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Experiment shows why ticket sellers hit you with last-second fees
- evolve2k 6y agoYou might (not) be surprised to hear this is a US centric practice. In Australia this behaviour would fall foul of consumer protection laws. Our Consumer protection act and government body has real teeth and these practices would fail the requirement not to engage is misleading and deceptive practices.
- shadowmore 6y agoThis just reminds me of how we ship meat from the US to China for processing and then back, then slap "US Raised" on it to avoid suspicion.
- buzzerbetrayed 6y agoMind explaining more to someone who has never heard of this?
- WrtCdEvrydy 6y agoIt's pretty common to ship chicken to china for processing since the cost of shipping is lower than labor... however since it was raised in the US, it's totally legal to say "US Raised Chickens"
- steve_adams_86 6y agoThis just screams race to the bottom to me. There is absolutely no accounting for externalities. I need to look into whether or not Canada does this.
- WrtCdEvrydy 6y agohttps://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/tyson-foods-cleared-to-ship-poultry-to-china-from-all-u-s-plants/ https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/tyson-fo... Not sure if it happens in Canada...
- rootusrootus 6y agoDid you read the article? They are exporting chicken to China to be consumed there, not processed and shipped back.
- Retric 6y agoIt’s actually extremely rare. As of 2018 there where 4 Chinese processing plants that took chickens killed and frozen in the US, thawed them out for processing, and then froze them again and shipped them back to the US. Bulk freight shipping is generally cheap, but shipping frozen goods across the Pacific Ocean twice adds up.
- mofosyne 6y agoMight be cheap in monitary terms but... not sure it's as energy efficient. What's the environmental impact?
- klipt 6y agoOcean freight is extremely energy efficient isn't it? Much cheaper than overland trucking for the same distance and weight?
- DamnYuppie 6y agoThis argument falls apart once you realize that the meat is taken to and from the ships via trucks and rail.
- jojobas 6y agoMoney is energy. You hire an American and he consumes twice as much energy, and produces twice as much emissions, compared to a Chinese.
- xx789 6y agohttps://www.snopes.com/fact-check/china-chicken-reshipped/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/china-chicken-reshipped/
- bpodgursky 6y agoGiven how many US slaughterhouses there are, I'm a little skeptical this is common practice. Could you find some #s?
- rootusrootus 6y agoIt's an urban legend.
- jlglover 6y agoIt was a real shock when I moved to the U.S. and the posted price on items didn't match with what I actually had to pay. In Australia, the posted price is the price, and must "include any tax, duty, fee, levy or other additional charges"
- ars 6y agoThat's mostly because local sales tax makes it very hard to advertise a price - each small locality might have a different tax level, and a different final price. So if you are trying to send a mailer or run a tv ad, what price do you do? That's different from fees that don't vary by location, like in this article.
- kevin_thibedeau 6y agoI worked in a grocery store in a state that taxes food. Sometimes bottlers would have a giveaways with prizes revealed under the cap. A free soda being the most common. These were redeemed as a 100% off coupon but we still had to collect a penny in tax.
- davchana 6y agoNot to criticize anything, but India too have similar structure like US, Federal Tax is Central Tax, State Tax is State Tax, City tax is known as Octrai Tax. Even then, anything & everything has MRP sticker or print, Maximum Retail Price, which includes everything. Shops at places with lower tax sells at lower rate, or not, but everything which gets uts price advertised is advertised at MRP.
- ncallaway 6y agoIf their POS system can charge you the correct amount at the cash register, it could also print the price label that goes on the shelf. If this were the law all retail businesses would be able to comply and it wouldn't even be a significant burden.
- M2Ys4U 6y agoI'm not in the US, but I assume that the shop calculates the correct taxes at the till, right? So what's stopping them putting tax-inclusive prices on shelves or on stickers on the items themselves?
- leephillips 6y agoI'm not really surprised. In the US we've been trained to expect that what we will wind up paying will be higher than the posted or advertised price.
- rootusrootus 6y agoNot everywhere. I pay the posted price, not a penny more.
- leephillips 6y agoDo you live in a state without state sales tax?
- selestify 6y agoYou mean without sales tax?
- leephillips 6y agoYes, sorry. Fixed with an edit.
- rootusrootus 6y agoI do indeed. I understand the frustration with going to the checkout and having to pay more than you expect, because I feel that whiplash every time I go somewhere with a sales tax. I'm used to the bill being exactly what it said when I picked up <whatever thing> off the shelf.
- xx789 6y agoIts quite amazing to leave North America, go to a restaurant, order a meal that's $10 on the menu and pay $10. Incredible.
- lawl 6y ago> You might (not) be surprised to hear this is a US centric practice. In Australia this behaviour would fall foul of consumer protection laws. And i'm pretty sure every single country in europe, and from my limited experience in asia, probably in most countries there too.
- arwhatever 6y agoU.S. citizen, but have lived and traveled abroad extensively. Each time I return, the barely letter-of-the-law scams that permeate our economy and culture are a huge aggravation and disappointment. I know a lot of other people who also do extensive, long-term travel and who express similar sentiments: "The whole society is organized around financially draining you" etc.
- choward 6y agoThey're taking advantage of knowing you probably invested a lot of time to find that perfect seat. If you cancel you will have wasted all that time for nothing.
- WrtCdEvrydy 6y agoProbably FOMO as well, I'd guess the final page has a fancy "Last step before going to the concert" sales pitch
- antattack 6y agoAirlines do the same thing with luggage fees, TSA and airport fees.
- yuliyp 6y agoAirlines are basically one of the few industries that includes the taxes in the fares that they show when browsing. They do sell add-ons for more money, but that's quite different from just showing you part of the price before checkout and/or hiding taxes and fees until then.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- kemitche 6y agoFrontier Airlines charges for both checked and carry-on baggage. Additionally, they charge _more_ for luggage if you don't pay until you're at the airport, and even more if you wait til you're past security and at the gate. Is it literally the exact same thing? No, but it definitely falls into the same category of sunk-cost/trapped buyers. Once you get to the gate, you're getting on the plane, even if you have to pay more for your luggage than you expected. It's also very similar to why the soda vending machine at work charges $1 for a soda; the one in the amusement park charges $3, and the one _in the line_ for the popular ride costs $6. They all rely on facets of behavior that the consumer will just pay a little more once they've somehow invested in the process. The only difference is _what_ they invested and how easily recoverable it is.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago> Is it literally the exact same thing? No, but it definitely falls into the same category of sunk-cost/trapped buyers. Once you get to the gate, you're getting on the plane, even if you have to pay more for your luggage than you expected. It’s not the same thing at all. Even frontier displays up front what the bag fees will be. And it’s been years since airlines have been charging extra for bags, so I would say it’s convention by now. On Google flight search, you can see total prices including however many bags you specify.
- causality0 6y agoI stopped visiting movie theaters about three years ago when I realized the only two ways to buy tickets, online or at a kiosk at the theater, both charged me a "convenience fee". The only good thing about the pandemic was watching that whole blood-sucking industry burn to the ground.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 6y agoWhat I've found because of that is the cost of popcorn homemade is basically the cost of one bucket. I've been making movie popcorn for months now and it's been great.
- mav3rick 6y agoCost of food at home <<<< outside. You pay for convenience more than anything else at a movie theater.
- dvfjsdhgfv 6y agoWe used to think so, right? Then the pandemic arrived, and restaurants started offering takeaway meals only, and... lo and behold, the prices are the same. Besides, I have many other issues with cinema popcorn specifically. I don't care it's terribly overpriced, but basically most of these venues don't offer any healthy snacks AND you are forbidden to bring your own, so you either eat shit or just sit there hearing all others eat. Fine for an adult, but when you have kids, this becomes really frustrating.
- dagw 6y agolo and behold, the prices are the same. The restaurants costs haven't changed significantly by just switching to takeaway. Their staff still want the same salary and they still have to by rent on their restaurant premise even if no one is sitting there.
- weberer 6y ago>restaurants started offering takeaway meals only, and... lo and behold, the prices are the same I really don't know what you were expecting. They're still preparing the entire meal for you.
- CivBase 6y agoLots of markets do this (at least in the US) and it's always frustrating. Gym membership? Don't forget about the extra "maintenance fee". Eating out or catching a ride? Don't forget the tip. Getting a new game? Don't forget the DLC and microtransactions. Flying? Don't forget luggage fees. Ordering online? Don't forget about shipping/delivery. Just going to the supermarket? You still have to factor in taxes.
- wincy 6y agoYou can actually manage to fly Spirit and if you don't get ANYTHING extra, the price is as advertised. I got a round trip to Orlando for $90, it was great to hang out in an empty hotel by the beach in December.
- jasfi 6y agoIt also provides an opportunity for competitors that don't do that sort of thing. People love free shipping.
- inglor_cz 6y ago... and then complain about gig economy and its effects on income. Free shipping often means that the person who delivers the package is paid badly.
- MagnumOpus 6y agoPaid shipping also usually means that the person who delivers the package is paid badly. There is likely no correlation between shipping fees and the amount of money paid to package delivery people.
- burundi_coffee 6y agoFree shipping means the cost of shipping is calculated into the price.
- wayneftw 6y agoBuying a car. The amount of extra charges they slap on there is ridiculous. And in my state I have no choice but going through a dealership unless I buy a Tesla. Recently though, I bought out my leased car when the lease was over. I didn't want to spend time to wait around the DMV during the pandemic so I paid a lawyer $500 to do the registration for me. That's about what a dealership would charge for a "documentation fee". Totally worth it.
- ars 6y agoI feel like these hidden fees only work once. After that consumers will avoid these sites because the transaction leaves a bad taste in their mouth. I know that when dealing with sleazy sites I always do a fake transaction first, just to see the price, and only later do a real one if I still want to.
- aardvarkr 6y agoThe researchers tested for this according to the article. Pretty interesting read.
- bigiain 6y agoProblem is, if you want to see $artistYouLike when they play a concert in $cityWhereYouLive, you don’t get to choose which site you buy tickets from. Even the artist doesn’t get much choice, the venues mostly have lock-in contracts with the big ticketing companies. If your band wants to play a 10,000 seat room in a specific city, there’s unlikely to be much choice about venues and ticketing agents.
- jrootabega 6y agoFuneral homes/florists as well. Hell, read any advice about buying a car from the last few decades and you'll hear the same thing.
- goshx 6y agoIt’s nice to see a study confirming what, I believe, everyone already expected. Add to the list hotels and their “resort fees”.
- joshjdr 6y agoHotels and resort fees are the most annoying. You can prepay including tax and they try to charge you for $15-30/day for nothing. Arguments typically ensue. It’s a crappy way to start a trip.
- makecheck 6y agoIt’s out of control. Example ledger: “service fee”, “tip”, “taxes & fees” (hidden) which, when clicked, reveals the tax and another two dollar fee. Which means the service fee is actually $2 more than it seems and the tax is $2 less than it seems. In any reasonable legal system, the business would have been forced to show you just one “service fee” with the right amount. Furthermore, there is no guarantee whatsoever that the “tip” is broken down the way you would expect; for all you know, the company can take a huge cut of that and not show you that breakdown at all. Just utter crap.
- remote_phone 6y agoThis should be illegal. How do we get the politicians to make a law over this?
- readflaggedcomm 6y agoPoliticians benefit from it. I don't buy tickets or gym memberships or any of that stuff. The only place I see laundry lists of fees tacked on is in paying taxes, auto registration, and municipal services.