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But also, charge accordingly, if you don't have to post your prices (as your parents probably did). A lawyer is likely willing to pay a lot more for the same we

But also, charge accordingly, if you don't have to post your prices (as your parents probably did). A lawyer is likely willing to pay a lot more for the same website than a tailor shop, and I'll gladly take both of their money.

crispyambulance 8y ago
Yes, "charge accordingly" means different things to different customers. My parents never advertised their tailor shop, it was all "word-of-mouth" business. After the pricing jack-up, every customer got charged what my mother felt they could pay (with a very loose regard for consistency and some allowance for negotiation). I used to think that was sketchy. It wasn't until much later that I realized that B2B enterprise sales people do that stuff ALL THE TIME even with their onerous kpi's, forecasting and fiscal quarter expectations!
- zamadatix 8y ago
  That big business does something isn't and indicator of whether it's sketchy or not. I wouldn't even say the comparison maps 1:1 anyways.
  - crispyambulance 8y ago
    You're right but whatever it is, that's what "brings in the bacon" for a lot of businesses.
    - nateferrero 8y ago
      pricing is an entire industry of it's own, with conferences and such I see it like advertising - one part of the chain of value, and ensuring that a responsible and fair transaction occurs Production: control of how something exists Project management: control of when something Advertising: control of how you become aware of something Pricing: control of how you take ownership of something
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  > I used to think that was sketchy. It wasn't until much later that I realized that B2B enterprise sales people do that stuff ALL THE TIME even with their onerous kpi's, forecasting and fiscal quarter expectations! Depending on how it's done, it still is, and enterprise salesmen doing it doesn't make it less so. As a customer, I don't necessarily seek absolute minimum price, but I want it to be a fair price that I can agree on voluntarily - that means, I don't want to be subject of a bunch of manipulative sales techniques during pricing negotiations. Moreover, individual pricing used at scale makes it impossible to compare prices, or even develop a sense of what price is fair price. I actively prefer buying from vendors who list prices publicly, so by going the individual price route, you might be losing business of me and people like me.
  - crispyambulance 8y ago
    > I don't want to be subject of a bunch of manipulative sales techniques... If the sales techniques are sufficiently manipulative, you won't actually know you're being manipulated. There's a reason why sales people in enterprise sales can pull in MM's per year, it's a different level than, say, retail or car sales.
  - dorgo 8y ago
    How do you determine whether a price is targeted/individual? Do you check in different browsers / on different devices?
    - netsharc 8y ago
      I think he means prices where the webpage just says "contact us for a consultation". Here they'd probably google your company and see how much they can get away with charging you.
      - TeMPOraL 8y ago
        I mean that if a webpage just says "contact us for a consultation", I'll first try to find a company that shows their prices publicly - and if I find such, I'll stick to them. I hate "contact us for a consultation". As for dynamic pricing on-line, AFAIK only airlines do that to significant extent so far. Once other people start, I might start opening in different browsers or not keeping cookies or whatever.
- m463 8y ago
  > every customer got charged what my mother felt they could pay I suspect with advertising profiles and amazon purchase histories (and possibly amazon visa card applications requiring household income)... this wonderful "service" previously only available to the rich will be democratized for everyone!
selflesssieve 8y ago
The term is price discrimination. Offering coupons through the mail, online ad codes etc. You are reaching out to different demos using different marketing techniques and offering or not offering discounts accordingly.
- dorgo 8y ago
  Or just show different prices to different users. Iphone users usually pay more.
  - kortilla 8y ago
    Where? This anecdote is oft repeated with little evidence. The only I example I remember is some place getting caught doing it and having to stop because of the bad press.
    - reaperducer 8y ago
      IIRC, it's very common for travel sites to charge higher prices for Apple users.
      - paublyrne 8y ago
        Any examples?
        dymk 8y ago
        https://news.northeastern.edu/2014/10/23/ecommerce-study/ https://news.northeastern.edu/2014/10/23/ecommerce-study/ The actual paper: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/cbw/static/pdf/imc151-hannak.pdf#_ga=2.90760090.182711740.1557957419-1427425748.1557957419 http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/cbw/static/pdf/imc151-hannak.pdf... "As shown in Figure 11, Travelocity alters hotel search results for users who browse from iOS devices." (In particular, alters the prices shown to the user).
        nitrogen 8y ago

crispyambulance 8y ago

Yes, "charge accordingly" means different things to different customers. My parents never advertised their tailor shop, it was all "word-of-mouth" business. After the pricing jack-up, every customer got charged what my mother felt they could pay (with a very loose regard for consistency and some allowance for negotiation). I used to think that was sketchy. It wasn't until much later that I realized that B2B enterprise sales people do that stuff ALL THE TIME even with their onerous kpi's, forecasting and fiscal quarter expectations!

zamadatix 8y ago
That big business does something isn't and indicator of whether it's sketchy or not. I wouldn't even say the comparison maps 1:1 anyways.
- crispyambulance 8y ago
  You're right but whatever it is, that's what "brings in the bacon" for a lot of businesses.
  - nateferrero 8y ago
    pricing is an entire industry of it's own, with conferences and such I see it like advertising - one part of the chain of value, and ensuring that a responsible and fair transaction occurs Production: control of how something exists Project management: control of when something Advertising: control of how you become aware of something Pricing: control of how you take ownership of something
TeMPOraL 8y ago
> I used to think that was sketchy. It wasn't until much later that I realized that B2B enterprise sales people do that stuff ALL THE TIME even with their onerous kpi's, forecasting and fiscal quarter expectations! Depending on how it's done, it still is, and enterprise salesmen doing it doesn't make it less so. As a customer, I don't necessarily seek absolute minimum price, but I want it to be a fair price that I can agree on voluntarily - that means, I don't want to be subject of a bunch of manipulative sales techniques during pricing negotiations. Moreover, individual pricing used at scale makes it impossible to compare prices, or even develop a sense of what price is fair price. I actively prefer buying from vendors who list prices publicly, so by going the individual price route, you might be losing business of me and people like me.
- crispyambulance 8y ago
  > I don't want to be subject of a bunch of manipulative sales techniques... If the sales techniques are sufficiently manipulative, you won't actually know you're being manipulated. There's a reason why sales people in enterprise sales can pull in MM's per year, it's a different level than, say, retail or car sales.
- dorgo 8y ago
  How do you determine whether a price is targeted/individual? Do you check in different browsers / on different devices?
  - netsharc 8y ago
    I think he means prices where the webpage just says "contact us for a consultation". Here they'd probably google your company and see how much they can get away with charging you.
    - TeMPOraL 8y ago
      I mean that if a webpage just says "contact us for a consultation", I'll first try to find a company that shows their prices publicly - and if I find such, I'll stick to them. I hate "contact us for a consultation". As for dynamic pricing on-line, AFAIK only airlines do that to significant extent so far. Once other people start, I might start opening in different browsers or not keeping cookies or whatever.
m463 8y ago
> every customer got charged what my mother felt they could pay I suspect with advertising profiles and amazon purchase histories (and possibly amazon visa card applications requiring household income)... this wonderful "service" previously only available to the rich will be democratized for everyone!

selflesssieve 8y ago

The term is price discrimination. Offering coupons through the mail, online ad codes etc. You are reaching out to different demos using different marketing techniques and offering or not offering discounts accordingly.

dorgo 8y ago
Or just show different prices to different users. Iphone users usually pay more.
- kortilla 8y ago
  Where? This anecdote is oft repeated with little evidence. The only I example I remember is some place getting caught doing it and having to stop because of the bad press.
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    IIRC, it's very common for travel sites to charge higher prices for Apple users.
    - paublyrne 8y ago
      Any examples?
      - dymk 8y ago
        https://news.northeastern.edu/2014/10/23/ecommerce-study/ https://news.northeastern.edu/2014/10/23/ecommerce-study/ The actual paper: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/cbw/static/pdf/imc151-hannak.pdf#_ga=2.90760090.182711740.1557957419-1427425748.1557957419 http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/cbw/static/pdf/imc151-hannak.pdf... "As shown in Figure 11, Travelocity alters hotel search results for users who browse from iOS devices." (In particular, alters the prices shown to the user).
      - nitrogen 8y ago