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Would it be legal to ask for a paysheet and determine the price based on that? When I hear price discrimination, I do understand that it’s always been the deal,

Would it be legal to ask for a paysheet and determine the price based on that? When I hear price discrimination, I do understand that it’s always been the deal, but I wonder whether we’re trending towards something proportional to salary.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
I am sure it is legal to ask for the pay sheet, but no seller would give you that. Sellers usually do not price discriminate merchandise that is not differentials within the same country since commerce within the country cannot be easily restricted. That is where brands come in for differentiable products. The generic brand lotion and the name brand lotion might come from the same factory. Maybe it is even the same product, or the different in quality is only slightly better for the name brand. But now the seller can target people willing to pay $x for lotion, and people willing to pay $2x for basically the same lotion. Or you implement “binning”, where products of worse quality get branded differently, even though the sale price difference between the better quality product and the generic quality product is disproportionately larger than the cost to produce the better quality product than the generic product. Anyway, you cannot do this for a movie or tv show, so the sellers of movies/tv shows do it more crudely via country or region of the world.
- Spooky23 5y ago
  Outlets get differentiated too. You can buy last years hardcover books at Family Dollar at 50-75% off. You used to get softcovers at the supermarket at a discount as well. Between the time element and snobbery, the market is segmented and revenues maximized.
PeterisP 5y ago
That would not be prohibited, but it might not be a good business idea due to customer resistance. Classic economic theory on pricing lists commonly used options that essentially try to achieve that but with various indirect methods: 1. provide discounts to various demographics that are known afford less - e.g. students, seniors, etc. 2. provide different prices at times or places that have customers with different average ability to pay - e.g. geographic discrimination, and also discounts provided at times when traditionally employed people can't take them. 3. simple "inconvenient obstacles" e.g. coupon schemes, intentionally created queues, etc where people who accept the inconvenience get a better price, and people who can afford to pay more simply don't bother and pay. 4. Direct, prolonged, serious personal bargaining and haggling, resulting in an individually negotiated price that depends on your willingness to pay. But IMHO people would not like if it was explicitly based on their ability to pay, so companies try to disguise that.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

I am sure it is legal to ask for the pay sheet, but no seller would give you that. Sellers usually do not price discriminate merchandise that is not differentials within the same country since commerce within the country cannot be easily restricted. That is where brands come in for differentiable products. The generic brand lotion and the name brand lotion might come from the same factory. Maybe it is even the same product, or the different in quality is only slightly better for the name brand. But now the seller can target people willing to pay $x for lotion, and people willing to pay $2x for basically the same lotion. Or you implement “binning”, where products of worse quality get branded differently, even though the sale price difference between the better quality product and the generic quality product is disproportionately larger than the cost to produce the better quality product than the generic product. Anyway, you cannot do this for a movie or tv show, so the sellers of movies/tv shows do it more crudely via country or region of the world.

Spooky23 5y ago
Outlets get differentiated too. You can buy last years hardcover books at Family Dollar at 50-75% off. You used to get softcovers at the supermarket at a discount as well. Between the time element and snobbery, the market is segmented and revenues maximized.

PeterisP 5y ago

That would not be prohibited, but it might not be a good business idea due to customer resistance. Classic economic theory on pricing lists commonly used options that essentially try to achieve that but with various indirect methods: 1. provide discounts to various demographics that are known afford less - e.g. students, seniors, etc. 2. provide different prices at times or places that have customers with different average ability to pay - e.g. geographic discrimination, and also discounts provided at times when traditionally employed people can't take them. 3. simple "inconvenient obstacles" e.g. coupon schemes, intentionally created queues, etc where people who accept the inconvenience get a better price, and people who can afford to pay more simply don't bother and pay. 4. Direct, prolonged, serious personal bargaining and haggling, resulting in an individually negotiated price that depends on your willingness to pay. But IMHO people would not like if it was explicitly based on their ability to pay, so companies try to disguise that.