# Gas prices ending with 9/10

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-ending-with-9-10/353166>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 18, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-ending-with-9-10/353166 "2006-04-18T15:39:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RickS95](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47774/32.png) [@RickS95](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickS95)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-ending-with-9-10/353166/1 "2006-04-18T15:39:12Z")

</div>

What’s the reasoning for gas prices all ending in 9/10 (nine-tenths)?

Gas is listed on signs as $2.759 per gallon. Is the $0.009 a built in profit for the station or the gas company or some other diabolical scheme to cost me money?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-ending-with-9-10/353166/2 "2006-04-18T15:40:00Z")

</div>

Marketing.

It’s the same reason that an item costs 1.99 instead of two bucks. It sounds like it’s less.

Zev Steinhardt

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-ending-with-9-10/353166/3 "2006-04-18T18:23:42Z")

</div>

When gas prices first went over a dollar, I thought it would be the end of the 9/10 cent add-on for the prices. The “service” stations actually modified all of the pumps to allow for a fourth price digit rather than give up their “tenth-cent discount” (charging $2.699 instead of $2.70).

I guess they think it works, or they wouldn’t have spent the money.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-ending-with-9-10/353166/4 "2006-04-18T19:48:37Z")

</div>

This is as good a time as any to introduce my [unofficial GQ FAQs](http://www.seigle.net/gqfaq.html). This question appears at the bottom.