Donald Miller – 5/25/08

This page was last updated on May 25, 2008.

Why not round up gas prices?; Donald Miller; Beaver County Times; May 25, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Can anybody tell me why gas stations still use the 9/10 for pricing gasoline?  Why can’t they just say $3.89 per gallon instead of $3.889?”

[RWC] Ah, the age old question.  Mr. Donald can ask the same question about many products.  Why isn’t the KFC Snacker priced at $1 instead of $0.99?  How many times do we see something advertised with “99” on the end, like $499?

The answer is simple.  Too many of us will buy the $499 TV instead of the $500 TV because it looks cheaper.  That’s true for gas too; at a quick glance, $3.89 appears more expensive (and is to a trivial extent) than $3.88 ^9/10.

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