Good Question: Why does the price of gasoline always have the extra 9/10th of a cent?

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - They are numbers you likely see every day, but why are gas prices listed the way they are? That’s today’s Good Question.

Dale asks: Why does the price of gasoline always have the extra 9/10th of a cent?

It’s not just marketing, although that certainly plays a part.

According to Gizmodo, using fractions when selling gas likely started in the 1930s, when a national gas tax was added. It was only a fraction of a cent, but sellers didn’t want to add an entire cent to their price, so they started using fractions.

Eventually, ending gas prices with 9/10th of a cent became the standard.

There have been studies showing consumers feel much better about paying $2.99 and nine-tenths of a percent than $3 a gallon, even though they’re pretty close to the same price.

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