5 ms·

Unless I'm missing something, Kickstarter sure seems like the closest thing I've seen to a tool that enables closer-to-perfect price discrimination.

InclinedPlane 15y ago
That's an excellent point that I haven't seen anyone else make yet about Kickstarter, and does help to explain a bit of their runaway success. Though it does seem rather obvious that a higher level of transparency and a stronger customer-maker bond would also be useful in capturing a greater amount of the consumer surplus than an average, faceless megacorp would.
bostonvaulter2 15y ago
Could you expand on what you mean by closer-to-perfect price discrimination?
- guard-of-terra 15y ago
  You pay however much you are ready to pay. Traditionally if you price a ware 100$, you'll lose all the money from those who can only afford 10$, and if you price it 10$, you lose all the extra money from those who would have paid 100$. With Kickstarter, some people pay 10$, some 100$ and some 1000$, and they are all very happy about that. This is achieved by: Giving nice perks for extra money; Buyers understanding that by paying less they only steal from themself.
  - _delirium 15y ago
    That's not that uncommon a pricing model in the arts even pre-Kickstarter. You've got the $10 CD, the $25 limited-edition CD with bonus tracks, the $100 super-limited leatherbound box set signed by the artist, etc.
    - guard-of-terra 15y ago
      I'll argue the incentive is different for goods that already exist. Also kickstarter takes this to a radical new level with tens of price tiers compared to two or three.
  - granfalloon 15y ago
    But don't the different "tiers" generally offer different products (or multiple products, special goodies, etc)? If you just want the basic watch, you aren't free to "pay whatever you want to pay" -- you have to pay the asking price, just like everyone else.
    - guard-of-terra 15y ago
      That's the beauty of it.

InclinedPlane 15y ago

That's an excellent point that I haven't seen anyone else make yet about Kickstarter, and does help to explain a bit of their runaway success. Though it does seem rather obvious that a higher level of transparency and a stronger customer-maker bond would also be useful in capturing a greater amount of the consumer surplus than an average, faceless megacorp would.

bostonvaulter2 15y ago

Could you expand on what you mean by closer-to-perfect price discrimination?

guard-of-terra 15y ago
You pay however much you are ready to pay. Traditionally if you price a ware 100$, you'll lose all the money from those who can only afford 10$, and if you price it 10$, you lose all the extra money from those who would have paid 100$. With Kickstarter, some people pay 10$, some 100$ and some 1000$, and they are all very happy about that. This is achieved by: Giving nice perks for extra money; Buyers understanding that by paying less they only steal from themself.
- _delirium 15y ago
  That's not that uncommon a pricing model in the arts even pre-Kickstarter. You've got the $10 CD, the $25 limited-edition CD with bonus tracks, the $100 super-limited leatherbound box set signed by the artist, etc.
  - guard-of-terra 15y ago
    I'll argue the incentive is different for goods that already exist. Also kickstarter takes this to a radical new level with tens of price tiers compared to two or three.
- granfalloon 15y ago
  But don't the different "tiers" generally offer different products (or multiple products, special goodies, etc)? If you just want the basic watch, you aren't free to "pay whatever you want to pay" -- you have to pay the asking price, just like everyone else.
  - guard-of-terra 15y ago
    That's the beauty of it.