Penny rounding

[sjhibbs]

Read the article today regarding grocers are making money because of penny rounding. Honestly this really kinda bothers me. Made me think of in the summer I was at the airport and before my flight (prior to security check in) I purchased a bottle of sprite, I believe the cost was $2.72, which is rediculous however the merchant asked for $2.75. Although at the time I didn’t care, however afterwards I realized the error and thought to myself I basically just gave them 5 cents....how many people pass through this airport and purchase over priced items to begin with, but then are gouged even more by this incorrect rounding due to the phasing out of the penny...I could have paid by credit or debit in which case the retailer would have lost money on the sale, however I am penalized because I used cash?!?.... kinda rubs me the wrong way

[Bsuds]

We pay for just about everything with either debit or credit card so rounding doesn't affect us much.

I have to wonder about the articles accuracy if they don't know the percentage of buyers who don't use cash.

I also wonder why the stores haven't adjusted their prices and just rounded everything (up) and I wish the advertised price included taxes so you knew exactly what it was going to cost. They do it with gas so why not everything else?

[youjustcomplain]

I haven't, yet, noticed a single retailer rounding up on a cash sale. Everytime I've shopped using cash, they've rounded appropriately, or down. I suspect someone is cheating, or the sales clerk just doesn't know how to round properly.

[Glacier]

If I save money by rounding, I pay with cash. Otherwise, it's debit. Woohoo, I've saved like $69 cents this year!

[Jonrox]

I'm embarrassed for the author of the study. It got picked up by almost every news outlet in the country and it's blatantly obvious that she screwed it up badly. She failed to take into account some of the most basic facts about how people shop, taxes, and messed up on some of the easy math as a result.

[gman313]

Read the article today regarding grocers are making money because of penny rounding. Honestly this really kinda bothers me. Made me think of in the summer I was at the airport and before my flight (prior to security check in) I purchased a bottle of sprite, I believe the cost was $2.72, which is rediculous however the merchant asked for $2.75. Although at the time I didn’t care, however afterwards I realized the error and thought to myself I basically just gave them 5 cents....how many people pass through this airport and purchase over priced items to begin with, but then are gouged even more by this incorrect rounding due to the phasing out of the penny...I could have paid by credit or debit in which case the retailer would have lost money on the sale, however I am penalized because I used cash?!?.... kinda rubs me the wrong way

it only applies if you purchase 1-3 items - not every transaction. If it is a big shop the rounding is a non issue

[Bsuds]

I haven't, yet, noticed a single retailer rounding up on a cash sale. Everytime I've shopped using cash, they've rounded appropriately, or down. I suspect someone is cheating, or the sales clerk just doesn't know how to round properly.

It could just be that when you pay with cash they do not get hit with the bank charges for debit/credit. You are happy because you saved a couple of pennies ant the business actually makes more on the sale.

[Omnitheo]

Time is money, and I can assure you that the time you save in not counting pennies is worth more than the pennies themselves.

It was literally not even worth your time as a minimum wage worker to bend over to grab a penny.

(10 seconds to grab a penny = 6 pennies per minute = $3.60/hour.)

I don’t know how you value your time, but the time you spent thinking about, and then writing up a post about 3 extra pennies you had to spend likely constituted a lot more than 3c worth of your time.

Get a card with tap, or a phone with NFC. Takes literally a second to pay the exact price.

And that’s my 2 cents.

[youjustcomplain]

It could just be that when you pay with cash they do not get hit with the bank charges for debit/credit. You are happy because you saved a couple of pennies ant the business actually makes more on the sale.

Oh, just to clarify, I'm not happy or unhappy about it. It was just something I've observed. I've never observed myself having a retailer round up when it wasn't appropriate to do so. If they ever did do it, I'd just notice and move on. Like Omni above, I couldn't care much about a couple of pennies for the 5 times a month I pay with cash.

[Even Steven]

While you're worried about paying an extra penny, you're overpaying for anything bought at the airport by at least a dollar.

[Dizzy1]

While you're worried about paying an extra penny, you're overpaying for anything bought at the airport by at least a dollar.

I didn't realize airports rounded up there advertised prices by a dollar.

This whole rounding up/down thing is a joke. If you're going to eliminate the penny, then eliminate it and adjust advertised prices accordingly, just like other countries thats done the same has.

[Tack]

Sounds like the cashier doesn't understand rounding. Correct them if you feel the need or just use debit/credit.

[Bsuds]

And that’s my 2 cents.

So what you are really saying is your opinion is worth 0...