How do you feel about dynamic pricing?
 

Heard a blip on the radio that Amazon was possibly opening physical stores but without actual price tags on the items.
You have to point your smartphone at it.
After you've been identified, your personalized price is based upon algorithms from data already collected over years by the .db brokers.

The obvious variables would include wealth, spending habits, immediate need, shopping diligence, etc.
But they could also include many more personal data-points such as physical health, political affiliation or other factors which many people might find a bit creepy.

There are currently zero laws against [myself as a merchant] charging Sara twice as much as Frank for the same item or service. I don't have to explain anything to Sara when she complains and the complex code I use is very proprietary and secret and always changing.

Some misc reading for reference:
CNN.com - Web sites change prices based on customers' habits - Jun 24, 2005
Dynamic Pricing: How to Beat Back Price Bots and Get the Best Deal
How Web Sites Vary Prices Based on Your Information (and What You Can Do About It)

Yeah, no.

I've already read about tricks of clearing your brower's cache before buying certain things. Another reason to run a tighter ship, security-wise.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

When shopping for airline tickets, I always clear my cookies between price-checks.

I've seen an airline ticket double or triple in price because you performed a handful of searches to try to find the best price.

If Amazon went to that, I'd probably never purchase an item in their store. I think people would revolt.

I think folks that got better prices would offer their services until the prices started to go up. I don't think it will work in the long run for many reasons.

"They" just keep pushing it.

There's a lot to be said for supporting local business even if it costs you a bit extra.

When you got to "After you've been identified" I was out! I don't care if it costs me more. Personal privacy is worth more than a few bucks.

Once upon a time I had to get a bereavement flight in a hurry, which should have been cheaper than normal.
But the price was outrageous.
I contacted the service another way.
That flight was now about half the price.
(maight not work these days with the conglomeration and cross-referencing of various DBs and static IPs. Smartphones 'n all. Built into the OS these days.)

Can't imagine the day when someone wealthy runs to CVS at 4am for an inhaler and it charges them $30,000...

Because I want to deal with airline-like opaque pricing on everything. :rolleyes:

Nope. I like the model where a seller says what they're asking, I counter by saying what I'm offering to pay, then a negotiation happens.

Screw the whole "big data" model.

If this came to fruition, I would never buy another item in my life....most times I don't even have my cell phone with me, let alone stuck to my hand using data ! This is honestly the most foolish idea I have heard of in awhile now for the consumer....great for the retailer though, they could track your buying habits, and predict what you will buy next ???? Oh hell no !

I value my privacy too much for this crap.

I DO hope they include behavior on returning items in their pricing. Some people abuse the hell out of that. Pisses me off, because they drive up prices for everyone else.

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I dontshop where prices aren't displayed. It smacks of "if you have to ask the price then you can't afford it"

This example sounds fun, though

The Drink Exchange

Tangent: Forbes Welcome

Exactly!

Good luck with that.

I predict that if this is widely adopted, it will only be a matter of time before someone accuses (possibly correctly) a retailer of discrimination.

My wife used to work for May Company, absorbed by Macy's. They used to see tons of jewelry and prom dresses returned (slightly used) all the time around the end of HS graduation.

I would not be happy with dynamic pricing. It's why I don't buy anything at Middle Eastern bazaars, nor Chinese street vendors.

I would however be in favor of predictably high pricing for people who buy stuff with their "rewards" credit cards, or eliminate that insidiousness altogether.

Bingo! Cindy just back from town after buying a washing machine from a small local appliance dealer. They'll deliver & set up later today.

Guess I couldn't shop at an amazon store anyway...no smart phone. Just an old flip style dumb phone that we use to make calls when out & about. Trac Phone. $100 worth of minutes easily lasts us a year. We call it our $8.33 per month plan...

If you don't like it, you simply walk out of the store.

Dynamic pricing is the only way airlines price things. I have always wished I could go from seat to seat and get a receipt for each passenger for what they paid for the flight. It would range from dirt cheap (or free) to out and out rape.

Dynamic pricing is really the only fair way to price most items. Really nothing new.

Think about it; If I buy 2k worth of merchandise per month from XYZ company and rarely have a return, should I pay the same price for a widget as the customer that spends $100.00 per month and has returns frequently? NO, I should be rewarded with better pricing. Same applies to anything really; food, cars, clothing, electricity, etc. As a consumer, I expect and deserve breaks for brand loyalty and purchasing power.

I am all for this method.

Dynamic pricing works the opposite way. Example:

Two young mothers, each grocery shopping once a week.
First mom buys a large jar of peanut butter every week.
Second mother buys peanut butter infrequently, and only when on sale.

Dynamic pricing says first mother is going to buy no matter what, and price is not important to her- She will be charged more.
Price goes down for second mother to entice her to buy peanut butter more often.

If you're buying 2K worth of widgets a month, dynamic pricing decides you need widgets, and will charge you more.

It's about profits, not customer loyalty.

I don't think you understand the concept.

"Dynamic pricing" is charging $10 for a bottle of water at a concert when it's 105° outside.

Technology is now available to apply the practice more widely, by gathering intel as to how likely you are to buy. When the seller knows the supply, demand and the competition, it gives them much more leverage.

was not that way before deregulation
you could fly standby cheap

just yet an other Gop dogma failure :rolleyes:

It's also charging a single mom who comes in with a minivan and three screaming kids $2,000 for brake pads, or $16 for a gallon of gas to someone who comes in with a Rolls Royce versus $2 for the same gallon of gas for someone who comes in with a beater. It's a euphemism for a more commonly-known phrase, "price gouging".

It's BS and precisely why I use every opportunity to screw up data collection efforts on me. I use cash, mix up purchases and payment methods, occasionally pick up stuff for other people, don't go to the same stores all the time, etc. I utterly hate these efforts - they exist for no reason other than to further erode personal privacy and liberty and to try to screw people over as efficiently as possible. As per the above, tell me what you're asking and I'll either accept that or counter with what I think it's worth. We can negotiate from there. This is how most of the ROW works. Places that operate that way tend to get my business. I do NOT do "rewards cards" or similar nonsense either. It's none of your business what my buying habits are - it's your job to look at purchases in aggregate, track inventory and keep your shelves (or warehouses) stocked based on projected AGGREGATE rates of consumption. You don't need to know my name, blood type, social security number, address, kids' names, date of birth or any of the rest of it. The more places that this stuff lives as part of a profile means more potential points of hacking / illegal access that can result in ID theft or worse too.

Protect yourselves - delete cookies, clear caches, don't use predictable buying habits, use cash where possible, mix up purchases, use online protection methods, etc. Don't volunteer personal information. I never give e-mail addresses or anything else when pressured by cashiers. If they persist, I find that "Lucas Buttsleeve, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC" works to end the line of questioning pretty quickly. ;)

Agreed this is nothing new, companies have been doing this for years. Amazon and New Egg come to mind for online-retail. Also eBay. Disneyland has also started this on their daily entry rates. Fun times.

You know, now that I think about it, I have an answer to dynamic pricing.

You want me to give you personal info in order to tell me what price you will charge.

O.K. fine. First, tell me what your gross income was last year, where you live, what is your cost on the product you offer for sale.

After you give me all those details we'll talk.

Other than the above, pound sand.

Keep it in PARF, ya old fart.