Best Practice Guide for Unit Pricing
> Unit Price is defined as “Price Per Unit of Measurement” of a consumer > commodity which is offered for sale in a retail marketplace. > > Two Requirements of Best Practice for Unit Pricing are: > > 1. That most consumers are able to perceive relative values of competing > packages by direct comparisons of Unit Prices of all package sizes, from all > vendors offering that commodity for sale in a particular marketplace or in a > neighboring marketplace. > > 2. A hand-held calculator is *not required* to complete such comparisons of > value for best-buy purchasing decisions. > > The numerator of Unit Price is *dollars* or *cents*, which can be > interchanged easily in the minds of most consumers by simple mental > arithmetic. > > The denominator of Unit Price is best expressed by a Unit of Measurement > which is related to other Units of Measurement by a multiple of ten to enable > evaluations by simple mental arithmetic. > > Thus, Best Practice requires expressions of Unit Prices such as: > > 1. Dollars per liter for bottled water. > 2. Cents per milliliter for eye drop. > 3. Cents per gram for super glue. > 4. Dollars per kilogram, for meat. > 5. Cents per meter for dental floss. > 6. Dollars per liter for orange juice. > 7. Dollars per liter for milk. > 8. Dollars per kilogram for icecream. > 9. Cents per gram for candy. > 10. Cents per gram for tooth paste. > 11. Dollars per liter for mouth wash. > 12. Dollars per liter for house paint. > 13. Dollars per square meter for fabricks.. > 14. Cents per count of 100 for garden seeds. > 15. Dollars per kilogram for garden mulch. > etc. > > In all cases of more, or less, of these amounts, the relative values are > easily determined by simple mental arithmetic within the capabilities of most > consumers. > > Note that units such as fluid ounce, pint, quart, gallon, pail, etc., which > are *not* related by multiples of ten, do *not* facilitate easy comparisons > of Unit Prices by simple mental arithmetic. > > The current Fair Packaging and Labeling Act requires both metric and > non-metric units of measurement in the declarations of the *net amounts* > inside packages and containers, but states *no requirements* for the Units of > Measurement which must be used in the denominators of Unit Prices. > > However, several States *require* units, not related by multiples of ten, in > the denominators of Unit Prices. Such multiples are three, eight, twelve, > sixteen, thirty two, etc. > > This requirement, for units not related by multiples of ten in the > denominator of Unit Prices, precludes value comparisons by easy mental > arithmetic, and must be avoided in Best- Practice Unit Pricing.
