E-ZPass, was CharlieCards v.v. Oyster (and Octopus?)
 

Roland Perry wrote

Finally, there is a non-trivial cost to securely storing and
transporting cash to the bank for deposit and to keeping enough
coins
and smaller notes on hand to make change.

Those are the elements which make up the "1%" (rather than "0%")
quoted
as the typical cost of accepting cash, versus the "2%" for cards.

In fact this misses that banks /charge/ businesses that pay in large
quantities of cash, especially coin.

There was discussion some years back of arrangements that some
businesses had made with Post Office Counters, a business that then
actually needed cash, especially coin, for paying state pensions etc.

--
Mike D

Stating prices at retail inclusive of taxes
 

On Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:02:16 -0600, Stephen Sprunk
wrote:

On 23-Jan-12 10:49, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:
at 13:52:10 on Mon, 23 Jan 2012, Adam H. Kerman remarked:
wrote:
Here in many (if not all) parts of Europe, the price that you pay for
something already has relevant taxes figured in.

Yet here in the United States, when prices for airline travel and hotel
rooms are stated, they included taxes. In Europe, travel prices are
more often stated without all taxes included.
...
Many hotels in tourist spots have a "surprise" city tourist/hotel tax,
but not in the UK.

That would be unheard of in the United States. Various places have plenty
of taxes on hotel charges, but these would be quoted up front.

Not always. Most of the travel sites I use do _not_ quote the various
taxes and fees when comparing options; you may not see those until you
get to the payment stage.

This is understandable, since they want to present the lowest price
possible until you're mentally committed to purchasing it, in hopes that
the price going up by 25%+ at the last moment won't cause you to back
out at the last minute.

guffaw Like the ad in Saturday's "Globe and Mail" Travel Section for
an outfit called "Canadian Affair" (presumably an air charter outfit)
offering $49/round trip Toronto-London but the small print warning of
"taxes and fees $522"

It is the same in many other industries, which tack on all sorts of
"fees" that, in any sane country, would be required to be included in
the price. The extreme example is offering a product for "free, just
pay $19.95 shipping and handling."

S

E-ZPass, was CharlieCards v.v. Oyster (and Octopus?)
 

In message , at 11:41:16 on Mon, 23 Jan
2012, Stephen Sprunk remarked:
Burger King have a [USA] nation-wide offer of $1.99 at the moment.

I fail to see the point you are making.

It's $1.99 plus a variable amount of sales tax, not $1.99 including a
variable amount of sales tax.
--
Roland Perry

E-ZPass, was CharlieCards v.v. Oyster (and Octopus?)
 

In message 01ccda05$a41f2d20$LocalHost@default, at 19:40:08 on Mon, 23
Jan 2012, Michael R N Dolbear remarked:
Finally, there is a non-trivial cost to securely storing and
transporting cash to the bank for deposit and to keeping enough
coins and smaller notes on hand to make change.

Those are the elements which make up the "1%" (rather than "0%")
quoted as the typical cost of accepting cash, versus the "2%" for
cards.

In fact this misses that banks /charge/ businesses that pay in large
quantities of cash, especially coin.

sigh that's where much of the 1% comes from.
--
Roland Perry

Stating prices at retail inclusive of taxes
 

So, you're a reseller, and you would find it simpler to pay the tax you're not
subject to and then get it rebated?

No, I'm saying that I DO find it simpler. I'm reporting actual
experience, as opposed to making stuff up.

You're not explaining your business situation as to why you have these
accounts.

Indeed. So?

R's,
John

Stating prices at retail inclusive of taxes
 

Yet here in the United States, when prices for airline travel and hotel
rooms are stated, they included taxes. In Europe, travel prices are
more often stated without all taxes included.

Airline prices are quoted with tax because there is an FTC rule that says they have
to do that. They decided, quite reasonably, that quoting the price without the tax
is misleading.

The rule isn't quite that simple, they're apparently allowed to quote the fake price
so long as the real price is in tiny print nearby.

R's,
John

E-ZPass, was CharlieCards v.v. Oyster (and Octopus?)
 

On 23-Jan-12 14:38, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 11:41:16 on Mon, 23 Jan
2012, Stephen Sprunk remarked:
Burger King have a [USA] nation-wide offer of $1.99 at the moment.

I fail to see the point you are making.

It's $1.99 plus a variable amount of sales tax, not $1.99 including a
variable amount of sales tax.

I still fail to see the point you are making.

BK can advertise a nationwide price of $1.99 in large part _because_
that doesn't include the variable tax. To collect $1.99 for every
burger (or whatever it is), they'd need to advertise different prices in
different markets or even within the _same_ markets, depending on how
granular the tax jurisdictions are.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

Stating prices at retail inclusive of taxes
 

In message , at 20:47:29 on Mon, 23 Jan
2012, John Levine remarked:
Airline prices are quoted with tax because there is an FTC rule that says they have
to do that. They decided, quite reasonably, that quoting the price without the tax
is misleading.

The rule isn't quite that simple, they're apparently allowed to quote the fake price
so long as the real price is in tiny print nearby.

Which is presumably why my flight to the USA last summer was quoted as
(all the same font size):

Price 491.00
Taxes and fees 291.30
Total 782.30

plus £4 "Service Charge".
--
Roland Perry

E-ZPass, was CharlieCards v.v. Oyster (and Octopus?)
 

In message , at 15:10:59 on Mon, 23 Jan
2012, Stephen Sprunk remarked:
Burger King have a [USA] nation-wide offer of $1.99 at the moment.

I fail to see the point you are making.

It's $1.99 plus a variable amount of sales tax, not $1.99 including a
variable amount of sales tax.

I still fail to see the point you are making.

It's not a complex point.

BK can advertise a nationwide price of $1.99 in large part _because_
that doesn't include the variable tax.

Exactly.

To collect $1.99 for every burger (or whatever it is), they'd need to
advertise different prices in different markets or even within the
_same_ markets, depending on how granular the tax jurisdictions are.

I knew you'd get there eventually.
--
Roland Perry

CharlieCards v.v. Oyster (and Octopus?)
 

On Jan 19, 7:29*pm, Michael Finfer wrote:

It's the same technology, RFID, but tapping a smart card at a toll booth
defeats the big advantage that electronic tolling systems have: *no need
to stop and open your window.

As an aside, many motorists, for some reason, can't open their
window. They stop, put the car in park, then open the door to hand
the driver their toll. This takes time. Quite a few motorists can go
by in the EZPASS lane in the time it takes for one person to do that.