# Is there a price that rounds in my favour?

There is one free move, and it is worth four cents. It is not the one most people go looking for.

**5 list prices between $19.98 and $20.02 all settle to $20.00 in cash at 0% tax. Listing at $20.02 instead of $19.98 collects exactly the same from cash customers and 4¢ more from every card customer. That is the only genuinely free move rounding offers, it is worth 4¢, and it evaporates if the tax rate changes.**

Free to take: **4¢**, at 0% tax.

| List price | Exact total | Due in cash | Rounding | Same band |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $19.93 | $19.93 | $19.95 | +2¢ | no |
| $19.94 | $19.94 | $19.95 | +1¢ | no |
| $19.95 | $19.95 | $19.95 | 0¢ | no |
| $19.96 | $19.96 | $19.95 | -1¢ | no |
| $19.97 | $19.97 | $19.95 | -2¢ | no |
| $19.98 (yours) | $19.98 | $20.00 | +2¢ | yes |
| $19.99 | $19.99 | $20.00 | +1¢ | yes |
| $20.00 | $20.00 | $20.00 | 0¢ | yes |
| $20.01 | $20.01 | $20.00 | -1¢ | yes |
| $20.02 (best) | $20.02 | $20.00 | -2¢ | yes |
| $20.03 | $20.03 | $20.05 | +2¢ | no |

Rows in the same band settle to the same cash amount. The cash collected is identical across the band, so the highest list price in it is strictly better — the difference comes from card customers, who pay the listed price to the cent. Pricing BELOW a nickel so that rounding "adds" a couple of cents is the same trade run backwards: identical cash, less on card.

---

Canonical URL: https://penny-rounding.gumballtools.com/rounding/pricing-to-the-nickel
JSON API: `GET https://penny-rounding.gumballtools.com/api/v1/settle?subtotal=19.99&taxRatePercent=8.25`
MCP endpoint: `https://penny-rounding.gumballtools.com/api/mcp`