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Why can't we get rid of 1p, 2p, 5p coins?

Go into a supermarket with self-service checkouts.
If it takes coins use as many as you like.
If you have overpaid it will return the excess as largest coin refund.
Reply to
Flop
In Morrisons it would probably say "surprising coin in the chute!"
Yeah and have every other one pop back out when it can't recognise it. I never attempt any kind of cash with those useless things, just a debit card.
I know I can get rid of them that way, or even easier just deposit them in my bank next time I'm there. But the point is we just don't need them. We could then do away with this £4.99 shit and just have things for £5.
Reply to
Commander Kinsey
wrote:
We can get rid of them, but the Treasury has decided not to.
If we did then prices would have to be rounded off to the nearest 5p, and you can bet your life they'd be rounded UP to the nearest 5p.
Reply to
Chris in Makati
Rubbish. Prices are governed by competition between businesses. If you currently buy something in Asda for 47p, they could make it 50p, but Tesco might make it 45p and everyone would go there instead.
Reply to
Commander Kinsey
wrote:
So even if (and it's a very big if) Tesco did reduce the price from 47p to 45p and Asda increased it to 50p then the average price of that product has increased by 0.5p.
You must have forgotten what happened in 1971 with decimalisation. Prices had to be rounded off, and in almost every case they were rounded upwards.
Rather than reducing the price to 45p, past experience has shown that both stores would increase the price to 50p.
Reply to
Chris in Makati
A store has to make a certain profit to stay in business. Prices will be adjusted for that, and competition with others.
Anyway it's worth it to get rid of the monumentally stupid £5.99 shit. It does not look less than £6, we're not thick!
Reply to
Commander Kinsey
wrote:
I thought they were worth 1p, 2p, & 5p respectively.
My pint jar full of shrapnel is certainly not worthless.
Reply to
AnthonyL
So you'd also be happy with a 50 tonne jar with 0.000001p coins? At some point we have to say it just isn't worth handling such worthless coins. It's a long time since 0.5p coins went. It's high time the next ones went.
Reply to
Commander Kinsey
Given that a pre-1992 penny is actually worth about a penny for its metal content, I imagine a 0.000001p coin would be worth several orders of magnitude more than its face value.
Post 1992 pennies are probably worth around 0.2p, for the metal, being mainly steel.
Reply to
David Woolley
That doesn't really matter as much as the hassle of dealing with the damn things. When I go for petrol and give them some £20 notes, I don't want loads of bloody coppers in change.
And think how easy it would be to add things up without the 99p shit on the end of prices!
Reply to
Commander Kinsey
Er, only if you're an idiot. Although in the same way, all those 9s could make other idiots think it was more.
Er.... ok. So what did you treat yourself to with those 5ps?
You mean they didn't take off another 5p?
I stopped doing that, since I now use 4 supermarkets. Some are cheaper for some things, some are cheaper for others, plus some have better quality of certain items. It's not too much hassle, as I only shop every 3 weeks and make extensive use of the freezer.
Reply to
Commander Kinsey
We should either have it or not. At the moment I have some supermarkets selling me 4 pints of milk and some selling me 2 litres, not easily comparable. At least in Australia it's illegal to sell in pints.
I think petrol stations only changed to litres as it was getting too expensive. I'm only 43, but I remember it going over a pound a gallon, now it's over a pound a litre?! I don't think anything else has got that much more expensive in the same time period. Is it the tax or the oil that now costs 5 times more?
Reply to
Commander Kinsey
Manchester is renowned for stupidity.
When I see £4.99, I automatically think "That means £5" - all it does is annoy me, especially if there's 10 items all with 99 on the end.
It did make me laugh once when I bought something for £19.99 and the shop assistant (if that's what you call them - teller? cashier?) insisted on giving me the penny change which she didn't have. I told her not to be ridiculous but she wouldn't listen and wandered off to find a manager. I left the store a penny short and didn't bother waiting.
But you can rent (they might even be free) those electric supermarket things that go at 1mph and knock everything over. You'd have great fun barging into people's ankles.
Reply to
Commander Kinsey
It depends. If you were going to buy a new car, then an electric costs a bit more but saves you loads on fuel. If you buy second hand, there just aren't any available yet, plus the battery is probably knackered and will cost about £4000 to replace.
My next door neighbour gets it delivered, although she's 90.
Reply to
Commander Kinsey
wrote:
Actually £5.99 is less than £6
If you got rid of 1p, 2p and 5p coins they'd just show it as £5.90.
I can't remember the last time I used cash in a supermarket anyway, so the issue of getting rid of small coins has got little to do with the way prices are expressed. In fact I hardly ever use cash anywhere these days, but many older people still do.
Reply to
Chris in Makati
Not by most people's standards. It's a 6th of a percent, not even enough to trigger a speed camera.
Which would be preferable.
Wrong, the prices are based on the available denominations. As you said above, getting rid of the 3 smallest coins would change prices to £5.90.
Cash is useful any time you want to pay someone who isn't a big business, like a gardener, or your neighbour. For example I ordered something on Ebay for my neighbour, she paid me some cash for it. It would have been more hassle to do some kind of bank transfer.
Reply to
Commander Kinsey
The Republic of Ireland has stopped minting 1¢ and 2¢ coins.
Supermarkets have kept the original prices and then round up or down at the till.
see:
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Reply to
Flop
Hybrids are utterly pointless. They still consume petrol just like any other car, they're just saving a tiny amount on regenerative braking, all of which is lost in the weight of the batteries, and the cost of replacing them.
You need an all electric car, if they ever make batteries that don't cost £4000 to replace every 5 years.
Reply to
Commander Kinsey

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