Minor things that bother you

[texaskdog]

I can live with dollar coins, but moving anything higher to coins? I refuse to carry a coin purse. Fives (and up) don't wear nearly as fast as the one dollar bill.

I get the whole wear and tear on the dollar bill, but how would the stripper industry handle it? I'm sure the dancers would love the inflation, but will the patrons? It's been a while...are ones not used anymore, or do they strut around with their square enabled smartphones while they dance?

I'm sure the titty bars in Winnipeg are doing fine.

Maybe the patrons use the, um, coin slot.

I've had dollar bills picked up off my nose   so maybe!

[texaskdog]

People who put things on my chair instead of my inbox or on my desk, like I'm too stupid to see it. 

[hotdogPi]

Statements like this:

"China has more people than any country in the world."

Should be any other country.

[texaskdog]

Statements like this:

"China has more people than any country in the world."

Should be any other country.

Much like "Patrick Mahomes AND the Chiefs".  Patrick Mahomes IS a Chief"

[roadman]

I did a stint working as a cashier at a C-store back in the mid-1990s and if anyone would use deuces as part of a payment for something, I'd set them aside and in turn use them to make change whenever a child would buy something.  It made their days.

When I went to a hamfest last summer, the admission was $8.  The person handing out admissions would give change in $2 bills.

[hbelkins]

Sorry, but I am not in favor of rounding if it means the merchant gets more than what they're legally entitled to. Stuff is overpriced as it is; a handful of cents per transaction times several transactions per day can add up to unearned profits. If my purchase adds up to $9.96, then that's all I want the merchant to get. Certainly not $10 (and does anyone foresee a situation where merchants adopt policies that allow rounding down? I sure don't.)

[hotdogPi]

Sorry, but I am not in favor of rounding if it means the merchant gets more than what they're legally entitled to. Stuff is overpriced as it is; a handful of cents per transaction times several transactions per day can add up to unearned profits. If my purchase adds up to $9.96, then that's all I want the merchant to get. Certainly not $10 (and does anyone foresee a situation where merchants adopt policies that allow rounding down? I sure don't.)

Canada rounds whichever way is closer, so the rounding should mostly cancel out.

[wxfree]

Sorry, but I am not in favor of rounding if it means the merchant gets more than what they're legally entitled to. Stuff is overpriced as it is; a handful of cents per transaction times several transactions per day can add up to unearned profits. If my purchase adds up to $9.96, then that's all I want the merchant to get. Certainly not $10 (and does anyone foresee a situation where merchants adopt policies that allow rounding down? I sure don't.)

I don't think that would be an issue.  There's no need for rounding if we stop making pennies.  By the time they become rare, in maybe 40 or 50 years, electronic transactions will likely be nearly, if not entirely, universal, and the value of a penny would likely be negative (it costs more to count, track, and move than it's worth).

[kphoger]

Sorry, but I am not in favor of rounding if it means the merchant gets more than what they're legally entitled to. Stuff is overpriced as it is; a handful of cents per transaction times several transactions per day can add up to unearned profits. If my purchase adds up to $9.96, then that's all I want the merchant to get. Certainly not $10 (and does anyone foresee a situation where merchants adopt policies that allow rounding down? I sure don't.)

Half of all transactions would round up and half would round down.

If you're assuming that stores would nefariously set all their prices such that they would round up instead of down, consider that all of the trouble involved would go out the window for any transaction involving more than a single item.

Example:  If one item today costs you $9.96, then the price would round up to $10.00 if we got rid of pennies and nickels.  However, if you were to buy two of them, then the price of $19.92 would round down to $19.90 instead.

But, even then, those aren't accurate numbers, because tax is a thing that already isn't based on pennies and nickels.  In order for an item with 6% sales tax (Kentucky's state sales tax) to end up being $9.96, the pre-tax price tag would have to show $9.40, and the after-tax price is already being rounded down by 0.4 cents (from $9.964 to $9.96).  Buy two items price-tagged at $9.40, add 6% sales tax, and the after-tax price comes to $19.928.  Currently, those two items would cost you $19.93 but, if you got rid of pennies and nickels, they would only cost you $19.90.

This is why, whenever a nation scraps its low-value coin(s), the thing you're afraid of doesn't actually happen.

[hbelkins]

Are the rounding policies set by law in the places where it happens? If not, what's to stop retailers from rounding every transaction up, even if it's $9.92 and not $9.98? I'm not referring to pricing, but to what the store does with the total. "It is the policy of this store that all transactions will be rounded up to the nearest nickel." Your total purchase price, including tax, is $19.96. The store automatically rounds up to $20.

[kphoger]

Are the rounding policies set by law in the places where it happens? If not, what's to stop retailers from rounding every transaction up, even if it's $9.92 and not $9.98? I'm not referring to pricing, but to what the store does with the total. "It is the policy of this store that all transactions will be rounded up to the nearest nickel." Your total purchase price, including tax, is $19.96. The store automatically rounds up to $20.

Do stores do that now?

As I explained, prices are already being rounded due to sales tax not being assessed in whole-penny amounts.

[GaryV]

... what's to stop retailers from rounding every transaction up, even if it's $9.92 and not $9.98? ...

In Canada, the receipt has 2 prices on it. For example, CC price $14.96, cash price $14.95.
1 and 2 cents rounds down to 0, 3 and 4 cents rounds up to 5, 6 and 7 cents rounds down to 5, 8 and 9 cents rounds up to 10. 

Easy Peasy.  I'm sure the majority of computer cash registers in the US have the capability now, or could get it with a simple upgrade, because the makers have already done it for Canada.

The other thing it would do is open up a coin compartment in the cash registers for $1 coins - so they might be more acceptable in circulation.

[kphoger]

Are the rounding policies set by law in the places where it happens? If not, what's to stop retailers from rounding every transaction up, even if it's $9.92 and not $9.98? I'm not referring to pricing, but to what the store does with the total. "It is the policy of this store that all transactions will be rounded up to the nearest nickel." Your total purchase price, including tax, is $19.96. The store automatically rounds up to $20.

Do stores do that now?

As I explained, prices are already being rounded due to sales tax not being assessed in whole-penny amounts.

A better answer to your question is that price rounding laws vary from state to state.  There are already states, for example, that collect sales tax not based on rounding to the nearest cent but based instead on a bracket schedule.

For example, let's take your hypothetical item with a price tag of $9.40.  A general state sales tax of 6% makes the theoretical amount owed $9.964–that is, the theoretical amount of general state sales tax owed would be 56.4 cents.  You're probably assuming that amount gets rounded down to an even 56 cents.  However, that is not the case everywhere.  Case in point:  Florida also has a general state sales tax of 6%.  In Florida, however, sales tax is not calculated by simply multiplying by 1.06 and rounding to the nearest cent.  Rather, sales tax is assessed according to a bracket schedule and, for any amount between $9.34 and $9.50, the store must collect 57 cents in general state sales tax.  So, just to be clear:  an item price-tagged at $9.40 with a 6% sales tax would cost $9.96 in Kentucky, but that same item price-tagged at $9.40 with a 6% sales tax would cost $9.97 in Florida.

So I assume, if we got rid of pennies and nickels, then how prices are rounded would depend on individual state laws–just as doing so already depends on individual state laws.

Edited to add:   If you didn't know this was true (as I didn't until yesterday), then it's just further proof that pennies don't really matter.

[roadman]

The other thing it would do is open up a coin compartment in the cash registers for $1 coins - so they might be more acceptable in circulation.

For one dollar coins to gain greater acceptance in circulation, they need to be more noticeably different in weight and size from other coins than they are now.  When digging into a pocket of change, a dollar coin feels too much like a quarter.  Other countries figured this out years ago, like when Britain introduced their one pound coin (denomination, not weight) .  But the US seems more intent on making coinage as inexpensively as possible instead of considering human factors like these (witness the 'copper' penny that now has almost no copper in it).

[hotdogPi]

The other thing it would do is open up a coin compartment in the cash registers for $1 coins - so they might be more acceptable in circulation.

For one dollar coins to gain greater acceptance in circulation, they need to be more noticeably different in weight and size from other coins than they are now.  When digging into a pocket of change, a dollar coin feels too much like a quarter.  Other countries figured this out years ago, like when Britain introduced their one pound coin (denomination, not weight) .  But the US seems more intent on making coinage as inexpensively as possible instead of considering human factors like these (witness the 'copper' penny that now has almost no copper in it).

You can easily tell the difference between a quarter and a dollar coin (2000 or later) by feeling the edge.

[kphoger]

But the US seems more intent on making coinage as inexpensively as possible

As they should.  Why waste money minting money?

[roadman]

But the US seems more intent on making coinage as inexpensively as possible

As they should.  Why waste money minting money?

When your decision to cut costs results in minting money that people have a hard time accepting because they can't quickly distinguish between a quarter and a dollar coin, perhaps you need to re-evaluate your priorities.  And when you cheapen materials so you can continue to produce a coin that most people hoard away instead of reusing, instead of discontinuing that coin completely, perhaps you need to reevaluate your priorities.

[kphoger]

Or just make cheap coins that are more different from each other.

[hotdogPi]

I seem to remember that dollar coins are frequently used in some places outside the 50 states and DC, including both US territories and foreign countries that use the US dollar.

[roadman]

Or just make cheap coins that are more different from each other.

As I noted, and as other countries have demonstrated, the key to quickly and easily distinguishing between coins is both size AND weight.  Current dollar coins feel too much like quarters, and current dimes feel too much like pennies.  This is a consequence of the "make it as cheaply as possible" mentality of the Federal Government.  Given that dollar coins are far more durable than paper currency, a large scale conversion to coins would save the government more money over time than the extra cost of making the coins heavier and noticeably larger than a quarter.  Pardon the pun, but the Treasury is clearly being penny wise and pound foolish here.

[hbelkins]

Kentucky uses a bracketing system which is based off the general 6% statewide sales tax. I remember when the state used to issue official cards with the amounts listed, back when cash registers were manual and didn't automatically calculate the tax, or for older country stores that used a handwritten ledger system. It became even more popular when Kentucky exempted food and certain products from the state sales tax, and cash registers didn't yet have "taxable/tax-exempt" categories on their keys. I often remember checkers ringing up the products, then consulting the cards to see how much tax should be applied.

Someone's getting an extra penny off me when I dine at a local restaurant, though, because there's both the 6% state sales tax and a local 3% restaurant tax that goes to fund the city park. You'd think that I'd pay $5.45 for a Wendy's $5 "big bag", but no, it's $5.46. Someone, either the state or local government, is taxing the total amount including the previously-levied tax. That bothers me, too.

[jeffandnicole]

The other thing it would do is open up a coin compartment in the cash registers for $1 coins - so they might be more acceptable in circulation.

For one dollar coins to gain greater acceptance in circulation, they need to be more noticeably different in weight and size from other coins than they are now.  When digging into a pocket of change, a dollar coin feels too much like a quarter.  Other countries figured this out years ago, like when Britain introduced their one pound coin (denomination, not weight) .  But the US seems more intent on making coinage as inexpensively as possible instead of considering human factors like these (witness the 'copper' penny that now has almost no copper in it).

Until they get rid of the $1 bill, the $1 coin will never gain acceptance.

The US has tried this on a few occasions, especially with the USPS primarily trying to give change in $1 coins (back when people actually mailed stuff on a regular basis).  Junk mail proved to be more popular than the $1 coin.

With the increase in electronic payments, dollar bills and change aren't much of a priority anymore.  Counterfeiting is, which is why they stick to revamping the $20s, $50s and $100s. 

If they're going to cut costs, go for the $10 bill.  That is the least used currency, next to the $2 bill.  It's also the most stagnant, with only a small increase in circulation over the past decade or two. https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/coin_currcircvolume.htm

Or just make cheap coins that are more different from each other.

As I noted, and as other countries have demonstrated, the key to quickly and easily distinguishing between coins is both size AND weight.  Current dollar coins feel too much like quarters, and current dimes feel too much like pennies.  This is a consequence of the "make it as cheaply as possible" mentality of the Federal Government.  Given that dollar coins are far more durable than paper currency, a large scale conversion to coins would save the government more money over time than the extra cost of making the coins heavier and noticeably larger than a quarter.  Pardon the pun, but the Treasury is clearly being penny wise and pound foolish here.

People don't want to carry around heavy and larger coins. There's also pushback from manufacturers of anything electronic that takes coins.  Most equipment excepts coins to be a certain size and weight, and will reject anything outside of the normal tolerance.  Bill feeders need updates every time new bills are introduced, for example.  So this isn't just the feds wanting to be cheap; there's a bit more to consider when changing money.

[kphoger]

As I noted, and as other countries have demonstrated, the key to quickly and easily distinguishing between coins is both size AND weight.  Current dollar coins feel too much like quarters, and current dimes feel too much like pennies.  This is a consequence of the "make it as cheaply as possible" mentality of the Federal Government.  Given that dollar coins are far more durable than paper currency, a large scale conversion to coins would save the government more money over time than the extra cost of making the coins heavier and noticeably larger than a quarter.  Pardon the pun, but the Treasury is clearly being penny wise and pound foolish here.

I've never personally heard anyone complain they can't tell pennies from dimes.

[1995hoo]

This is probably more than a "minor" annoyance: US Postal Service incompetence.

I sent a package to my boss at his home address containing a form he needs to sign and then send to New York. I sent it Priority Mail from the post office in Merrifield, Virginia, on Sunday; it was supposed to arrive last night. It hasn't. That didn't surprise me because I thought it might take until today. What has me annoyed is the tracking information: It left the Merrifield post office on Sunday and arrived at the "Merrifield Distribution Center" (which is in the same building) on Monday. Then half an hour later it departed from there and arrived, 40 minutes later, at the "Dulles VA Distribution Center." On Tuesday morning at about 5:12 AM, it arrived at a post office in Springfield, Virginia. Six hours later, it "Arrived at USPS Facility" in Springfield, Virginia. But then, instead of being delivered, it shows today at 10:02 AM it arrived at the "Merrifield Distribution Center"–right back where it started from!!! WTF!!!!! What the hell are we paying these idiots for???!!!!!!!!

[jeffandnicole]

This is probably more than a "minor" annoyance: US Postal Service incompetence.

I sent a package to my boss at his home address containing a form he needs to sign and then send to New York. I sent it Priority Mail from the post office in Merrifield, Virginia, on Sunday; it was supposed to arrive last night. It hasn't. That didn't surprise me because I thought it might take until today. What has me annoyed is the tracking information: It left the Merrifield post office on Sunday and arrived at the "Merrifield Distribution Center" (which is in the same building) on Monday. Then half an hour later it departed from there and arrived, 40 minutes later, at the "Dulles VA Distribution Center." On Tuesday morning at about 5:12 AM, it arrived at a post office in Springfield, Virginia. Six hours later, it "Arrived at USPS Facility" in Springfield, Virginia. But then, instead of being delivered, it shows today at 10:02 AM it arrived at the "Merrifield Distribution Center"–right back where it started from!!! WTF!!!!! What the hell are we paying these idiots for???!!!!!!!!

It ain't just then.  I was excepting an Amazon package by 8am Sunday.  It left the distribution warehouse, 4 miles south of me, at 4:30am, and went further South.  Then went into Delaware.  I get a text/email at 8:30am saying my package was 'delayed'.  It arrived later that afternoon.

FedEx in our area is horrible.  We just hope it shows up (and this is the stuff being delivered directly by FedEx.  Stuff they take to the USPS for final delivery takes an extra day).

UPS though is quite good.  Their texts will alert us to the approx. scheduled time of delivery, and if that time is to change, the texts arrive earlier than the originally scheduled time window so you aren't sitting there for 4 hours, only to find out it'll be another 4 hours.