The average unit cost, weighted average, and quantitative unit methods can result in a product cost that exceeds market value for one or more of the joint products. Such a joint product appears unprofitable while one or more others appear profitable. Because the choice of costing method affects product cost and is an arbitrary choice, it is usually argued that a chosen method should not result in an artificial loss—that is, a loss for one joint product and a profit for another. A family of joint products is either all profitable or all unprofitable at the point of separation. Avoidance of differing rates of profitability for joint products is an advantage of the market value method; if an arbitrary allocation must be made, it should at least be neutral.