The 2012 federal budget states: "The government expects that businesses will apply rounding for cash transactions in a fair and transparent manner."Lots more info on a CBC FAQ.
The rounding will not be done on single items but on the total bill of sale. If the price ends in a one, two, six, or seven it gets rounded down to 0 or 5; and rounded up if it ends in three, four, eight or nine.
Instead of a penny, now I need a nickel. That to me is inflation.Unless we assume -- and I admit that these might not be bad assumptions -- that companies will intentionally increase prices because of this, or that prices are already skewed such that this change will by default favor companies rather than consumers, then this is not true.
In papers and presentations for Desjardins Group over the last few years, Aubry used economic models to show that the penny should actually have been killed in about 1982.posted by maudlin at 9:15 AM on February 4 [1 favorite]
That was a tipping point, as more Canadians hoarded the coins and the Royal Canadian Mint was pressed to churn out billions more to keep retailers stocked, costing the government up to $11 million annually. ...
Aubrey, now with the Quebec-based Cirano inter-university research centre, says eliminating Canada's nickel could be part of a larger strategy to retool the currency.
That would include creating a new coin to replace the five-dollar bill; adding a 20-cent coin; eliminating the quarter; perhaps creating a $200 bill; and reducing all coin sizes significantly to ease the burden on pockets.
But first, he says, Canadians must be convinced that the disappearance of the penny will have no effect on inflation, as repeatedly demonstrated in other countries that have ditched their lowest-value coinage.
But adding in an extra step to round up or down before calculating the GST just makes it harder to know how much you're really spending. Not impossible by any means, but it takes a little more mental arithmetic on top of what we already do. Not a big deal for one item, but if you're grocery shopping for a couple dozen items it can make a difference.Only the final total is rounded. Only the final total is rounded. Only the final total is rounded. It doesn't matter how many items you buy. (And only if you pay in cash).
Total: $28.27
CASH 40.00
CHANGE DUE: 11.73
ROUNDED CHANGE: 11.75
So it's actually not that hard to get used to. A recent trend in some monetary systems is to eliminate the smallest denomination coin (typically 0.01 of the local currency). The total cost of purchased items is then rounded up/down to, for example, the nearest 0.05. This may have an effect on future "odd-number" pricing to maximize the rounding advantage for vendors by favoring 98 and 99 endings (rounded up) over 96 and 97 ending (rounded down) especially at small retail outlets where single item purchases are more common. Australia is a good example of this practice where 5 cents has been the smallest denomination coin since 1992, but pricing at .98/.99 on items under several hundred dollars is still almost universally applied (e.g.: $1.99 – $299.99) while goods on sale often price at .94 and its variations. It is also the case in Finland, the only country using the euro currency which does not use the 1 and 2 cent coins.And this recent Toronto Star story summarizes the lure of the price ending in .99, reinforcing that this is still a popular price point in Australia.
The professional strippers there go through the most degrading ritual I’ve ever seen, however. This event is known as the Looney [sic] toss. There are no lap dances in Calgary, only stage shows. Strippers must hustle as much cash onstage as possible. Since strippers must remain three feet away from customers, the hustle is less intimate and more … strange.This Toronto dancer says that loonie tossing is NOT encouraged. Toronto dancers can sell lap dances and other private dances and rarely seek or get tips for stage dances.
For those unfamiliar with Canadian currency, a Looney is a golden Canadian dollar coin. During the Looney toss, Canadian strippers get completely naked and stick a single Looney to their skin with moisture (saliva), typically on an interesting spot like on a boob, or a butt cheek or near the vagina. Customers must then toss Loonies at that stationary Looney to try and knock it off the stripper. People are flinging metal objects at these strippers who are working way too hard, in my opinion. Afterwards, strippers take a magnet and pick up all the Loonies and then get off the stage, at which point I was able to talk to them.
I expressed my confusion about this ritual. I wanted to know why they wouldn’t go somewhere where they could give lap dances and make better, faster money. They admitted the Looney toss was pretty sh*tty. One girl told me that her friend had a permanent scar from the Looney toss after a customer heated up one of the coins with a lighter before tossing it on her skin. They still believe that I was the one working too hard, putting up with grab-assing lap dance patrons. To each her own. I’m glad to be home.
Tipping a dancer on stage is not very typical for Toronto. Tipping was commonplace when $2 dollar bills were still in circulation, and has nearly ceased since then. Clubs that are located close to the US border and clubs that get a lot of American clients still see a lot of $1 bills in tips. Stage tipping with $5 and $20 bills is not very common, but does happen sometimes. Personally, although I’ve been tipped with $20s (and even $50s) on stage, Niagara Falls was the only place where I made consistent money in stage tips.posted by maudlin at 11:45 AM on February 5 [2 favorites]
Once in a while, a well meaning (or an ill meaning) customer can throw a loonie or a twonie on stage. Stepping on a coin during a show can cause a dancer to slip, fall and injure herself, while having it thrown at her will leave a nasty bruise. So it’s a good idea to scan the stage floor for any change and keep an eye out for it during the show.
Most dancers make their living by selling most these types of private dances. Feature stage performers that were popular years ago are now rare in Toronto, so striptease has become less of a stage performance and more of a private one-on-one deal. Today, a stage show is primarily a way to promote yourself to your potential customers in order to sell private dances to them later, so while it’s a good idea to have a sexy stage performance, most of the dancer’s efforts should be directed toward individual dances.
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posted by wolfdreams01 at 8:19 AM on February 4 [15 favorites]