Louis, the irrational penny-prices in the U.S. stem largely from the
infuriating, deceptive practice of retailers who end prices in .99 to make
them seem smaller. Sales tax can add to the problem, but in many states
there is no sales tax on food. Many retailers find pennies such an enormous
bother that they essentially ignore them and round to the nearest 5 cents.
They have a cup by the cash register full of pennies. If they need a penny
to complete the sale, they take it out of the cup, rather than having the
customer give them the next larger coin (which would mean they would have to
give back many pennies in change). Conversely, if the customer gives them
pennies, they put them in the cup rather than the cash register. I think
most people would be happy if the government abandoned pennies altogether,
which at the very least would prevent stores from this stupid .99 pricing.
Typical sales taxes are 5 to 8 %. Rounded to the nearest 5 cents, the tax on
some items would be a little more; on some items a little less; but it
should all average out. Sales taxes are actually specified to the tenth and
even hundredth of a percent, but of course we now round totals to the
nearest cent. I see no difference if we rounded the total to the nearest 5
cents. That would mean that purchases totaling less than 70 or 80 cents
would pay no tax, but there are darn few purchases that small any more.
Better yet, they should include the tax in the price (as they do in many
countries, and as we do for gasoline), so you know upfront what you're
really paying.
I can't agree with Marcus' suggestion that we need more coins. I think we
need fewer coins, not more. I'd get rid of dimes (10 cents) too, and just
have nickels (5 cents) and quarters (25 cents). I like the Australian idea
of durable non-paper bills, color coded by denomination.
By the way, what is the official symbol for Eurocents?
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
> Behalf Of Louis JOURDAN
> Sent: Sunday, 2001 March 25 22:26
> To: U.S. Metric Association
> Subject: [USMA:11842] Re: New subject for debate
>
>
> At 15:44 -0600 01/03/25, Michael G. Koerner wrote:
> >I cannot see why the European Central Bank authorized a '2*¢' coin. It
> >strikes me as being BARELY more usefull than the 1¢ coin is here in the
> >USA. Had I been the 'Poo-Bah' in charge of coinage in the Euro zone, I
> >would not have gone any lower than 5*¢.
>
> The 1 "eurocent" (or ¤¢ ?) coin was necessary to avoid too large an
> inflation at the moment of practical introduction of the new
> currency. Right now, many items have a "square" price tag, eg 12 FRF
> or 85 BEF. When converted, this will become 1,83 and 2,11 ¤.
>
> Had the 1 eurocent coin not been designed, shoppers would not be able
> to give exact change. Therefore they would convert to even numbers -
> of course of the high side, or even to the 0,05 mark.
>
> But is it not the same situation in the US ? Many items are priced at
> square number before sales tax, but what you actually have to pay is
> often with 2 decimals and you need or get a number of 1 or 2 cents
> coins. Am I right ?
>
> Louis
>
>
