Bob ... 
Your interpretation of "500 pcs @ $8.95" as meaning 500 pieces at a cost of 
$8.95 apiece was exactly correct.  Anyone who told you otherwise was in 
error.  Indeed, while the name of the "&" (ampersand) is fairly widely known,
I've been involved in rather extended conversations with numbers of 
specialists in typography.  At one time, the search for a formal name for 
the "@" went on for a while.  And NO-one was able to come up with anything 
more exotic than "the commercial `at'" for the name.              --ed
ed.nelson@syslink.mcs.com
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