4 ms·

Way too much moral panic. Having prices adjust regularly is a good thing. The status quo is that stores err on the side of setting prices too high.

akira2501 2y ago
> Having prices adjust regularly is a good thing. From the article: “If it’s hot outside, we can raise the price of water and ice cream. " It's hard to see this as a "good thing" for anyone other than the retailer. It's easy to see how retailers might move to "third party pricing" services that enable price fixing across a wide range of retailers and goods. The canard that I can "scan a QR code" and get information that already required, by law, to be on the bag of goods itself highlights the fact that this is an arrangement with a one way benefit. As if consumers need less power in the grocery space.
- diebeforei485 2y ago
  > It's hard to see this as a "good thing" for anyone other than the retailer. But you're currently overpaying for ice cream on days when it isn't hot! You just don't realize it. Meanwhile, the dude with the ice cream truck already charges more on hot days than on regular days, and no one cares.
  - akira2501 2y ago
    These are almost certainly contract prices for the store. "Just in time" is not compatible with retail grocery stores. The real parsimonious angle is the cost of refrigeration changes on hot days. Although that means ice cream should be 25% of it's original price during the dead of winter. And I haven't seen an ice cream truck with a digital price sign. Yet.
  - ohmyiv 2y ago
    >Meanwhile, the dude with the ice cream truck already charges more on hot days than on regular days, and no one cares. Not all of them. The two trucks that come to my neighborhood have the same prices all the time. Our weather is more moderate, so that may be a factor. But whether it's 102dF or 60dF, I can always buy $1.50 ice cream from those trucks.

akira2501 2y ago

> Having prices adjust regularly is a good thing. From the article: “If it’s hot outside, we can raise the price of water and ice cream. " It's hard to see this as a "good thing" for anyone other than the retailer. It's easy to see how retailers might move to "third party pricing" services that enable price fixing across a wide range of retailers and goods. The canard that I can "scan a QR code" and get information that already required, by law, to be on the bag of goods itself highlights the fact that this is an arrangement with a one way benefit. As if consumers need less power in the grocery space.

diebeforei485 2y ago
> It's hard to see this as a "good thing" for anyone other than the retailer. But you're currently overpaying for ice cream on days when it isn't hot! You just don't realize it. Meanwhile, the dude with the ice cream truck already charges more on hot days than on regular days, and no one cares.
- akira2501 2y ago
  These are almost certainly contract prices for the store. "Just in time" is not compatible with retail grocery stores. The real parsimonious angle is the cost of refrigeration changes on hot days. Although that means ice cream should be 25% of it's original price during the dead of winter. And I haven't seen an ice cream truck with a digital price sign. Yet.
- ohmyiv 2y ago
  >Meanwhile, the dude with the ice cream truck already charges more on hot days than on regular days, and no one cares. Not all of them. The two trucks that come to my neighborhood have the same prices all the time. Our weather is more moderate, so that may be a factor. But whether it's 102dF or 60dF, I can always buy $1.50 ice cream from those trucks.