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There's nothing more American than not knowing the price you're going to pay for something until you have to pay it. This applies to everything from income taxe

There's nothing more American than not knowing the price you're going to pay for something until you have to pay it. This applies to everything from income taxes to health care to big ticket purchases like homes and cars, to airline tickets, to cell phone and cable service, all the way down to restaurants with tips and service fees and everything on the store shelf, where sales tax is not included in the price of the good. Somehow the USA has normalized this throughout its entire culture.

pishpash 5d ago
Because of innumeracy. You can hide a business opportunity in basic arithmetics. If it's "too hard" to calculate people give up.
- ryandrake 5d ago
  This isn't about math being too hard. It's about companies deliberately hiding and obfuscating what you owe. Try this. My cell phone service is AT&T's "Value Plus VL" service with three lines. Tell me my exact monthly bill down to the cent. Do all the Internet searching you need and all the math you need to. In a world where companies weren't actively hiding what you pay, you would easily be able to do this.
- scared_together 5d ago
  I’m not an American, but here in Canada there are a lot of extra fees and such where I live as well. I don’t believe the problem is purely innumeracy on the consumer’s part. If companies clearly stated “A(B + C)” as a price, even people with poor math skills would understand that the price is not “B”. But it’s more like the price is advertised as “B” and “A(B+C)” only appears in fine print or seconds before payment. Your comment says you can “hide a business opportunity”. I would instead call that “being dishonest”.
  - maerF0x0 5d ago
    In canada on many products the taxes are hidden in the shelf / advertised price iirc Gas, Alcohol, and Tobacco products have this feature. IMO it should be everything (still show the breakdown on the receipt, but instead of advertising the sub-total advertise the final price)

pishpash 5d ago

Because of innumeracy. You can hide a business opportunity in basic arithmetics. If it's "too hard" to calculate people give up.

ryandrake 5d ago
This isn't about math being too hard. It's about companies deliberately hiding and obfuscating what you owe. Try this. My cell phone service is AT&T's "Value Plus VL" service with three lines. Tell me my exact monthly bill down to the cent. Do all the Internet searching you need and all the math you need to. In a world where companies weren't actively hiding what you pay, you would easily be able to do this.
scared_together 5d ago
I’m not an American, but here in Canada there are a lot of extra fees and such where I live as well. I don’t believe the problem is purely innumeracy on the consumer’s part. If companies clearly stated “A(B + C)” as a price, even people with poor math skills would understand that the price is not “B”. But it’s more like the price is advertised as “B” and “A(B+C)” only appears in fine print or seconds before payment. Your comment says you can “hide a business opportunity”. I would instead call that “being dishonest”.
- maerF0x0 5d ago
  In canada on many products the taxes are hidden in the shelf / advertised price iirc Gas, Alcohol, and Tobacco products have this feature. IMO it should be everything (still show the breakdown on the receipt, but instead of advertising the sub-total advertise the final price)