It's certainly true that haggling and such have been around essentially forever, but scientific rigor hasn't. There are now entire generations of PhDs who have

It's certainly true that haggling and such have been around essentially forever, but scientific rigor hasn't. There are now entire generations of PhDs who have carefully studied these psychological phenomenon to maximize business' ability to squeeze every last drop of blood out of you. Meanwhile the consumer has been left relatively uneducated and unprepared to recognize and maneuver in this world.