An analogous situation is employers pay employees different amounts to do the same job, and then employers also try to encourage norms around not sharing compensation information in hopes of keeping wages down for at least some employees. At this point in time, talking to your colleagues about compensation is far more important than worrying about price discrimination.

I am always grateful for the people who spill the beans in their review of a product and say how much they paid. I just recently didn't purchase a "70% off" item on Amazon that I almost rushed to buy because I saw it is always heavily "discounted" and really actually worth the cost it is posted for.

Coupon is another way to charge differently for different types of shopper. It's mostly price sensitive people who look for coupons.

The only solution is to buy less crap online and in general. We spend way too much money due to ads, we should be getting outside and touching grass more. It's the only thing they can't sell

I actually argued for discriminatory pricing when it comes to legal fees and fines. Basically the current fees and fines for criminal violations be scaled up to match the criminals income/wealth. Rich criminals don’t really feel pain from a speeding ticket or parking fine and so run Willy Billy over us poor.

Here in Europe smaller stores frequently won't have price lists or price labels. I avoid those because it not only means prices might be different but mostly because of the pressure to "buy something" to be polite for wasting the sales person time or to be "rude" if everything is expensive or not worth the price. That frequently applies to bakeries, butchers etc. Then, small business owners get angry nobody shops at their stores anymore, but they're the ones keeping us away by making it hard to compare their prices with the largest stores in the first place.

A message to all the sellers and their cookies/trackers - I’m only willing to pay the lowest possible prices! 😄

i would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone that you can and should compare prices using incognito, deleting browser cookies, and using a VPN. i guarantee youll never see a lower price on an item.

"It is collusion if there's no humans involved?" Allowing that loophole to exists, opens the door to horrible consequences, "I didn't broke the law, I delegated that to a machine, even if the result is the exact same if a human did it". This is going to be a problem if AI doesn't respect copyright.

I worked a side gig as a math tutor for awhile and didn't charge enough. I found that my students didn't take the "product" seriously.

Depressing. Websites often block VPNs, only letting you log on if you disable it, or pass a 2-factor authentication test. So they know it’s you, “for your protection “. 😂☮️

I went to a flower market in San Francisco expecting it to be a good deal because the word wholesale was plastered everywhere but there were no prices on anything and I caught more than one merchant checking out my clothing before they would give me a price. I ended up buying flowers at a grocery store because the prices for plain bulk flowers were twice as much as a grocery store bouquet, and only 25% less than a full price, custom bouquet at a high end florist.

Somehow this was my motivation to start caring about online privacy. I could care less about personalized advertising and whatnot, but discriminatory pricing is where I draw a hard line.

Maybe it's less common now, but pre-Internet retailers were also able to leverage discriminatory pricing. They had to resort to coupons, membership plans, and loyalty programs to offer discounts to price-sensitive customers.

I was talking with my brother about this as he started to say that a big supermarket chain in our country doesn't seem to have all the same products in all their locations. I told him that it's something called market discrimination, and it means that, depending on the market they want to serve (aka the people they want buying their stuff), some businesses have different goods and different prices for those goods along their locations, so that they can maximize their profits.

This is a good update on the old knowledge of cookies being used to track your activity. 10 years ago I gamed this system to get better pricing airline flights. I would use my computer and then delete the cookies. Sometimes the prices would fluctuate depending on which competitor website I had visited previously. I also would go into work and use various different desktops. I would get a wide array of prices on flights that were on the same websites with the same airlines and same times. All completely identical but for different prices. So I encourage everyone to do a lot of price comparisons. Try deleting cookies, using different browsers, different laptops and mobile devices and use them in different locations like work, library, home, friends house. Even use VPNs. It can save you tons of money on flights and as most other products purchased online.

I search every (expensive) item I buy on a price comparison site, as they are not cooperating with the seller, you can spot dynamic pricing quite easily!

I'm sick to death of discriminatory pricing for online groceries. If you're imobile, disabled, don't have anyone to help you and need to eat, supermarkets very quickly push up the cost of everything you usually buy, by 20, 30, 100% in some cases. If you choose a brand that's always been cheaper, watch them push that price up to match the price of what you've previously bought to keep you poor. In a country where you have multiple options, this isn't so bad. Just choose a competitor. But in smaller countries where companies hold market monopolies, some of the most vulnerable people will end up paying more than they should. I want this to be illegal. It's predatory and it's obfuscated in ways that consumers should not have to deal with.

there’s google extensions that help you look at price fluctuations, stay minimal guys!

I am 100% for affirmative action, but universities discriminate on price in terms of scholarships along racial and ethnic lines independent of income. Sadly they are never held accountable for anything.

Yup. I live in a gated community and went to buy a laptop online over black friday. I went to a friends house- who lives a bit out there and it was $300 less on the same day. Sent my order in from there.

I am not sure how to deal with this. Maybe if they let you leave a review or comment you post what you paid so it is more transparent for others. The problem is the person who is selling you that item will take your review or comment down or at least try to.

How about a law that bans most discriminatory pricing? I say most because for highly personalised items, like commissions or custom orders I don’t think it’s fair to enforce standardised pricing.

Regarding protected classes they're not allowed to do price discrimination on...seems me a lot of places push the line quite a bit with gender and age. Kids and Senior menus are super common, as are Kids and Senior discounts in general -- and sure they're getting a deal, but arguably that means everyone who isn't a kid or senior is getting price discriminated against. Likewise, a ton of places have "ladies nights" where women drink for free/less...which arguably discriminates against men and nonbinary people. OR the example of how so many women's products are priced higher than men's products but are functionally identical. A clear example of price discrimination against women.

That's not how the "private" browsing feature works, you will still be tracked, you need to employ other methods

Was expecting this to end as: "And that's our 1 cent" because I'm pretty frugal.

Real life version of this is my local Bodega owner. He never charges me higher because I've been going there for years and know the prices. When someone new comes in he charges them extra so they think that it is the price everytime they come in. That's how I get a 1.25 coffee vs their 2.00

speaking of online dealers, I'd LOVE to see an episode about counterfeits and false advertising (especially in light of Safiya Nygaard's recent video)

It's bad enough that retailers are considering this, but they remember and/or forget that once people get wise to the scheme, they sacrifice their customer base - algorithms track so (and too) much, but people generally don't like being snooped upon so retailers can maximize their profits. Finally, retailers and algorithms still have to deal with inflation - just because retailers know, it does not mean customers will buy!

You forgot that changing laptop and/or browser languages can sometimes result in DRAMATIC price difference. There was an article I read about a person who got business class while flying for the price of economy by switching their language to Spanish from English.

The amount of effort done on gathering data,advertising and social engineering done for selling products is getting ridiculous! Seems like the market focuses now on improving everything EXCEPT the products! *Why?*

In rural part of Malaysia, you might get slightly cheaper prices at road side stalls based on how expensive is your car. You might pay more if you look rich. So you should keep your old car around!

It's weird that age is a protected category, but seniors discounts exist.

people don't understand the difference between fairness and satisfaction. Back when everything from burgers 🍔 bus rides cost nickel is workers were making fair wages for flipping Burgers. And more incomparable is living wage. Doesn't that depend on cost of living

Are they sure it's not just greed?

Like last months black friday. Claiming low price but behind the tag is the original price on most Expensive items

I'll never forget the day i saved 80 dollars on a spirit air flight by refreshing the page.

I am 99.99% certain that Amazon already does this... ALSO: I was waiting for them to mention the "Pink Tax" ~ manufacturing products which are identical except packaged to be marketed to women AND price is raised several dollars higher. (often the package colors are pink or purple but not always) This is also the case with dry cleaning fees and haircuts whether or not clothes are identical or hairstyle length is the same! There truly ought to be a government rebate for being female cause you know companies will always do these kinds of things

Visting a much less wealthy country, it was interesting to see a number of historical sites having a 'tourist price' significantly higher than the price for nationals of that country. Honestly, I don't feel that much objection to them doing that, since if you are visiting from overseas, you are wealthy enough to afford international flights and accommodation in the country (and the different pricing was prominent and clear on their websites, so I was hardly being blindsided.)

I'm coming back to your videos after I started following as a kid, and I am so happy to continue to see these sharp, right-side-of-history, cutting-edge (a la conversation around algos and bots colluding) takes. Keep doing great things!

Such an amazing video. I have noticed that prices in apps like Uber and Uber Eats that had my AMEX Gold card saved on it were consistently more expensive than my wife who had a lower tier VISA card loaded on hers. Dynamic pricing to screw people they think will pay more for something. The conspiracy theorist in me can't help but think AMEX knows about this and is getting something out of it, what with their monthly "credit" benefit. Very suspicious I think.

When at Paris restaurant, ask for both French and English menu , they are probably different pricing .

I honestly don’t know what to think of this. On some level I think it’s positive that people with more money pay more so that people with less will pay less. But I also think it’s a bad faith practice on the part of the seller to try to squeeze as much money as possible from the customer

online stores in our country somehow do something related to this by not showing the cheapest available versions of the product until the next day of adding it to cart or after you received it the product. one can beat this by opening plenty listings of the product then keep checking the bottom of the page then open a cheaper listing. Keep doing this until you find bottom of similar prices. basically, you don't choose the first/top listings that come up on your initial search/click or tap.

Very noticeable with airplane ticket prices. You can check with different browsers and vpns

It is pretty awful, I'm getting tired of paying double so everyone else can get a discount. It isn't only online, even home improvement stores near here give you discounts if you're in a variety of special groups.

We desperately need to pass laws to prevent this! Once corporations decide it's okay to discriminate and turn on the tech to do it, they'll lobby to keep it and raise prices over time to the max they can bleed us for. They won't look at what we're paying for rent, food, etc., and why should a corporation get to decide where our money goes anyway? Turning this back off will be near impossible once it's in place.

Maybe I should become a member of my local Buy Nothing Facebook group, just to send the message that I am shopping around.

I'm not sure but I think some of the grocery apps might be doing this. Take ketchup for example. One was trying to sell me 24 oz for 8.29 another 32 oz for 10.58 then we went to the local grocery store that had no app and the cost was $1.99 for 20 oz. I thought I noticed the prices creeping up to the point I had to drastically change strategy and delete their apps. My grocery costs dropped to less than half when I shopped in person.

I paid a good deal more for my online purchases in San Francisco than I do in rural NC.

If you can't discriminate based on gender and age why is it legal for car insurance to charge men and younger people more? (I know statistically men and younger drivers are in more accidents, but it's still not fair because it would be absurd to use discriminatory prices based on ethnicity)

Yeah, they can find out what you want to buy. And what you need to buy. What you HAVE TO buy. Bad news if you require medicine regularly, have dietary restrictions or can already afford only one of the cheapest options in something.

Why do I always get the feeling that merchants and manufacturers would rather burn their own inventory than to see the consumer benefit from a discount?

I once heard it put this way - turning unexploited vulnerability into exploited vulnerability is the most important way that capital is *actually* efficient.

Some stores (lokking at you hardware and electronic stores) price discriminate between online (national competition) and offline (local competition). However, many of those same stores offer "store pickup". So you can order it whilst you are standing in front of the item and watch an employee picking it off the pile and carrying it to the piickup counter. Hotels love to do the same: walk in customers get milked whilst online the same room is 30-60% less. So I book online whilst standing at the reception and then say "Oh, I have a reservation". This is very counterintuitive because they have to pay the booking platform a hefty fee, but even if you point that out they won't budge and rather pay the booking platform too (instead of pocketing more money)

sounds like we need a browser extension that tracks prices across sites and people

You could always take a screenshot of the proof and show it to people

I'm so happy I live in Europe... here businesses must have their prices afixed

This is why inflation really happens and why rent is so freaking expensive everywhere!

i just started really watching your videos and i really like the content you make, its so easy to understand and i learn a lot and try to take actionable steps

the best example of discriminatory prices is price difference between different countries

Tbh people the bike to a cafe rather then drive in most cases (at least for the US) are being theoretical charged extra than the car driver since the car driver is having there personal vehicle storage subsidized by the bike rider.

They have used value for customer to use pricing, they use Utility method which is simply analysing what value you put into a product/service.

I feel only one of the examples you gave near the beginning is truly price discrimination. That being the car salesman part. when you mention the hotel and airline tickets increasing during a holiday I don't see that as price discrimination because during those times people typically are more likely to travel and need places to stay during their stay which uses up the limited supply of airplane seats and/or hotel rooms for that duration of the holiday. Because of this it looks more like a supply and demand issue rather than a discrimination issue.

This is one of the most underrated KZfaq channels on the web. We need more educational channels like this.

This is just downright evil. and the worst part of it is the whole knowledge/power imbalance. Consumers should always know exactly how much it cost to produce any item and exactly what profit margin the company is getting. We need to legally mandate the disclosure of this information and set a legal cap on profit margin. No more charging literally whatever you want justified on literally nothing.

Here is another side to discrimtory pricing loyalty programs, and employee discounts. If a company offers discounts to customers that are loyal that is the same as charging those that are not more, just in an easier to swallow package. If the company layers those up with technological barriers to enter or the ability to read and respond certain groups are priced far more than others..

i have found that some prices for items drop for me because i have a tendency to fill carts on multiple websites when researching and not buy them for long periods of time, or not at all. One website actually reduced the price of things in my cart after a month to get me to buy them.

Thank you for making these videos

Consumers in California are charged more for just about everything.

I love her denim black dress! She looks super comfy. 🥰

Can you link the source to the study you mention at the ends about the algorithms colluding to fix prices? Thanks!

Being happy about your price until finding out someone else paid less sounds similar to employer policies on not discussing wages with coworkers. You're happy with your salary until you find out the new-hire is making more than you. But that's a whole other video.

When I lived in China, I was charged more than the locals. My wife is Chinese, and I'm Canadian; when shopping at the mall, she asks me to have a coffee somewhere while she shops. Why? Because if I'm there, the foreigner, all the prices go up, and she can't bargain.

$5 bottle of Gatorade from a food stall on 5th Ave NYC. Criminal

"For some reason, they think MacBook users have money to burn.". Most least obvious burn I've seen in a while.

Eat the rich.

1:09 This intro is so nostalgic

One place discriminatory pricing is wide spread is software distribution, particularly video games have historically, and still commonly do differ in cost depending on regions.

I used to work at a small business doing t-shirts and when we have jackasses and we would make them pay a higher price if they were rude or complicated with the order. Customers can think it's unfair, but we don't need an attitude or waste our time. If they complain about the price the owner would discount it if they were not rude or anything like that. Otherwise, if rude, all sales are final. We don't need a Karen or a Kevin or mental gymnastics. I mean, 20-ish dollars for a shirt, especially if it's customized when the customers would STILL complain about the price! Yeah, you can get something like that online, but you're getting it in a store where using the heat press is hot, the ink and printer costs a lot, we gotta pay rent or lease for the store, and we gotta design it as well as make a profit and pay me. I really hated working onsite at the job because of the rotten attitudes of the people and I have an anxiety disorder. So I had enough on-site work after 2 years. So, I was a little offended by this video or feel a little guilty. The owner just didn't want to deal with attitudes and again, a small business. So bottom line, don't be a douche bag in a store like that. Otherwise, you'll get a higher price.

Amazon clearly does this constantly. Greediest retailer in the world.

I was surprised that they didn't point out (as other youtubers that advertise VPNs do) that, apparently, a VPN can be used to get better prices for flights and hotels and hire cars and the like if you change your apparent location. (Basically for anything that doesn't need to be delivered to your door physically)

Obviously you've never been to Thailand. Here they do charge by race and it’s posted everywhere you go. Most items don’t show a price tag and they will charge more based upon your skin color. Land of smiles 😅

Y’all are missing a plethora of information concerning the shops in low income areas and just making it seem like those shops are trying to screw their consumers over.

College tuition differences aren't discriminatory pricing. The listed cost of attendance is public info and the same for everyone. The discounts offered can vary but the price doesn't.

If you order a hit, you are liable. Same with using a tool that colludes with competitors. Sickening.

There are some sites which track prices (Honey, capital one shopping) but their data seem wrong sometimes, although it is also a ploy to collect more data from you

What did you do to the mustache? Where are you hiding it?

i dony buy anything on amazon. i only use online shopping for hobbies (that is, guitars and effects). i also dont buy much stuff in general. my cusp-Boomer granparents (56/57?) always bought a lot of junk and i always hated it. and consumer surplus is so low right now, even if i wanted to i couldn't buy anything. i make 20/hr

3:12-That's just like progressive taxation. Spoiler alert:The lower prices won't appear.

Thanks it was helpful Good job👍

Another tip for online purchases: block ads and cookies and don’t login when you browse items. Only login when you go to buy and verify the price.

Fast food apps use a form of discriminatory pricing by making the menu more expensive so they can offer discounts on the apps to reward repeat customers.

Guy doesn't go to barber anymore to save more money

For Amazon remember the three magic words: camel camel camel. I never get ripped off by fake sales or discriminating prices from there because of that genius free site.

Does Amazon do this? There are products that i buy on a regular basis such as kitty litter and the prices keep going up incrementally :/ I assumed it was because of inflation but now I’m wondering if they’re using an algorithm to figure out what I’ll tolerate and willing to pay.

Sounds like we need new laws and a stronger FTC. But my guess is we will have the market fix this issue for us. As in businesses will adopt the tech, and eventually, consumers will create an opposing set of technologies. Where many people are taken advantage of or pay to not be.

And this is why you double check prices through a VPN. Also, "is it considered collusion when there are no humans involved?" Well, I didn't realize online shopping sites are owned, developed, and run by AI.

In Steam, games are sold in vastly different prices in different currencies

South East Asian markets: First time?