Demand the Real Price: Why Stores Should Incorporate the Sales Tax in Their Prices

It's a stupid situation: Here you are, carefully attempting to calculate prices in a supermarket, or perhaps getting gifts for a birthday or for the holidays, tallying it all, and then when you arrive at the counter, you find you have completely messed up on the pricing because you forgot to incorporate the sales tax.

Most shops, in an attempt to show how low their prices are, tend not to put the sales tax on each of their wares. This practice often ends up in messing up budgets, unexpected expenses, and other financial irritants. Furthermore, it's also rather unfair because stores are masking the actual price of what one's purchases would be by not tabulating the sales tax.

Why incorporating the sales tax results in better service

If you are a store owner, and you decide to take into consideration the sales tax, after incorporating the tax into your price, you can modify it any way you want. If something costs $3.00, and the sales tax is 30, you can up it to 3.99, which would still incorporate the illusion of cheapness perpetuated by most stores, and you will actually get more shoppers, because at your store, customers know that the price they see truly is the price they pay, tax and all.

Some people might argue that calculating the sales tax in-price is insignificant, that customers won't care for it. However, as we have seen time and time again, stores that make it easier to shop often fare better then stores that are more difficult to deal with, regardless of price. Others have argued that the sales tax would decrease customers. However, I would like to point out that several places, such as Tommy's in Los Angeles, have included the sales tax in their food for years, and they remain quite popular.

Making it easier to shop

Let me continue this point on making it easier for shoppers. You have to assume, first off, that shoppers aren't math whizzes. Most shoppers want to buy the stuff they need and get out. As I said above, calculating the sales tax is not something shoppers want to do, and in all likelihood, they'll forget to think about it. Stores where people know they are going to come under budget are the stores that are most likely going to get service. Remember the old acronym: Keep it simple, silly. It's a rather smart acronym.

In most manners, it would be a smart move to incorporate the sales tax into the prices of a product. Making a calculation that most customers usually never think to do will only make you la better shopkeeper, and your customers will be happier people.