3 ms·

Why don't they modify the prices, so that the after-tax amount is always a multiple of 0.10? That would make more sense since they are creating the problem in t

by jusob 16y ago

Why don't they modify the prices, so that the after-tax amount is always a multiple of 0.10? That would make more sense since they are creating the problem in the first place by choosing not rounded prices.

tptacek 16y ago
Probably because changing the actual prices on the board is a Big Deal; they probably paid at least six figures to devise the exact pricing scheme they have. Rounding pennies at the register on the other hand is not a big deal; nobody should care.
BrandonM 16y ago
This isn't possible due to rounding. If you live somewhere with 7.5% sales tax (just to pick a number) and you want an item to be exactly $1.50, you have to price it at $1.40. Want five of those? The total comes to $7.52.
- a-priori 16y ago
  So just always use the after-tax prices, and make that a multiple of $0.05. Show that price on the display boards, on the receipts, etc. I know they do this in Switzerland, for example. In Canada (and the US?) that's what happens with gasoline, but not with anything else. I think that's strange.
  - asmithmd1 16y ago
    That is against the law in Massachusetts. All prices must be pre-tax.
    - jrockway 16y ago
      So, make the sane price after-tax, and display the pre-tax price to 100 decimal places (or whatever). Honestly, even if this is only done for the "critical path", it can still make life easier. I pay $4.16 for a large latte at Starbucks. It would be easier if it was $4 or $5. I don't care if the price is easy for two lattes or if I get a half-caf skim extra hot latte with 94 extra espresso shots. Just make the basics simple, and you will save a lot of effort. (Profile, then fix the slow parts.)
    - follower 16y ago
      What's the reasoning for this policy? I always find it frustrating when I visit the US dealing with pre-tax price stickers. Thank you Oregon for not doing this. :)
    - micks56 16y ago
      Are you sure? Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium show post-tax prices.
      - jerf 16y ago
        Many places get exemptions. If you look, you may be able to spot public signs that cite the exemption and under what law they have them. I don't know about everywhere but I remember seeing such signs in Cedar Point (an amusement park in Ohio) about a decade ago. (They've since lost their exemption for whatever reason, so don't go looking now.)
seanalltogether 16y ago
Better yet, why is it not possible to just force the conversion at the till itself. Are most POS machines not capable of having the taxes rounded to the nickel instead of the penny? Then it all simply becomes transparent to everyone involved.
duck 16y ago
I'm pretty sure pricing is set by the franchise's corporation office, so that would be no easy feat. Also, if the tax percentage changed all the pricing would change as well.
aaw 16y ago
Pret A Manger (a sandwich chain) used to do something like this in NYC a few years back. Everything you bought would have an odd price like $7.13 or $10.32 so that once everything was rung up, your total was always a multiple of 25 cents. I loved the idea but I guess they found some problems with it because they eventually stopped doing it - it would be interesting to know why.
- toolate 16y ago
  I always consider Pret to be a coffee shop, but even Wikipedia says they're a sandwich store.
aidenn0 16y ago
I don't know if you live in the US or not, but this is basically impossible. First of all some jurisdictions make that illegal. Second of all, large businesses then can't have advertising campaigns that advertise the price due to differing sales-tax rates. Even small differences matter in high-volume low-margin businesses. Even local businesses can have this problem. The city I live in imposes a small (like .25%) sales tax on top of the state sales tax, so that if you are outside city limits, you pay a different tax rate than if you are inside city limits.
psadauskas 16y ago
I worked at a movie theater in college, they had it set up so that the post-tax prices for tickets and concessions always came out to an even quarter. Made it a lot faster for the cashiers, since they only ever had to have quarters in their drawer.

by jusob 16y ago

tptacek 16y ago

Probably because changing the actual prices on the board is a Big Deal; they probably paid at least six figures to devise the exact pricing scheme they have. Rounding pennies at the register on the other hand is not a big deal; nobody should care.

BrandonM 16y ago

This isn't possible due to rounding. If you live somewhere with 7.5% sales tax (just to pick a number) and you want an item to be exactly $1.50, you have to price it at $1.40. Want five of those? The total comes to $7.52.

a-priori 16y ago
So just always use the after-tax prices, and make that a multiple of $0.05. Show that price on the display boards, on the receipts, etc. I know they do this in Switzerland, for example. In Canada (and the US?) that's what happens with gasoline, but not with anything else. I think that's strange.
- asmithmd1 16y ago
  That is against the law in Massachusetts. All prices must be pre-tax.
  - jrockway 16y ago
    So, make the sane price after-tax, and display the pre-tax price to 100 decimal places (or whatever). Honestly, even if this is only done for the "critical path", it can still make life easier. I pay $4.16 for a large latte at Starbucks. It would be easier if it was $4 or $5. I don't care if the price is easy for two lattes or if I get a half-caf skim extra hot latte with 94 extra espresso shots. Just make the basics simple, and you will save a lot of effort. (Profile, then fix the slow parts.)
  - follower 16y ago
    What's the reasoning for this policy? I always find it frustrating when I visit the US dealing with pre-tax price stickers. Thank you Oregon for not doing this. :)
  - micks56 16y ago
    Are you sure? Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium show post-tax prices.
    - jerf 16y ago
      Many places get exemptions. If you look, you may be able to spot public signs that cite the exemption and under what law they have them. I don't know about everywhere but I remember seeing such signs in Cedar Point (an amusement park in Ohio) about a decade ago. (They've since lost their exemption for whatever reason, so don't go looking now.)

seanalltogether 16y ago

Better yet, why is it not possible to just force the conversion at the till itself. Are most POS machines not capable of having the taxes rounded to the nickel instead of the penny? Then it all simply becomes transparent to everyone involved.

duck 16y ago

I'm pretty sure pricing is set by the franchise's corporation office, so that would be no easy feat. Also, if the tax percentage changed all the pricing would change as well.

aaw 16y ago

Pret A Manger (a sandwich chain) used to do something like this in NYC a few years back. Everything you bought would have an odd price like $7.13 or $10.32 so that once everything was rung up, your total was always a multiple of 25 cents. I loved the idea but I guess they found some problems with it because they eventually stopped doing it - it would be interesting to know why.

toolate 16y ago
I always consider Pret to be a coffee shop, but even Wikipedia says they're a sandwich store.

aidenn0 16y ago

I don't know if you live in the US or not, but this is basically impossible. First of all some jurisdictions make that illegal. Second of all, large businesses then can't have advertising campaigns that advertise the price due to differing sales-tax rates. Even small differences matter in high-volume low-margin businesses. Even local businesses can have this problem. The city I live in imposes a small (like .25%) sales tax on top of the state sales tax, so that if you are outside city limits, you pay a different tax rate than if you are inside city limits.

psadauskas 16y ago

I worked at a movie theater in college, they had it set up so that the post-tax prices for tickets and concessions always came out to an even quarter. Made it a lot faster for the cashiers, since they only ever had to have quarters in their drawer.