3 ms·
> It effectively means “we charge extra when you need us most" It also means "we charge less if you are flexible" Done right, I generally see dynamic pricing
by GuB-42 3y ago
> It effectively means “we charge extra when you need us most"
It also means "we charge less if you are flexible"
Done right, I generally see dynamic pricing as a positive thing, generally more fair than a fixed price for a given amount of profit for the company implementing it.
Here is the idea. Let's say a company offers a service for $50 during rush hour, $10 otherwise, the alternative being a $30 flat fee. In order to get off rush hour, you need to wait for an hour. On a flat fee model, you also have to wait 10 minutes during rush hour. Not let's say your time is worth $15/hour, you can wait an hour, and the service would have cost you $25 or 1h40 of your time. Now let's say you are richer and your time is worth $100/hour, you don't want to wait and pay these $50, that's 30 minutes worth of your time. Had it been a flat $30 fee, the $15/hour guy would have spent 2h10 worth of his time, while the $100/hour guy would have also spent also about 30 minutes worth of his time (including the 10 minutes wait).
So, total value, the $15/hour guy got it cheaper, while the business and the $100/guy got even.
- JohnFen 3y ago> I generally see dynamic pricing as a positive thing I don't, because it makes it impossible to know what things cost until you are at the point of purchase. I see dynamic pricing as companies being actively hostile to their customers, and so avoid doing business with ones that do this.
- ryandvm 3y agoIf, hypothetically, prices for the next 30 minutes were published online through a standard API so that customers wouldn't need to install dozens of apps, would this ameliorate your concerns? I kind of agree with the previous poster that, if done properly, this would benefit the seller and the consumer. "Oh, cheeseburgers are a dollar right now at Wendy's, let's go there instead" has an interesting sort of cost-savings allure to it on a road trip.
- JohnFen 3y agoNo, it wouldn't ease my concerns at all. If anything, it would make the whole thing even more irritating, because then I'd have to have access to, and use, the internet (bringing all of the issues the internet has with it) when doing things that should in no way have to involve the internet. Added: I think what would make the idea more OK with me is if the prices are fixed, but there are dynamic discounts applied to them. Then people like me will know how much things cost, and sometimes be surprised by a discount. It would change the whole vibe from "I'm being taken for a ride" to "I got a gift".