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As per the title, if I'm in a grocery store and there is a basket of 10 apples and a sign that simply says $1, that might mean $1 per apple or $1 for the whole basket. Is there a single word that describes the representation of that price.

I'm thinking along the lines of words like "cardinality" or "plurality", but neither of those are correct for this example.

Edit: I should elaborate, I am putting data in a table and one of the columns is that question, so I'm looking for a header for the column

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  • If some entity gives an explanation of whether X is A or B, then this entity has to make statements about X, and no word makes a statement. Your title is not logical and you have to rethink it so as to make your idea precise to the reader. Perhaps you are looking for a hypernymic term (It's doubtful a single-word term exists for that)?
    – LPH
    Commented Jul 26 at 19:52
  • "Word that describes the cost, whether it is cost per item or cost for the total", rather, would be what you mean.
    – LPH
    Commented Jul 26 at 19:55
  • It is unclear what you mean by 'the representation of that price'. Are you looking for a word that preserves the ambiguity as to whether the price is per apple or per basket? What would be the use for such a term?
    – jsw29
    Commented Jul 26 at 20:24
  • Usually, if there's a price and nothing else, it's per unit (like per fruit) So, they say: 69¢ The other way is they put a pound sign underneath the price. Pork Chop, 89¢/lb.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jul 26 at 22:57
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    This is not a duplicate of either of those answers. The first proposed dup wanted subtotal. The second proposed dup was closed because it didn't meet standards. This question is valid and has an answer that can be supported by inventory management glossaries. Please reopen.
    – Phil Sweet
    Commented Aug 15 at 15:43

3 Answers 3

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There is a term although it would rarely be used for apples. It is

"the unit price". You might contrast this with "the pack price" or similar.

Thus

The unit price of apples is $1.

The pack price for 10 apples is $8.

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  • OP is requesting a word referencing whether the price is unit price, price per pair, price per half-dozen .... ie referencing the number offered for sale in a stipulated/single transaction. I doubt there is one.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 26 at 22:37
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    I’d use each.
    – Xanne
    Commented Jul 27 at 1:47
  • Unit doesn't solve the problem, because the question can always be raised what constitutes a unit. In the case of apples, one is likely to think of a single apple as a unit, but in the case of raspberries one is more likely to think of a basket as a unit. And even when it comes to apples, one can imagine the conditions (say, an abundance of apples at harvest time) in which a basket would be thought of as a unit. In fact, unit cannot solve the problem with the prices that the OP is is pointing to, because we are likely to regard as a unit whatever the posted price is for.
    – jsw29
    Commented Jul 27 at 17:06
  • Unit price = pack price if the unit is a pack. Normally it is per ounce or per pound or per liter; but it could be anything. The OP wants to know terms for whether the item count per SKU price is one or more. If I buy a Gatorade and scan it, the price is for one Gatorade. If I by a pack of Gatorades and scan one of them, the price is for the pack because they have different codes on them. They have different SKU prices, different unit prices (cost per ounce) and the item quantity is different.
    – Phil Sweet
    Commented Aug 15 at 16:04
  • Consider a carton of cigarettes, for which the unit price is per pack. What do you call all the the factors that let you figure out how much one cigarette costs? What is the term for the number of packs in a carton and what is the term for the number of cigarettes in a pack?
    – Phil Sweet
    Commented Aug 15 at 16:06
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Something as simple as item price, price per item, or even single item price might do.

In the grocery store, precision is required and unit prices with listed units are legally required in some areas. They would list lbs, liter, kg, etc. (ex. "$3 per lbs") or say something like "$3 each" or "$3 per apple".

For data entry it may be helpful for calculation and clarity to have separate columns for "unit", "unit price", and something like "quantity grouping".

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Consider Basis:

  1. a basic fact, amount, standard, etc., used in making computations, reaching conclusions, or the like The nurse is paid on an hourly basis Collins Dictionary

The cost basis for one kind of fruit might be weight, while another might be volume, and another might be count.

This is independent of the unit system, for instance whether the volume is measured in bushels, pints, or liters.

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