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Based on the principle of charging the maximum price the market is willing to bear, would you consider it ethical for a company like Amazon to charge more or le

by mthoms 16y ago

Based on the principle of charging the maximum price the market is willing to bear, would you consider it ethical for a company like Amazon to charge more or less based on the affluence of the billing zipcode for each customer? /honest question

qq66 16y ago
I think it would be ethical, although bad business. Both price discrimination methods, by the way, are defeatable. You can drive an extra few hours to another airport (have done this many times), and you can get your packages shipped to another address.
- mthoms 16y ago
  Sure both are defeatable, the question is whether doing so is worth the time and effort for the amount saved.
ars 16y ago
What's not ethical about it? No one is forcing you to buy. But it's probably not good business, since people get irritated by things like that and shop less.
- mthoms 16y ago
  I suppose it doesn't matter whether the seller thinks it's unethical. What matters, as you point out, is that the average consumer probably would.
- mavelikara 16y ago
  OK, knowing this strategy employed by the seller, a buyer opened a PO Box at a near by less-than-affluent neighborhood and shipped her purchase there. Would you categorize this customer's behavior unethical?
yardie 16y ago
They basically do this by country code. I find Amazon.de is cheaper for some a lot of things than Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.fr. Amazon.com has the lowest prices of them all. Its usually cheaper, and faster, for me to order books and gifts from the US site, pay international shipping and customs than it is to order from the local site, who may not get it for months if at all.
- OPAS_Advantage 16y ago
  There are a lot of merchants on Amazon.com (the US site) that won't ship internationally. But you can still buy from them and get international shipping if you use a package forwarding service. Try http://bit.ly/gN2oGK http://bit.ly/gN2oGK You can save a ton of money for exactly the reasons you mentioned: prices on the US site are much cheaper, even with international shipping.

by mthoms 16y ago

qq66 16y ago

I think it would be ethical, although bad business. Both price discrimination methods, by the way, are defeatable. You can drive an extra few hours to another airport (have done this many times), and you can get your packages shipped to another address.

mthoms 16y ago
Sure both are defeatable, the question is whether doing so is worth the time and effort for the amount saved.

ars 16y ago

What's not ethical about it? No one is forcing you to buy. But it's probably not good business, since people get irritated by things like that and shop less.

mthoms 16y ago
I suppose it doesn't matter whether the seller thinks it's unethical. What matters, as you point out, is that the average consumer probably would.
mavelikara 16y ago
OK, knowing this strategy employed by the seller, a buyer opened a PO Box at a near by less-than-affluent neighborhood and shipped her purchase there. Would you categorize this customer's behavior unethical?

yardie 16y ago

They basically do this by country code. I find Amazon.de is cheaper for some a lot of things than Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.fr. Amazon.com has the lowest prices of them all. Its usually cheaper, and faster, for me to order books and gifts from the US site, pay international shipping and customs than it is to order from the local site, who may not get it for months if at all.

OPAS_Advantage 16y ago
There are a lot of merchants on Amazon.com (the US site) that won't ship internationally. But you can still buy from them and get international shipping if you use a package forwarding service. Try http://bit.ly/gN2oGK http://bit.ly/gN2oGK You can save a ton of money for exactly the reasons you mentioned: prices on the US site are much cheaper, even with international shipping.