Since this is no longer the "
old days" and there are a myriad of
security measures that store
employees are either being watched with or subjected to, it makes little sense to continually use
byzantine practices such as adding
unnecessary digits to
prices.
However, this is only apparently a root of
stupidity in some places. During my travels in
Europe, I never once saw a
.99, or
.95 price. Throughout
France,
England, and
Ireland, most prices tend to be pretty
even... especially in France where
sales tax isn't added at the
register. Their sales
tax is paid by the
merchants who figure it into their prices.
Odd numbered prices simply cause the customer to either fumble for
spare change or be present with a handful of
coinage as change. In Europe, if the price tag says 30
Euros you hand them a
bill or two and they say thank you. That's it... no exchange of various
coins, no calculation of needed
change, nor dealing with national, state, and local sales taxes.
So, considering the Europeans have gotten over this inconveniencing activity, I think it's about time for America to mark the price $19.95 at $20.00