# Why are gas prices quoted in tenths of cents?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gas-prices-quoted-in-tenths-of-cents/302422>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 4, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gas-prices-quoted-in-tenths-of-cents/302422 "2005-05-04T18:54:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![uxorious69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7ab992/32.png) [@uxorious69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uxorious69)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gas-prices-quoted-in-tenths-of-cents/302422/1 "2005-05-04T18:54:57Z")

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Where did this practice come from and why does it persist? I can’t pay a tenth of a cent so why is it quoted this way?

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gas-prices-quoted-in-tenths-of-cents/302422/2 "2005-05-04T19:00:04Z")

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[An earlier thread on the topic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=309253&highlight=prices+tenths+gasoline+cent).

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**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gas-prices-quoted-in-tenths-of-cents/302422/3 "2005-05-04T19:05:05Z")

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[Another.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=192227&highlight=gasoline)

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gas-prices-quoted-in-tenths-of-cents/302422/4 "2005-05-04T20:06:24Z")

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Once upon a time, the various taxes on gasoline were in fractions of a cent, so the total tax might come out to - say - 17.4 cents a gallon. Since the gasoline retailer did not collect a markup on taxes, the price per gallon included a number behind the decimal point.

The second reason for decimal points was that it was easier to check if a pump was calibrated correctly. If gas was 99.9 cents a gallon, 10 gallons should meter out to exactly $9.99 rather than $10. The decimal place was, in effect, a consumer protection.

Now, like so many other things, they do it that way because they’ve always done it that way.

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**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gas-prices-quoted-in-tenths-of-cents/302422/5 "2005-05-04T20:29:31Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by **kunilou**  
> The second reason for decimal points was that it was easier to check if a pump was calibrated correctly. If gas was 99.9 cents a gallon, 10 gallons should meter out to exactly $9.99 rather than $10. The decimal place was, in effect, a consumer protection.

Cite? I don’t see what the difference would be if 10 gallons should read exactly $9.99 or exactly $10.

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**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gas-prices-quoted-in-tenths-of-cents/302422/6 "2005-05-04T21:02:47Z")

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A local radio station once sold 1000 gallons of gas at $1.079 (when gas first went over $1.60). But their frequency is 107.3 MHz, so I wondered why the heck they didn’t just tell the digital pricing computer to price it $1.073 instead. Then I figured that the 9 mil is probably hardwired into the programming.

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**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gas-prices-quoted-in-tenths-of-cents/302422/7 "2005-05-05T01:21:48Z")

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It is an old retailing gimmick.

$1.99 appears to be much less than $2.00

Just a matter of perception/deception