Yes, we don't need such small amounts of money.
Just always round up, when paying and when giving the rest back.
> All those $9.99 products? The prices would be jacked up to an even $10!
Only logical thing, I know this "wow less than 10$" tricks people into buying stuff, but it's just stupid that it's the default to give me back 1 penny whatever I buy.
Actually, the pricing of individual items doesn't change. (Not least because of GST the price you pay at the till is not the sticker price.)
Where I live the 1c and 2c coins were killed some time ago. The smallest coin now is a 5c.
The way it works is that you go to the checkout, get a final total. If you pay cash then the change is "rounded up" to the nearest 5c mark. If you pay via card you pay the exact amount.
It's really not complicated, and frankly no-one cares about it.
In the interest of full disclosure I was talking about USA GST (Sales Tax) not the tax where I live. In the US the price on the shelf seems to be a "rough indication" of how much you may pay when you get to the till...
That I noticed this suggests I live in a VAT country not a GST country :)
Interestingly, I've noticed that in certain parts of the Amazon website these prices are rounded up for display. Maybe the price jumps out more when given in this format, since it breaks the pattern? I also notice that multibuy deals in supermarkets are invariably multiples of 50p (e.g. 2 for £3).
Makes you wonder how much of this stuff is calculated decision making and how much is just dogma.
> All those $9.99 products? The prices would be jacked up to an even $10!
Only logical thing, I know this "wow less than 10$" tricks people into buying stuff, but it's just stupid that it's the default to give me back 1 penny whatever I buy.