	Message Posted: Jul 11, 2009 7:58:43 PM Ignore rondobbs Report Abuse an old marketing ploy that won't go away
CaptSquid Champion Author Billings Posts:25,800 Points:3,206,715 Joined:Apr 2004	Message Posted: Jul 7, 2009 2:35:42 PM Ignore CaptSquid Report Abuse Sneakers, you and I both know that people are incapable of reading the FAQs or doing some sort of search, like <ctrl><F>.
Sneakers55 Champion Author Houston Posts:51,859 Points:2,169,580 Joined:Nov 2005	Message Posted: Jul 7, 2009 2:30:17 PM Ignore Sneakers55 Report Abuse CaptSquid wrote: >This topic has been beaten to death. You know and I know that it has been beaten to death. The problem is it keeps resurrecting itself, usually by novice authors but we had a veteran post it this time. It would help if people would read the FAQ.
Jay4Runner Champion Author Oakland Posts:10,846 Points:2,344,940 Joined:Apr 2004	Message Posted: Jul 3, 2009 9:18:09 PM Ignore Jay4Runner Report Abuse There are much more important issues to deal with than 9/10th. Like who is going to keep the Russians out of Alaska now that Grandma Palin is quitting her job? BTW, I think the penny should be retired and that the $2 bill should be the lowest denomination printed. The $1 coins time has arrived. Prices in Australia are rounded up or down to the nearest five cents based on the total order. It is done automatically at the register.
rumbleseat Champion Author Winnipeg Posts:23,070 Points:3,550,930 Joined:Oct 2002	Message Posted: Jul 2, 2009 9:44:11 PM Ignore rumbleseat Report Abuse Sorry, but if the 9/10 is eliminated, that would mean all fractional pricing would be eliminated, it wouldn't be 99.5, it would be $1. We don't need government telling business how to set their prices to the nearest 1/10 cent, the nearest cent, or any other restriction, which would have to be applied to ALL business, not jsut retail fuel.
rumbleseat Champion Author Winnipeg Posts:23,070 Points:3,550,930 Joined:Oct 2002	Message Posted: Jun 30, 2009 9:59:15 PM Ignore rumbleseat Report Abuse ruc2827, you really aren't seriously suggesting governments tell big oil how they can express their prices, are you? Does that mean 7-Eleven wouldn't be allowed to sell chocolate bars at 2 for 99 cents? Grocery stores wouldn't be allowed to sell pop at 3 for $3.49? You seriously want government to rule nothing can be fragmented pricing? And before anybody says it is different, how about if service stations sold fuel at 10 gallons for $24.99 instead of $2.49 per gallon? As soon as you allowed government to do that, they could rule all prices had to end in a 5 or a 0, or all prices had to be to the nearest 25 cents, or even to the nearest dollar. Ludicrous Yep, but so is government interference in a pricing practice that has no influence in how the world goes around anyway. [Edited by: rumbleseat at 7/1/2009 1:02:39 AM EST]
superhop Champion Author Pennsylvania Posts:2,118 Points:1,335,145 Joined:Mar 2005	Message Posted: Jun 30, 2009 8:57:45 PM Ignore superhop Report Abuse lets get rid of the penny all together. Gas to the nearest five cents. no tenths!
ruc2827 Veteran Author Illinois Posts:362 Points:838,670 Joined:May 2004	Message Posted: Jun 30, 2009 7:17:44 PM Ignore ruc2827 Report Abuse Unless every station does it at once it is infeasible. If one station does it and the station across the street doesn't, it will look like they are a penny more, and people will go to their competitor. The only way to fix this all at once, is for states to pass laws to force this across the board. I disagree its deceptive and misleading. Everyone knows since they were a kid this is common practice, so you can't claim anyone is really being misled or deceived.
AKQC Rookie Author Montreal Posts:37 Points:21,825 Joined:May 2009	Message Posted: Jun 30, 2009 6:07:51 PM Ignore AKQC Report Abuse Its cheap and a deceptive way to trick people into thinking they are paying less for something
mac07928 Sophomore Author New Jersey Posts:134 Points:900,265 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Jun 30, 2009 7:56:05 AM Ignore mac07928 Report Abuse NO!
rumbleseat Champion Author Winnipeg Posts:23,070 Points:3,550,930 Joined:Oct 2002	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2009 2:02:26 AM Ignore rumbleseat Report Abuse Stop talking about rounding it up. That would be only pennies per fill, but the oil companies would see hundreds of millions of dollars in free money, because those pennies per fill would be theirs, not ours. Now like Squiddy has said, this discussion started before the cows went out, and they have been back home for a long time. The various levels of government have better things to do than to look at this, and the oil companies don't give a cow-pie whether we want a change or not. No individual station or change is going to do it, because there would be an instantaneous loss of market share to the "most expensive stations" in town. Whether you believe it or not, the mind sees $3.00 as a LOT MORE than $2.999. And the industry will definitely not drop from $2.999 to $2.99, and lose hundreds of millions of dollars. [Edited by: rumbleseat at 6/25/2009 5:03:57 AM EST]
choops Champion Author New York Posts:6,903 Points:1,322,410 Joined:Jun 2009	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2009 5:56:45 PM Ignore choops Report Abuse round it up and be done w/ it
CaptSquid Champion Author Billings Posts:25,800 Points:3,206,715 Joined:Apr 2004	Message Posted: Jun 17, 2009 3:15:08 PM Ignore CaptSquid Report Abuse This topic has been beaten to death. Let it go.
JoeTheGuyInRI Veteran Author Rhode Island Posts:413 Points:63,340 Joined:Jul 2005	Message Posted: Jun 17, 2009 8:36:36 AM Ignore JoeTheGuyInRI Report Abuse I think the 1/10th of a penny we're saving is supposed to make us feel better. It isn't working very well.
AJICQ499087 Champion Author Louisville Posts:6,203 Points:1,872,365 Joined:Apr 2004	Message Posted: May 31, 2009 4:09:19 AM Ignore AJICQ499087 Report Abuse get rid of 9/10 of a penny
Teslukbla Champion Author Missouri Posts:25,584 Points:2,971,570 Joined:Jan 2005	Message Posted: May 30, 2009 1:33:41 PM Ignore Teslukbla Report Abuse Time to do away with it.
the_otg Veteran Author Pittsburgh Posts:391 Points:132,925 Joined:Jul 2008	Message Posted: May 30, 2009 12:37:59 PM Ignore the_otg Report Abuse I thought it was a foolish way to price when I worked in a full service Gulf station in the early '70s. It was explained to me then about the millions of pennies the oil companies collected over the years. Greed way back then whoda thunk
catfish99 Champion Author Wilmington Posts:14,171 Points:2,524,225 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: May 30, 2009 6:09:44 AM Ignore catfish99 Report Abuse Since gas is normally sold in quantities greater than ten gallons, why not?
graceman Champion Author Baltimore Posts:4,968 Points:1,158,725 Joined:Jun 2008	Message Posted: May 30, 2009 1:12:27 AM Ignore graceman Report Abuse Its just a silly number
malcm Champion Author Los Angeles Posts:3,000 Points:1,277,570 Joined:Dec 2003	Message Posted: May 27, 2009 6:07:41 PM Ignore malcm Report Abuse The "game of 9's" is prevalent in ALL market pricing as a psychological tool. Some are still fooled by it, I guess. Perhaps gas prices should be raised to "& 19/20", & the extra profit cd finance a retirement fund for needy oil co. execs. They work so hard.
hcivic Champion Author Virginia Posts:3,994 Points:2,293,415 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: May 27, 2009 4:33:08 PM Ignore hcivic Report Abuse it wont change
Gunny46 Rookie Author Texas Posts:3 Points:160 Joined:Feb 2007	Message Posted: May 26, 2009 9:37:36 AM Ignore Gunny46 Report Abuse .9 cents I count as a penny. I remember when gas was 15 cents a gal for leaded gas. Gas wars would bring it down to as low as 10 cents a gal. Boy, that was the good old days.
rburly Rookie Author Orlando Posts:61 Points:75,850 Joined:Aug 2008	Message Posted: May 26, 2009 6:05:21 AM Ignore rburly Report Abuse It makes us think we're getting gas cheaper. (It'll never change)
Sealer Champion Author Charleston Posts:5,653 Points:838,850 Joined:Jan 2008	Message Posted: May 26, 2009 4:44:14 AM Ignore Sealer Report Abuse Would you rather round it up? If so, just go inside and drop in a penny for every 10 gallons you buy. I don't understand why you think we should all pay more just because you have something against the number 9.
happydaznVa Champion Author Virginia Beach Posts:44,038 Points:1,674,970 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: May 24, 2009 7:53:27 PM Ignore happydaznVa Report Abuse No, rounding 9/10 of a cent up probably is worth changing the prices.
insdog Rookie Author Cleveland Posts:3 Points:1,010 Joined:May 2009	Message Posted: May 24, 2009 4:12:22 PM Ignore insdog Report Abuse all the pumps being installed are digital, so they calculate price right down to the 9/10cent. it isn; t going away any time soon,
UP-Skier Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:13,361 Points:2,958,370 Joined:Oct 2002	Message Posted: May 23, 2009 7:01:55 PM Ignore UP-Skier Report Abuse What's the problem, 9/10 of a cent isn't a difficult concept.
CaptSquid Champion Author Billings Posts:25,800 Points:3,206,715 Joined:Apr 2004	Message Posted: May 23, 2009 10:28:03 AM Ignore CaptSquid Report Abuse Why beat a dead horse? This topic has been discussed far too many times. Just do a little research and GIVE IT A REST!
HeavyDuty_cache Champion Author Omaha Posts:13,062 Points:2,505,055 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: May 23, 2009 5:35:24 AM Ignore HeavyDuty_cache Report Abuse Again? Doesn't anyone look before they start a new topic?
rumbleseat Champion Author Winnipeg Posts:23,070 Points:3,550,930 Joined:Oct 2002	Message Posted: May 23, 2009 4:21:31 AM Ignore rumbleseat Report Abuse If the .9 cent (in Canada I see a lot of .4, and some .3) were dropped, you really don't think the price would actually drop that 9/10 of a cent do you? No chancee, it would round up. Think of all the hundreds of millions of cars filling up on a regular basis, each of them only paying a few cents a tank more, and you have a gift to Big Oil of more millions of dollars a year than you really, really, want to know about. Nobody, but nobody would ever want to be first to drop it anyway, it would be a catastrophic business move. Imagine 3 stations in a block, 2 of them selling a gallon of gas for $2.199, and on selling for $2.20. Guess whose business drops through the floor as people drive past to purchase at the "cheaper" stations? And before you say it, no, people aren't smart enough to see it is only 3 or 4 cents a tankfull. People, with a few exceptions, have never been that smart.
Sneakers55 Champion Author Houston Posts:51,859 Points:2,169,580 Joined:Nov 2005	Message Posted: May 22, 2009 11:12:00 PM Ignore Sneakers55 Report Abuse I can remember seeing gas with a number other than "9" on the end, but it was priced in liters. Amoco, at least in Kansas, had a lot of pumps that couldn't count higher than 99.9 per gallon. On the other hand, they found it easy and cheap to change the pumps to read out per liter. This was back in the days when the United States Metric Board was actively in business (started by Ford, killed by Reagan).