9/10 of a cent

[Dr. StrangeloveX]

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P.S. More ancient history: Back then, you couldn't pump your own gas. An attendent came out and pumped it, took your money, and gave you change. Rich people would say, "Fill'er up." Starving students such as myself would say, "Give me a dollar's worth."


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Welcome to Oregon. Whenever i go to portland i always fillup in vancouver just so i don't have to deal with that [censored].

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Isn't there somewhere closer than Vancouver to fill up?

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Vancouver WASHINGTON is just across the border from Portland.

And I used to do the same thing, last thing i want is some three toothed yokel pawing at my car.

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this makes you a tard because the cheapest gas (by quite a significant margin) in the area is at the flying j in troutdale (Oregon).

I also would rather pump my own gas, but if the difference between me doing it and somebody else doing it is going to literally be dollars, I have no problem letting them do it.

It's also kind of nice to have someone else do it when it's 20 degrees out and the wind is blowing forty miles an hour.

[MCS]

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They are not extra cents. The price is clearly stated. It was put correctly later in the thread by Jersey Guy.

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That's pretty nitpicking. I thought it was obvious what I meant, but perhaps not.

Although the more I think about it, the less I think this matters. Because if you set prices in whole cents, is there anyone who would go significantly out of their way to buy gas for $2.86 instead of $2.87?

P.S. Since we're being precise, it's Jersey Nick, not Jersey Guy. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] And I acknoweledge that my earlier grammar ("pretty nitpicking") is imperfect.

[private joker]

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Although the more I think about it, the less I think this matters. Because if you set prices in whole cents, is there anyone who would go significantly out of their way to buy gas for $2.86 instead of $2.87?


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That's what I'm saying. People are talking about the "psychology of pricing," given that people don't round up. First of all, Duh. The reason sodas are $1.99 and not $2.00 is because who wants to pay 2 bucks for a Pepsi when they can get one for a dollar and change.

But that's not the issue. If you want to use that psychology, then charge $2.59 a gallon instead of $2.60. Maybe when gas was 26 cents, the 26.9 sounded better than 27. But these days it's totally insignificant and stupid.

Also, the point of the 9-price psychology is to get consumers to buy things they might not ordinarily purchase if the price were higher. "I'm thirsty, but I don't want to spend 2 bucks on a Pepsi -- oh cool! Here's one for just $1.99, I think I'll get it," etc. That's not the case with gas. People who go to a gas station aren't wondering if maybe they should splurge and fuel up their car. They have to in order to reach their destination. You're not going to lose business by saying an even $2.67 as opposed to $2.66 and 9/10. This is *especially* the case because *every* gas station does it. So it can't even be a matter of competition in the marketplace.

It's dumb and I still don't understand it. The only reasonable argument thus far in the thread is the tax theory, but I'd like to hear more concrete evidence of how gasoline is taxed before I believe it.

[ChipWrecked]

Gas Taxes

[private joker]

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Gas Taxes

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OK, given that most of these are listen in cents or random tenths like .4, then that makes the specific .9 even dumber. I've concluded that the 9/10 in gasoline prices is moronic.

[Rick Nebiolo]

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How come gasoline is the only product that is priced to the tenth of a cent? Tacos are not $1.99 and 9/10. Car washes are not $6.99 9/10. A large Pepsi is not $1.50 9/10. Why just gasoline? And really, whom do they think they are kidding?

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It's because long ago they manufactured a lot more of those stickup signs with nine painted on it.

~ Rick

[Bulldog]

Say I'm running a busy gas station selling 8,000 gallons per day, at a current price of $2.799. I could decide to stop the .009 silliness and change my price. I'm not going to change it to $2.80, because the $2.799 across the street and the $2.749 a few miles away all of a sudden look a lot better. So I've gotta change it to $2.79. Now I've got a lower price than the $2.799 across the street, but almost nobody even recognizes that, so I see no bump in my volume sold.

Meanwhile, I'm selling 8,000 gallons per day for $72 less than I was yesterday. Even if I profit $0.40/gallon (probably a high guess), I'd have to sell 180 more gallons (or about 15 more fill-ups) to break even. Bad business decision for me, huh? [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

I agree that the $0.009 is silly, but I don't see how it is ever going to change.