3 ms·

It is not illegal to offer different prices. Case in point - a lowly 12 oz of Budweiser. If I buy it in a keg it costs me around 50 cents (USD)each. In the bott

It is not illegal to offer different prices. Case in point - a lowly 12 oz of Budweiser. If I buy it in a keg it costs me around 50 cents (USD)each. In the bottle it would be closer to $1. At a local bar that has good beer prices and good food it is $3.00 for draft normally, except on Thursdays it is $2 (Bisonwitches, Tucson AZ). If I go to a fancy restaurant it will likely be $4 or even as high as $6. In a free market you are free to charge what you want. Consumers are free not to purchase your item. Rules do vary around the world, so check with your local authorities. I am looking at this from a North American perspective.

podperson 16y ago
Ah so it's OK to charge people you don't like (wrong skin color say) more because it's a free market? There's a difference between giving bulk discounts and selling the same product for different prices to different customers.
- gregpilling 16y ago
  No, it is not legal to charge people a different price if their skin is purple instead of blue. In the OP example, he is talking about web delivered services where it would be difficult to determine someones skin color anyway. In my example the price of budweiser varies by location and circumstance, not by the color of the purchasers skin.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  That's not price discrimination, that's discrimination, period, this article has nothing to do with that kind of discrimination so I don't understand why you're pulling it in. And that is illegal anyway, as well it should be. Selling the same product at different price points is done all the time (bulk discounts, account discounts and so on). The issue here is not whether it is legal to sell the same product at different prices, the issue is whether or not it is legal to offer the same product to the same class of buyers at different prices at the same time. And that is legal, even if not always in the best interest of the business: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination I've done it, briefly, to test different price points and I made sure to refund those we tested at a higher level after the experiment was over.
ekanes 16y ago
I think you're wrong. 12 oz of bud in a can is a different product than 12 oz in a bottle. 12 oz by the can is different than by the case. But if you line it all up and make everything else equal, and have a line of customers in front of your till, it's illegal to charge different prices to those customers in line.

podperson 16y ago

Ah so it's OK to charge people you don't like (wrong skin color say) more because it's a free market? There's a difference between giving bulk discounts and selling the same product for different prices to different customers.

gregpilling 16y ago
No, it is not legal to charge people a different price if their skin is purple instead of blue. In the OP example, he is talking about web delivered services where it would be difficult to determine someones skin color anyway. In my example the price of budweiser varies by location and circumstance, not by the color of the purchasers skin.
jacquesm 16y ago
That's not price discrimination, that's discrimination, period, this article has nothing to do with that kind of discrimination so I don't understand why you're pulling it in. And that is illegal anyway, as well it should be. Selling the same product at different price points is done all the time (bulk discounts, account discounts and so on). The issue here is not whether it is legal to sell the same product at different prices, the issue is whether or not it is legal to offer the same product to the same class of buyers at different prices at the same time. And that is legal, even if not always in the best interest of the business: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination I've done it, briefly, to test different price points and I made sure to refund those we tested at a higher level after the experiment was over.

ekanes 16y ago

I think you're wrong. 12 oz of bud in a can is a different product than 12 oz in a bottle. 12 oz by the can is different than by the case. But if you line it all up and make everything else equal, and have a line of customers in front of your till, it's illegal to charge different prices to those customers in line.