>It's even doubly meaningless for some products in Australia, because with 5c being the lowest coin in circulation purchasing a single item worth $9.99 will be rounded up to $10 anyway.
While I agree these charm pricings are an insult to our intelligence, they do have a slightly positive effect on the final price. Firstly, the rounding to the nearest 5c only occurs on the sum of items bought (e.g. if you buy 3 items at $9.99 the rounded total is $29.95). Secondly, the rounding only applies to cash payments as electronic payments are not rounded.
While I agree these charm pricings are an insult to our intelligence, they do have a slightly positive effect on the final price. Firstly, the rounding to the nearest 5c only occurs on the sum of items bought (e.g. if you buy 3 items at $9.99 the rounded total is $29.95). Secondly, the rounding only applies to cash payments as electronic payments are not rounded.