Why and when did the 9/10 of a cent charge get added to the price of gas?

Answer 1

It's a marketing ploy.

Think about it, when this was introduced (in the 20s), when a peny was more than just a penny, gas stations used the 9/10ths to make the price seem lower. Even though you didn't get that 1/10th back, people still felt like they were paying less. Now, in canada the fraction of a cent changes and actually has to do with taxes.

(Side note)

Now that i think about it. Ever since i was 16 i was filling up the tank. Now 9/10ths of a cent doesnt seem that much but think of it like this (especially with the higher gas prices), If you put 15 gallons of gas in twice a month thats 30 gallons a month and each year thats 360 gallons. So thats 36 dollars a year (just a figurative estimate) over a driving lifetime (from age 16 to 65 lets say) thats 49years of driving. So that means that would be 1,767 dollars that you get taken from you because gas stations round up to the nearest cent.

WOW......almost 2,000 dollars for that senario.......I know that isnt a whole lot of money but thats your money that you will never see.

Interesting.....and a little agravating.

Answer 2

I'll see if I can find the site where I saw this, but I believe it happened when gas was (hold onto your hat) going to hit 10 cents per gallon! No one wanted to be the first station to charge double digits, so they started charging 9 9/10 cents per gallon.

Answer 3

it isnt the cost of a of fuel it is how much you are getting for a given price 9/10 of a gallon so you arnt paying 2.82 for a gallon of gas you are paying 2.82 for 9/10 of a gallon