Why you can't buy a $20 book

I’m always over the moon to receive correspondence relating to my little tales—it does reassure me that I still have an audience and that I’m not prattling on to an empty room. In reply to an item in the March issue, I received the following illuminating recollection: ‘In answer to your correspondent asking why we don’t price items to the full dollar, there is a very valid reason not to. In a past life I was with a (then) large Australian publishing house who wanted to do just that. At an arranged meeting with a (then) large bookselling department store, we were promptly advised that would not be possible. We were advised: “For a $20 purchase the customer can hand over a $20 note and with no change required, turn and walk away. The canny cash-register attendant could choose not to ring up the sale and pocket the note!” It was because of this integrity issue we did not get retail support and did not proceed with rounding to full-dollar pricing.’