Investing

[oblong]

BTW tomorrow when I am behind a desk again and on a laptop I will start an AI thread here.  I will keep it in this forum for reasons similar to this thread… it might beer into that territory from time to time. 

[Screwball]

After quizzing my Aussie buddy about rounding the penny, I thought, wait a minute... First, I believed him. Do I really want to do that? Especially without thinking about it? Besides, I was in the great state of Michigan today to visit the pot Mecca known as Monroe. 

But, my Aussie buddy makes sense. I will look at this again tomorrow.

Quote

🧠 Strategic Pricing to Exploit Cash Rounding
If a business knows that cash totals will be rounded to the nearest nickel, they can tweak prices so that the final total consistently rounds in their favor. This is especially effective in high-volume, low-margin environments like convenience stores or fast food.
🔍 Example: Favorable Rounding
Let’s say a store wants the final cash total to round up to the nearest nickel (so they gain 1–2 cents per transaction). They might:
•     Price an item at $0.98 → total rounds up to $1.00
•     Price an item at $1.03 → total rounds up to $1.05
If they sell thousands of these items per day, that rounding adds up.
🧮 Combo Pricing
Retailers can also bundle items so the combined total lands just above a rounding threshold. For example:
•     Two items priced at $1.52 and $1.53 → total is $3.05, no rounding
•     But if they price them at $1.51 and $1.52 → total is $3.03 → rounds up to $3.05
That’s a 2-cent gain per cash transaction.

 

[Screwball]

We have now agreed I will give him a new name. Thinking... I'm kinda partial to Hal.

New sport, **** with AI.

[Screwball]

I'm glad my name ain't Dave. I wonder if he gets the connection.

I haven't told him yet. 🙂

[oblong]

Yet still the second best “Dave” moment in pop culture. 
 

 

[Deleterious]

Just what you want to hear when your niece is graduating from law school in the spring.

 

[chasfh]

17 hours ago, Deleterious said:

We are losing the penny tomorrow. We are going to start rounding all cash orders down to the nearest nickel. We figure if we went both ways someone would eventually have a fit and we don't want our employees to have to deal with that. Only about 12% of our transactions are cash, so not a huge deal. 

We are also about to get a group of employees together to study the idea of including sales tax on our menu prices. So if you order three things that are $25, $10, and $5 your final total is $40 instead of $42.40.

We're not actually losing the penny—it will still be legal tender—but rounding cash transactions anyway is probably as good an approach as any at this point.

Two questions for you:

• Why are you choosing to round all transactions down instead of to the nearest? Why round $45.59 down to $45.55 instead of up to $45.60?
• If you start including the sales tax in the menu prices, will you be raising prices six-plus percent to cover it, or will you be mostly absorbing the difference?

[Deleterious]

17 minutes ago, chasfh said:

We're not actually losing the penny—it will still be legal tender—but rounding cash transactions anyway is probably as good an approach as any at this point.

Two questions for you:

• Why are you choosing to round all transactions down instead of to the nearest? Why round $45.59 down to $45.55 instead of up to $45.60?
• If you start including the sales tax in the menu prices, will you be raising prices six-plus percent to cover it, or will you be mostly absorbing the difference?

We in this case meant our restaurants.  Poorly worded.

We are rounding down because we picture a customer getting upset when we round up.  We don't want our employees to have to deal with upset customers.

The 6% will be baked into the menu price.  If something costs $23.48 now, it will cost $24.89 which will be rounded up and show as $24.90 on the menu.  

[Screwball]

13 hours ago, oblong said:

Yet still the second best “Dave” moment in pop culture. 
 

 

One New Years Eve we decide we would stay home and watch movies instead of going out. We made a list and Up in Smoke was one of them. Couldn't find it at any video store in town (small town). The only copy we could find was at the public library - wild - but thanks. I would have never thought that.

[Screwball]

This might be paywalled but everyone will get the gist;

Wall Street Blows Past Bubble Worries to Supercharge AI Spending Frenzy - from the WSJ

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, Screwball said:

This might be paywalled but everyone will get the gist;

Wall Street Blows Past Bubble Worries to Supercharge AI Spending Frenzy - from the WSJ

you've probably figured over the years that I'm not too much a doomsayer - but I have to agree this is getting really nuts.

[Deleterious]

 

[Screwball]

Looking at the chart porn, the S&P is back down into the long sell-off candle from 10/10/2025. 9 month chart by day shortened from April 2025 when the last run-up began.

[Screwball]

1 minute ago, Deleterious said:

 

Just what we need, especially with that jackass involved.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, Deleterious said:

 

Already bored with the new wife?

[chasfh]

4 hours ago, Deleterious said:

We in this case meant our restaurants.  Poorly worded.

We are rounding down because we picture a customer getting upset when we round up.  We don't want our employees to have to deal with upset customers.

The 6% will be baked into the menu price.  If something costs $23.48 now, it will cost $24.89 which will be rounded up and show as $24.90 on the menu.  

So you're going to raise prices to include taxes, meaning the number on the menu is going to be higher. Bold move. I honestly hope it works well for you because I'm a big fan of that idea.

[Deleterious]

42 minutes ago, chasfh said:

So you're going to raise prices to include taxes, meaning the number on the menu is going to be higher. Bold move. I honestly hope it works well for you because I'm a big fan of that idea.

We know our customers.  A little blurb on the menu about tax being included in the price, and it won't be an issue at all.

Plus, no idea if we ever do it or not.  My partner and I almost always go with what the group we put together recommends.  We are also actively trying to sell each location, so we might not even own the places before a decision is made.