I asked the assistant in the hardware store, "How much will one cost?" "Twenty cents" she replied. "And how much will twelve cost?" I asked. "Forty cents." she replied. "OK, I'll take one hundred and twelve." How much did I pay?
"Sparrow said:
The overly precise and technical answer to your question/riddle/'thing to ponder':
Edward said:
I asked the assistant in the hardware store, "How much will one cost?" "Twenty cents" she replied. "And how much will twelve cost?" I asked. "Forty cents." she replied. "OK, I'll take one hundred and twelve." How much did I pay?
...
Answer to your question/riddle/'thing to ponder' is: that we do not know and may not say because there is insufficient information given to be able to give an accurate reply. If, for instance, the question/riddle/'thing to ponder' had been worded to include location such as my fair city of Bellingham, WA, USA the answer would include 8.7 % sales tax and thus be: 65¢
If an alternate location (one that didn't have local state, city, county or other sales tax, or sur-charge, or delivery charge etc.) were given, and if the location was still in the United States, the amount 'you' paid would be a flat 60¢ or in US dollars: $0.60.
The price for a single SKU item for a #1 would be 20¢ (pre-tax). If there were two (2) SKU's rung up (to purchase the numerals needed to indicate the number 12 in standard manner), the total amount (pre-tax) would be 40¢ and for the three SKU's needed to form the number 112, there would be paid 60¢. This assumes that you are a law abiding citizen and did no slight-of-hand to defraud the clerk or the owner of the hardware store.
ANSWER: 60¢
http://www.cob.org/documents/finance/publications/sales-tax-distribution.pdf
The Fine Print:
Yet another answer (altogether correct as well) might be given from the perspective on an Economist instead of an Accountant (who examines transaction costs based on receipts alone). The Economist who specialized in Micro Economy might wish to consider and include the opportunity cost. Such things as what 'you' could have done instead of purchasing things at the hardware store. For instance, what if you had experienced recent car troubles? Would it be correct to include the cost of not performing needed car repair(s) that need-be rightly included in the 'total cost' of the numeric placards? What about the extra cost of neglect and subsequent damage to your vehicle and the cost of a taxi or bus or the cost of the shoe leather used and worn out partially if you avoided the more conventional means of transportation? What about the cost to your lifespan for the worry that these troubling thoughts may have contributed to shortening your life expectancy or the cost for the massage that you bought afterwards in your effort to turn debilitating stressors into facilitation? Is there an associated cost to your deep breathing exercise while even reading such things? What about the corresponding benefit(s)? Or the cost to others who may or may not respond to such things. Would it be correct to assign a portion (a very small portion) of my 'opportunity cost' to you? Could we devise an 'economy of scale' that factors such things in? We could! But such things are too much for this little bird to calculate hence the answer again = 6/100ths of a sawbuck (or 1,000 x .06 = 60) or sixty cents. Of course this answer does not include the cost of going to the hardware store, the associated costs of transportation and necessary calculations to compute the insurance, gasoline use (or mileage factors, federal or otherwise, approved by the IRS or not) and/or other factors. It also does not consider the possibility that you purchased under the auspices of another agency, such as an employer where you may have included portions of the cost (or the total amount thereof) on an expense report to be included in an expense account (nor the delay this would introduce and the cost of the use of your money, or if you paid by credit card or not) for partial and/or total reimbursement. Said Economist may also wish to offset the cost by considering your support of the hardware store owner and their effort to reduce unemployment by hiring and paying the salary and associated taxes for their employee. But with that thought, we now cross from Micro to Macro Economics and yet another segue (sequel and subsequent) boundary that would not likely profit us much but could be 'fun'. Nor does the Micro Economist's thought include the cost of an aspirin needed after having read my detailed but only partial considerations contained herein. Whew!
PS. The Term "SKU" is yet another technical term meaning, "Store Keeping Unit," or "Store Keeper's Unit," and is widely used in the Retail Industry.
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