4 ms·

> It somehow works almost anywhere outside of NA? Is North America unique in allowing local municipalities to set their own taxes? > It's really not a crazy c

by mulmen 2y ago

> It somehow works almost anywhere outside of NA? Is North America unique in allowing local municipalities to set their own taxes? > It's really not a crazy concept - estimate it based on geolocation and say "more exact will be available once you enter your address". That’s exactly what happens now, except the advertised price is actually correct instead of an “estimate”. I have an intuitive sense for local tax. How can I know what method was used to compute this estimated price?

tokioyoyo 2y ago
Out of my head, if I recall correctly, Australia, Japan, Denmark do local municipal taxes as well (some are more flat than others). Anyways, all I was saying that it's a solved UX problem, and the reason why you're not getting full price is because A/B testing has shown that when customers see the complete price, they get a shock and less likely to buy the item. This doesn't have much to do with websites caring about some edge cases that they'll somehow won't be able to give out exact price to you. In the worst case, the shopping websites could ask you to enter your postal code and show all prices with the tax included price.
- mulmen 2y ago
  So are estimated prices being advertised in Australia, Japan, or Denmark? Why is North America uniquely susceptible to A/B testing? Municipal taxes are not an edgecase in the United States at least. They’re very much the norm, especially in telecommunications.
  - tokioyoyo 2y ago
    Because according to Japanese law, in most of the scenarios, the full price, to your best ability, has to be presented to the potential customer. Same goes for Australia, if I recall correctly. No clue about Denmark, I'm sorry. But assuming it's similar over there as well. It's not that NA is the only one susceptible to A/B testing. It's more of a - it's-grey-area-to-illegal to not show full prices outside of NA.
    - mulmen 2y ago
      Huh, I find that very surprising. Are the estimates gamed at all? Is there any rule around how accurate they have to be?
      - tokioyoyo 2y ago
        You just put your postal code and it shows all prices according to your municipality, it will be as exact as you can get. Just go to amazon.jp, it should have a text input somewhere for your postal code to calculate the tax. In terms of gaming, hmm… I guess, you could add wrong municipality’s taxes when you show the original price, and switch over at the checkout. But my assumption is that would be deemed illegal, as you are knowingly misleading the customer. Some in person stores still try a bit to mislead you by putting the full price in smaller font (like including the consumption tax), and exclude it over it in the bigger font. But I can still accept that, as I am informed about the full price somehow.
        mulmen 2y ago
        Ok well obviously if you have the address the correct calculation can be made. That’s consistent with the behavior in the US. What is displayed for price before you put in postal code? What price do generic banner or TV ads display?
        tokioyoyo 2y ago
        My guess is approximate (average?) tax. I'm currently outside of Japan, by default Amazon shows me the price in Yen and says it can't deliver to me. When I put down the postal code in Tokyo, shows the same amount. Probably takes the biggest city's tax rate when it can't determine it through geolocation.
        mulmen 2y ago
        What about billboards or banner ads? When an ISP in Japan wants to advertise their service do they include a price on the billboard? What you describe sounds like the same thing that happens in the US. So what's special about Australia, Japan, and Denmark as you stated earlier?

by mulmen 2y ago

tokioyoyo 2y ago

Out of my head, if I recall correctly, Australia, Japan, Denmark do local municipal taxes as well (some are more flat than others). Anyways, all I was saying that it's a solved UX problem, and the reason why you're not getting full price is because A/B testing has shown that when customers see the complete price, they get a shock and less likely to buy the item. This doesn't have much to do with websites caring about some edge cases that they'll somehow won't be able to give out exact price to you. In the worst case, the shopping websites could ask you to enter your postal code and show all prices with the tax included price.

mulmen 2y ago
So are estimated prices being advertised in Australia, Japan, or Denmark? Why is North America uniquely susceptible to A/B testing? Municipal taxes are not an edgecase in the United States at least. They’re very much the norm, especially in telecommunications.
- tokioyoyo 2y ago
  Because according to Japanese law, in most of the scenarios, the full price, to your best ability, has to be presented to the potential customer. Same goes for Australia, if I recall correctly. No clue about Denmark, I'm sorry. But assuming it's similar over there as well. It's not that NA is the only one susceptible to A/B testing. It's more of a - it's-grey-area-to-illegal to not show full prices outside of NA.
  - mulmen 2y ago
    Huh, I find that very surprising. Are the estimates gamed at all? Is there any rule around how accurate they have to be?
    - tokioyoyo 2y ago
      You just put your postal code and it shows all prices according to your municipality, it will be as exact as you can get. Just go to amazon.jp, it should have a text input somewhere for your postal code to calculate the tax. In terms of gaming, hmm… I guess, you could add wrong municipality’s taxes when you show the original price, and switch over at the checkout. But my assumption is that would be deemed illegal, as you are knowingly misleading the customer. Some in person stores still try a bit to mislead you by putting the full price in smaller font (like including the consumption tax), and exclude it over it in the bigger font. But I can still accept that, as I am informed about the full price somehow.
      - mulmen 2y ago
        Ok well obviously if you have the address the correct calculation can be made. That’s consistent with the behavior in the US. What is displayed for price before you put in postal code? What price do generic banner or TV ads display?
        tokioyoyo 2y ago
        My guess is approximate (average?) tax. I'm currently outside of Japan, by default Amazon shows me the price in Yen and says it can't deliver to me. When I put down the postal code in Tokyo, shows the same amount. Probably takes the biggest city's tax rate when it can't determine it through geolocation.
        mulmen 2y ago
        What about billboards or banner ads? When an ISP in Japan wants to advertise their service do they include a price on the billboard? What you describe sounds like the same thing that happens in the US. So what's special about Australia, Japan, and Denmark as you stated earlier?