7 ms·

I don't get why the US doesn't have basic consumer protections, like products and services must be advertised at their total cost to consumer. Why not have supe

by Two4 2y ago

I don't get why the US doesn't have basic consumer protections, like products and services must be advertised at their total cost to consumer. Why not have supermarket prices marked with sales tax included? Why allow companies to advertise one price and charge another? Why is this not a voter issue?

xscott 2y ago
As far as I can tell, it's a combination of corruption, mediocre education, and plentiful amounts of sugary foods and entertainment options (bread and circuses).
m463 2y ago
It seems to me that consumer protection strength changes on a 4-year cycle.
mhx1138 2y ago
That’s just another word for overreaching regulation.
- thejazzman 2y ago
  Totally. Let the scoundrels advertise whatever prices they want, it's the consumers fault for being exploited! /s
  - EricE 2y ago
    All you have to do is look at the receipt.
    - rootusrootus 2y ago
      Perhaps some people would like to know how much they are going to spend before they spend it.
cadamsau 2y ago
There’s thousands of different tax regimes in the US - dozens to hundreds in every state, thanks to city taxes and the like. All businesses would need to advertise the right price everywhere. Doesn’t scale. It’d be neat to see a campaign to popularize a term like “final price” or “all-in price”. It’d encourage the creation of products that always show the right price even as taxes change. And consumers would be empowered.
- throwawaymobule 2y ago
  Even if it only impacted the price shown in store, it would be a huge improvement.
- 0xCMP 2y ago
  I have heard this before, and I get the sentiment, but a supermarket usually already prices things for the local area. The same company in different location can have different prices for the same exact thing. So companies can already handle localized pricing. They just use it for their advantage and hide the cost of taxes. Other countries handle this fine. It really isn't any more complicated than properly collecting the sale taxes already. Just decide the price of a thing and add the tax then show the final price. You could also, which is something I saw done in Japan, show the Tax Free price so it's easier to compare. But I kind of don't buy that it would actually much harder than any other hard thing supermarkets do to put the full price on a jug of milk or etc.
- LiquidSky 2y ago
  >There’s thousands of different tax regimes in the US - dozens to hundreds in every state, thanks to city taxes and the like. All businesses would need to advertise the right price everywhere. Doesn’t scale. Of course it does. Seeing this excuse in 2024 is absurd. It has nothing to do with actual difficulty, businesses just don't want to have to do it. Businesses should be required to say in general advertisements "product/service is $X + local applicable taxes". When you go to make your individual purchase they would then be required to show the actual total price you will be paying. Maybe include a breakdown if people want it. Creates a burden for businesses to comply? Too fucking bad, that's the cost of being allowed to do do business.
rootusrootus 2y ago
Because the US does not have a particularly powerful federal government and these sorts of decisions are left to the States. In my state our prices are advertised at the total cost to the consumer. But this is pretty easy because we do not have a sales tax. Every jurisdiction makes different choices.
mindslight 2y ago
Because consumer protections would be heavy-handed government intervention that might prevent the invisible hand of the free market from being able to innovate whether it's more efficient to pick your left pocket or your right pocket. Though that never ending fountain of new money being handed out to banks and other centralized entities to create an inflation treadmill that destroys people's ability to interact with the market in a deliberate manner (eg investigating how a restaurant handles tips before going there, or spending time choosing a different restaurant if the first one is not transparent). That treadmill is definitely not to be considered government meddling, somehow.
- collingreen 2y ago
  Thanks for voicing my bitterness
sys_64738 2y ago
> Why not have supermarket prices marked with sales tax included? It's always been that way in the US so we've come to expect it. It's a bit like 20% of that sales price Europeans pay is VAT.

by Two4 2y ago

xscott 2y ago

As far as I can tell, it's a combination of corruption, mediocre education, and plentiful amounts of sugary foods and entertainment options (bread and circuses).

m463 2y ago

It seems to me that consumer protection strength changes on a 4-year cycle.

mhx1138 2y ago

That’s just another word for overreaching regulation.

thejazzman 2y ago
Totally. Let the scoundrels advertise whatever prices they want, it's the consumers fault for being exploited! /s
- EricE 2y ago
  All you have to do is look at the receipt.
  - rootusrootus 2y ago
    Perhaps some people would like to know how much they are going to spend before they spend it.

cadamsau 2y ago

There’s thousands of different tax regimes in the US - dozens to hundreds in every state, thanks to city taxes and the like. All businesses would need to advertise the right price everywhere. Doesn’t scale. It’d be neat to see a campaign to popularize a term like “final price” or “all-in price”. It’d encourage the creation of products that always show the right price even as taxes change. And consumers would be empowered.

throwawaymobule 2y ago
Even if it only impacted the price shown in store, it would be a huge improvement.
0xCMP 2y ago
I have heard this before, and I get the sentiment, but a supermarket usually already prices things for the local area. The same company in different location can have different prices for the same exact thing. So companies can already handle localized pricing. They just use it for their advantage and hide the cost of taxes. Other countries handle this fine. It really isn't any more complicated than properly collecting the sale taxes already. Just decide the price of a thing and add the tax then show the final price. You could also, which is something I saw done in Japan, show the Tax Free price so it's easier to compare. But I kind of don't buy that it would actually much harder than any other hard thing supermarkets do to put the full price on a jug of milk or etc.
LiquidSky 2y ago
>There’s thousands of different tax regimes in the US - dozens to hundreds in every state, thanks to city taxes and the like. All businesses would need to advertise the right price everywhere. Doesn’t scale. Of course it does. Seeing this excuse in 2024 is absurd. It has nothing to do with actual difficulty, businesses just don't want to have to do it. Businesses should be required to say in general advertisements "product/service is $X + local applicable taxes". When you go to make your individual purchase they would then be required to show the actual total price you will be paying. Maybe include a breakdown if people want it. Creates a burden for businesses to comply? Too fucking bad, that's the cost of being allowed to do do business.

rootusrootus 2y ago

Because the US does not have a particularly powerful federal government and these sorts of decisions are left to the States. In my state our prices are advertised at the total cost to the consumer. But this is pretty easy because we do not have a sales tax. Every jurisdiction makes different choices.

mindslight 2y ago

Because consumer protections would be heavy-handed government intervention that might prevent the invisible hand of the free market from being able to innovate whether it's more efficient to pick your left pocket or your right pocket. Though that never ending fountain of new money being handed out to banks and other centralized entities to create an inflation treadmill that destroys people's ability to interact with the market in a deliberate manner (eg investigating how a restaurant handles tips before going there, or spending time choosing a different restaurant if the first one is not transparent). That treadmill is definitely not to be considered government meddling, somehow.

collingreen 2y ago
Thanks for voicing my bitterness

sys_64738 2y ago

> Why not have supermarket prices marked with sales tax included? It's always been that way in the US so we've come to expect it. It's a bit like 20% of that sales price Europeans pay is VAT.