the usage of "How much is that?"

If there are several things, say "What is the total?"

If you are referring to one thing, then you can say, "How much is that?"

You can say "How much is that?" to ask how much all the things cost in total. This is perfectly normal.

That's exactly what I meant. Thank you.

I guess I would say, "How much is all that?"

There are many different things you could say. "How much is that?" is just one.

Emma Chisit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Dickens

In late 1964 Dickens was visiting Australia to promote her works. It was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on 30 November 1964 that during a book signing session in Sydney she had been approached by a woman who handed her a copy of her book and enquired, presumably in a broad Australian accent, "How much is it?". Dickens reportedly misheard this as an instruction as to the name which she should include in the inscription ("Emma Chisit") and thus was born the phenomenon of "Strine" which filled the newspaper's letter columns and subsequently was the subject of a separate weekly article and, later, a series of humorous books.

Give him the Ribbon then.

Hi Nat093,
You can say "How much is that?" It's perfectly fine.

Is there an echo in here?