4 ms·

I'm taking an introductory economics course right now, and was surprised to find out that even hardcover books are a form of price discrimination: The manufactu

I'm taking an introductory economics course right now, and was surprised to find out that even hardcover books are a form of price discrimination: The manufacturing costs aren't significantly higher than paperback, but "enthusiasts" will buy them at inflated prices. I'm starting to think that like 80% of product diversity is really just pricing discrimination in disguise.

creer 2y ago
> 80% of product diversity is really just pricing discrimination in disguise Very good and yes: Think of it from the manufacturer / seller perspective. Why shouldn't it be? If the goal it to optimize profit or return (and it is), then anything less would be a waste of opportunity. Even kickstarters go to great effort to think up ways to "justify" "bonus offers". This is often one of the great failures of new ventures not to try and offer versions or features that SOME customers would love to pay for. Except not pricing discimination in that these prices apply to everyone (who doesn't know the discount code). Just "differentiation" and "price point". Offering a different price to someone who "calls" from San Francisco, Kansas City or Mumbai is a different issue, and less palatable.
- rlpb 2y ago
  > Offering a different price to someone who "calls" from San Francisco, Kansas City or Mumbai is a different issue, and less palatable. The interesting thing about this statement is that expecting a fixed price for anything is a relatively new phenomenon. It isn't very long ago that the price for pretty much everything was individually negotiated in some physical market, and nobody expected to pay the same price as everyone else.
  - creer 2y ago
    That's a good point. Anyone has experience with haggling over the web or email - for stuff that's listed on web sites? Besides stuff that's deliberately not priced on the web like enterprise software?
thegrim33 2y ago
[dead]
cafard 2y ago
American publishers tend to give one a choice: hardbacks, more expensive, clumsier, but made for heavy duty; paperbacks, less expensive, handier, but not holding up as well under wear. And in general the first year of publication one can buy only the hardback--which is why I don't like book clubs that want to read only new books.
- briandear 2y ago
  Or just buy the ebook and save the paper, transportation, and shelf space.
  - VyseofArcadia 2y ago
    Assuming you can in fact buy it DRM-free. Otherwise it is just an indefinite-term rental.
- bluGill 2y ago
  I've sometimes found library editions which are a middle compromise - cheaper than hardcover but higher quality that paperback.
blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
A lot of luxury products are like this. For example a lot of wine on shelves are literally the same wine under different labels and price points.
- Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
  Have a source for this? It's certainly plausible, but I'm not going to just accept it.
Xcelerate 2y ago
I remember when I was looking for new cookware a while ago, there were rumors that Kitchenaid was selling rebranded Demeyere pots and pans. It sure looked like the exact same cookware in the photos. But Zwilling is known to disguise the same pan in 30 different ways, and for anyone willing to trade the "Demeyere" label for a "Kitchenaid" label, they were getting a steal of a deal.
nomel 2y ago
Coming from the hardware world, wait until you learn about e-fusing chips to lower tier products! I've worked at a place where there was exactly one chip and ~8 ways to disable different things to make the whole product family, with nearly 2x difference in cost between low and high. This is usually done by disabling bad sections of the chip, but if yields are too high, you just disable functioning bits of good chips. Our yields were great. :-|
arnarbi 2y ago
Is that really price discrimination? “Enthusiasts” might have legitimate reasons for preferring hardcover (durability, aesthetics, etc) and are willingly and knowingly paying extra for that. How much it cost to manufacture is mostly irrelevant.
danans 2y ago
> I'm starting to think that like 80% of product diversity is really just pricing discrimination in disguise. I think the term used for this practice is "market-segmentation".
rconti 2y ago
Often the hardcover version comes out well in advance of the paperback, so if you want the book as soon as it comes out, you have to pay the premium for the perceived "premium product". Only later does the paperback come out at a lower cost, while the hardcover retains its higher cost -- I'm not sure if it drops a bit when the paperback comes out or not. This is a lot like back in the movie rental days. The VHS cassette for a new release would be $120 or something, and only a few months later could you buy it at the grocery store checkout for $25.

creer 2y ago

> 80% of product diversity is really just pricing discrimination in disguise Very good and yes: Think of it from the manufacturer / seller perspective. Why shouldn't it be? If the goal it to optimize profit or return (and it is), then anything less would be a waste of opportunity. Even kickstarters go to great effort to think up ways to "justify" "bonus offers". This is often one of the great failures of new ventures not to try and offer versions or features that SOME customers would love to pay for. Except not pricing discimination in that these prices apply to everyone (who doesn't know the discount code). Just "differentiation" and "price point". Offering a different price to someone who "calls" from San Francisco, Kansas City or Mumbai is a different issue, and less palatable.

rlpb 2y ago
> Offering a different price to someone who "calls" from San Francisco, Kansas City or Mumbai is a different issue, and less palatable. The interesting thing about this statement is that expecting a fixed price for anything is a relatively new phenomenon. It isn't very long ago that the price for pretty much everything was individually negotiated in some physical market, and nobody expected to pay the same price as everyone else.
- creer 2y ago
  That's a good point. Anyone has experience with haggling over the web or email - for stuff that's listed on web sites? Besides stuff that's deliberately not priced on the web like enterprise software?

thegrim33 2y ago

[dead]

cafard 2y ago

American publishers tend to give one a choice: hardbacks, more expensive, clumsier, but made for heavy duty; paperbacks, less expensive, handier, but not holding up as well under wear. And in general the first year of publication one can buy only the hardback--which is why I don't like book clubs that want to read only new books.

briandear 2y ago
Or just buy the ebook and save the paper, transportation, and shelf space.
- VyseofArcadia 2y ago
  Assuming you can in fact buy it DRM-free. Otherwise it is just an indefinite-term rental.
bluGill 2y ago
I've sometimes found library editions which are a middle compromise - cheaper than hardcover but higher quality that paperback.

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago

A lot of luxury products are like this. For example a lot of wine on shelves are literally the same wine under different labels and price points.

Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
Have a source for this? It's certainly plausible, but I'm not going to just accept it.

Xcelerate 2y ago

I remember when I was looking for new cookware a while ago, there were rumors that Kitchenaid was selling rebranded Demeyere pots and pans. It sure looked like the exact same cookware in the photos. But Zwilling is known to disguise the same pan in 30 different ways, and for anyone willing to trade the "Demeyere" label for a "Kitchenaid" label, they were getting a steal of a deal.

nomel 2y ago

Coming from the hardware world, wait until you learn about e-fusing chips to lower tier products! I've worked at a place where there was exactly one chip and ~8 ways to disable different things to make the whole product family, with nearly 2x difference in cost between low and high. This is usually done by disabling bad sections of the chip, but if yields are too high, you just disable functioning bits of good chips. Our yields were great. :-|

arnarbi 2y ago

Is that really price discrimination? “Enthusiasts” might have legitimate reasons for preferring hardcover (durability, aesthetics, etc) and are willingly and knowingly paying extra for that. How much it cost to manufacture is mostly irrelevant.

danans 2y ago

> I'm starting to think that like 80% of product diversity is really just pricing discrimination in disguise. I think the term used for this practice is "market-segmentation".

rconti 2y ago

Often the hardcover version comes out well in advance of the paperback, so if you want the book as soon as it comes out, you have to pay the premium for the perceived "premium product". Only later does the paperback come out at a lower cost, while the hardcover retains its higher cost -- I'm not sure if it drops a bit when the paperback comes out or not. This is a lot like back in the movie rental days. The VHS cassette for a new release would be $120 or something, and only a few months later could you buy it at the grocery store checkout for $25.