Speaking of paying for things, years ago I had some old US red seal currency, but they were only worth very marginally over the face value. So I got kicks out of spending them at stores and seeing the reactions of the clerks. At one shop, the young clerk was probably born long after those bills vanished from circulation, and when she looked at what I handed her, she told me to wait a moment. She went to the side to speak to the manager, thinking it was counterfeit. The manager, realized what it was and whispered to her to accept it, probably thinking the bill was very valuable and he'd just made a good score by accepting it.
Prices that end in 0.99 e.g. $29,999.99.Pah! That's peanuts. It would turn into $20,000 when justifying the purchase to the missus
It is very hard to find two-dollar bills anymore. When they were more common, some businesses made a point of paying their creditors with two-dollar bills to show the town how important they were to the local economy.
I'm in the market for a new microscope, and prices are never available on any dealer websites--you always have to "request a quote". Unfortunately, requesting a quote means giving details like your email address and/or phone number to the company, which then results in a constant flurry of annoying calls/emails from sales droids.
It does work. Psychologically $4.99 is interpreted as significantly lower than $5. Personally I don't really care about that, but it annoys me that gasoline here is always priced with a 9/10th cent on the end, ie 2.969/gal. It shouldn't even be legal to price something in smaller increments than is possible with our currency denominations.I bought an item in a supermarket that was marked up as 19.99 .I gave them a 20 note . And stood with my hand out . The girl said What ! . I'm waiting for my change. She said I haven't got a 1. I Said I'm not leaving till I get it and by law she has to comply .
The manager turned up .
After a very heated argument I started to phone the police. If the store takes 0.1 from 1000 customers a day . This is stealing .
In the end I got the only small coin available. A half . So I paid 19.50 . They lost I won .
Always demand you correct change. Every One counts 🤪
Now those blasted Susan B. Anthony Dollar coins, when I tried to spend those, they'd typically think they were quarters, and ask me for more money.
Now those blasted Susan B. Anthony Dollar coins, when I tried to spend those, they'd typically think they were quarters, and ask me for more money.
On the flip side, more than once I have bought something, gotten change and then realized when I got home or sometimes days later that the clerk gave me Susan B Anthony dollars thinking they were quarters. I really don't know what they were thinking when those coins were designed though, they should have made them a different color or given them a unique shape. It's just common sense that coins should be very easy to identify, by sight, by touch and by mechanical means.
It does work. Psychologically $4.99 is interpreted as significantly lower than $5. Personally I don't really care about that, but it annoys me that gasoline here is always priced with a 9/10th cent on the end, ie 2.969/gal. It shouldn't even be legal to price something in smaller increments than is possible with our currency denominations.I bought an item in a supermarket that was marked up as 19.99 .I gave them a 20 note . And stood with my hand out . The girl said What ! . I'm waiting for my change. She said I haven't got a 1. I Said I'm not leaving till I get it and by law she has to comply .
The manager turned up .
After a very heated argument I started to phone the police. If the store takes 0.1 from 1000 customers a day . This is stealing .
In the end I got the only small coin available. A half . So I paid 19.50 . They lost I won .
Always demand you correct change. Every One counts 🤪
It's kind of ridiculous that it came to that. First of all they should have had a pile of pennies and other coins in the register drawer to make change. Second, if I were waiting behind some numbskull who was holding up the whole line over a penny I would happily take a penny out of my own pocket and give it to them to get the line moving.
It is very hard to find two-dollar bills anymore. When they were more common, some businesses made a point of paying their creditors with two-dollar bills to show the town how important they were to the local economy.
I have one around here somewhere. I'm not really sure WHY they exist but they certainly do.
Now those blasted Susan B. Anthony Dollar coins, when I tried to spend those, they'd typically think they were quarters, and ask me for more money.
On the flip side, more than once I have bought something, gotten change and then realized when I got home or sometimes days later that the clerk gave me Susan B Anthony dollars thinking they were quarters. I really don't know what they were thinking when those coins were designed though, they should have made them a different color or given them a unique shape. It's just common sense that coins should be very easy to identify, by sight, by touch and by mechanical means.
It is very hard to find two-dollar bills anymore. When they were more common, some businesses made a point of paying their creditors with two-dollar bills to show the town how important they were to the local economy.
I have one around here somewhere. I'm not really sure WHY they exist but they certainly do.
Prices that end in 0.99 e.g. $29,999.99.
It is very hard to find two-dollar bills anymore. When they were more common, some businesses made a point of paying their creditors with two-dollar bills to show the town how important they were to the local economy.
I have one around here somewhere. I'm not really sure WHY they exist but they certainly do.
It's so our currency has denominations that match oscilloscope horizontal and vertical scale divisions: 1, 2, 5. (Which doesn't explain why we have a quarter dollar coin.)
I have a whole set of them - stunning portrait - eh?
It is very hard to find two-dollar bills anymore. When they were more common, some businesses made a point of paying their creditors with two-dollar bills to show the town how important they were to the local economy.
I have one around here somewhere. I'm not really sure WHY they exist but they certainly do.
It's so our currency has denominations that match oscilloscope horizontal and vertical scale divisions: 1, 2, 5. (Which doesn't explain why we have a quarter dollar coin.)
No $0.02 coin (since 1873), and $0.25 coin, but otherwise 1,2,5 up to $100 bill. (Could be worse: my AC voltmeters usually have 1,3,10 where 3 really means 101/2.)
It may only be my opinion, but they were not thinking at all when they made them because they new that they would never be used. They could have made them them with a different composition and a unique coin color like the subsequent Sacajawea and Presidential dollar coins but they are not popular either. The principle is simple, as long as you have a paper one dollar bill (lasts about 18 months) nobody wants the dollar coin (lasts about 30 years).
I deeply appreciate places (like the pizza place mentioned above) that scale their prices so the end result, including tax, is a "round number" in the given context. For example, food trucks should always price things in unit dollars and adjust the amount of food given appropriately. Their lines speed up (which gives a better customer service experience), they minimize how many different denominations of change they must maintain, etc.
On the other hand, for normal retail sales I WANT the taxes listed separately. In big bold numbers. Thus reminding people every time they buy something of just how much they're losing to the government. Yes, government is necessary, but it's probably where the term "necessary evil" originated and its funding source (read: taxpayers) should be reminded of their burden each and every transaction.
Oh, and tax day should move from April 15th to the day immediately preceding Election Day.
It may only be my opinion, but they were not thinking at all when they made them because they new that they would never be used. They could have made them them with a different composition and a unique coin color like the subsequent Sacajawea and Presidential dollar coins but they are not popular either. The principle is simple, as long as you have a paper one dollar bill (lasts about 18 months) nobody wants the dollar coin (lasts about 30 years).
There's no real reason they couldn't be used though, if they gave them a unique look so as to not be confused with other coins and then simply stopped printing dollar bills people would use them. Most of our coins are kind of laughably worthless these days thanks to inflation. Pennies are a joke, I don't even want them and when offered change I often just leave them on the counter for someone else. I'm just old enough to remember when you could still buy a gumball from a machine for a penny but it's been years since I've seen anything that cheap and even nickels aren't worth the weight and bulk to carry around, I only bother with dimes because they're so small. A dollar coin now is probably worth about what a quarter was in the 50s or 60s.
There is a local pizza joint that posts prices with oddball cents amounts. For example, a slice costs $2.76, not $2.75 or $2.99. A whole pie costs $18.40.
Sales tax in the city is 8.7%.
Do the math. The pizza guy is a genius.
There is a local pizza joint that posts prices with oddball cents amounts. For example, a slice costs $2.76, not $2.75 or $2.99. A whole pie costs $18.40.
Sales tax in the city is 8.7%.
Do the math. The pizza guy is a genius.
When you think about it, it makes no economic sense for the U.S. to continue to use 1 cent coins, or even 5 cent coins for that matter. The 1/2 cent coins were discontinued some 160 years ago. Checking an online inflation calculator that only goes back to 1914, 1 cent in 1914 adjusted for inflation is 27 cents in 2021. If you go back to the 1850, I imagine it's even more. So eliminating (stop producing) the 1 cent, 5 cent and 10 cent coins, and make a law that all prices from here on will be rounded to the nearest 25 cents, would be comparable to the same situation back in the 1850's. Producing low denomination coins with extremely small value cost the government money to produce, and costs businesses time to deal with. Or just wait a few more years, with inflation coming back, and simply eliminate cents all together and make the dollar the lowest denomination. For me personally, I stopped using coins/currency a long time ago, except for certain cases where a credit/debit card isn't accepted, or if traveling to a foreign country. It's just a hassle to me to deal with physical money.
As far as tax goes, sales tax does not irritate me too greatly, at least I have some control over how much I pay.
The one that gets me is property tax and with property values soaring this one really stings.