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I agree with most of the article. However the author suggests that the net reduces the ability for sellers to price discriminate. I think it helps both sides, a
by T_S_ 15y ago
I agree with most of the article. However the author suggests that the net reduces the ability for sellers to price discriminate. I think it helps both sides, and the outcome is in doubt. On the one hand it enables faster and broader flow of price information, but on the other hand it reduces the anonymity of the buyer. I think what we will see is an arms race between buyers sharing information and sellers creating all sorts of ways to individually vary the discount they need to offer.
- ippisl 15y agoIn order to vary the discount without making customers angry you have to change the product , not only the price. For many products , that's pretty difficult to do.
- T_S_ 15y agoMaybe, but then again, loyalty cards with tiered rewards do that. Making customers do work to signal their price point does it (e.g. coupon clipping). Bundling can do it too. Essentially, sellers have to add complexity to keep the discrimination going. Meanwhile consumers have little supercomputers to help undo the complexity. Hence the arms race analogy.