At the u-pick checkout the whole bag goes on the scale, but the customer is not buying the bag. Net weight is gross minus the container's tare, and the price is net times your per-pound rate. Keep the tare in its own column: a peck basket weighs more than a paper bag, and a 0.6 lb mistake is a dollar and change on every ticket.
A bag of apples at 6.4 lb gross with a 0.6 lb bag tare is 5.8 lb net — $13.05 at $2.25 a pound.
The example
Three checkouts. The basket has a bigger tare than the bag, and the peaches carry a higher per-pound price.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Customer | Gross lb | Tare lb | $/lb | Net lb | Total |
| 2 | Bag #1 — apples | 6.4 | 0.6 | $2.25 | 5.8 | $13.05 |
| 3 | Basket — apples | 12.2 | 1.1 | $2.25 | 11.1 | $24.98 |
| 4 | Bag #2 — peaches | 3.0 | 0.6 | $3.50 | 2.4 | $8.40 |
The formula
Net weight in its own column so the customer can see it on the receipt:
How it works
Two steps that look trivial and are where every dispute starts:
B2-C2subtracts the container tare from the scale reading. 6.4 lb minus 0.6 lb is 5.8 lb of apples.E2*D2multiplies net pounds by the price. 5.8 lb at $2.25 is $13.05.- Tare comes from a table of your containers, not a guess. Weigh an empty bag, an empty basket and an empty box once and write them down.
- Round the total to the cent for the receipt with
ROUND(E2*D2,2). 11.1 lb at $2.25 is $24.975 — the register needs $24.98.
If the scale reads in pounds and ounces, convert first: lb + oz/16. A reading of 6 lb 6 oz is 6.375 lb, not 6.6.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter the scale reading, the container tare and your price per pound.
Variations
Tare looked up from the container type
Type "Bag" or "Basket" and let XLOOKUP pull the tare from your container table.
Round the net weight the way your scale does
Legal-for-trade scales round to a fixed division, often 0.02 lb. MROUND matches the display.
Pitfalls & errors
Tare the container the customer actually used. A wet basket after a rainy morning can weigh 0.2 lb more than the dry one you measured in June.
Print the net weight on the receipt. Customers who see "5.8 lb @ $2.25" rarely argue; customers who see only $13.05 sometimes do.
Never let net go negative. A scale mis-read below the tare should show 0, not a credit — wrap it in MAX(0, B2-C2) if the register sheet feeds a total.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
Why not just have customers empty the bag onto the scale?
Should I charge by weight or by container?
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