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There is natural competitive pressure to avoid this, because customers hate unpredictable pricing (observe grandparent). Customers will hate companies (and pun

There is natural competitive pressure to avoid this, because customers hate unpredictable pricing (observe grandparent). Customers will hate companies (and punish them in the marketplace) if they feel nickel-and-dimed or taken advantage of.

vertex-four 12y ago
Until/unless we get to a local maxima where in certain industries, it'd be hard to change and still be profitable. We already see unpredictable pricing in most medium- and long-distance public travel systems, for example.
gambiting 12y ago
Unless you have no other choice. In Poland where I come from all trains are state-owned and each journey costs exactly the same regardless of the time of the booking. The cost of the ticket for a train to the capital on Monday morning costs exactly the same if bought 5 minutes before departure and 6 months before departure. In the UK on the other hand, all train lines are private,and they charge whatever they like if there is demand. So a morning train to London will cost hundreds of pounds if bought 5 minutes before departure,but only 20 pounds if bought 3 months in advance. I find this offensive on the deepest level. I understand that this is how capitalism works,but it is against human freedom and flexibility, in order to do nothing else but maximize corporate profits.
- jarek 12y ago
  To clarify this example, the capacity of the train doesn't change when a ticket is bought on the day of travel, so the higher pricing is simply because they can, not because it costs more to add necessary capacity.
- jpatokal 12y ago
  But it goes both ways -- if you can plan in advance and are happy to travel at an unpopular time (middle of the day etc), you can get dirt cheap fares, much cheaper than the regular/full fare. In Japan, by contrast, the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka costs around Y14,000 (~US$140), every day, all the time. So at unpopular times, the trains are half empty, because people fly or take highway buses or drive instead, all of which are slower and less environmentally friendly, but deregulated and thus cheaper. I find this offensive on the deepest level.
  - gambiting 12y ago
    >> you can get dirt cheap fares, much cheaper than the regular/full fare. I think you got tricked into believing that you are getting a deal. You are not. The "dirt cheap" fare is what the regular/full fare should be, it's not a promotion or a good deal. The problem with Shinkansen pricing is that its always expensive. There is no surge pricing,but the baseline price is still too expensive. That is an entirely different problem altogether.
    - haberman 12y ago
      > The "dirt cheap" fare is what the regular/full fare should be Why? Just because you say so? What if the "dirt cheap" fare, offered all the time, wouldn't even cover the costs of running the line? Is your salary higher than you absolutely need to survive? If so, how do you justify your demand-based rate hike?
    - jpatokal 12y ago
      I've paid something like 10 euros to travel the ~250km from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt in a high-speed ICE bullet train. There is no way in hell they could operate that service if everybody was paying that price.
  - potatolicious 12y ago
    But we don't see this effect happening. Uber for example does not do "counter surge" pricing when demand is abnormally low, the price always bottoms out at "normal fare". The consumer only stands to lose. Travel at a busy time and pay more. Travel at normal times for normal fares. Travel at low times for... normal fares.

vertex-four 12y ago

Until/unless we get to a local maxima where in certain industries, it'd be hard to change and still be profitable. We already see unpredictable pricing in most medium- and long-distance public travel systems, for example.

gambiting 12y ago

Unless you have no other choice. In Poland where I come from all trains are state-owned and each journey costs exactly the same regardless of the time of the booking. The cost of the ticket for a train to the capital on Monday morning costs exactly the same if bought 5 minutes before departure and 6 months before departure. In the UK on the other hand, all train lines are private,and they charge whatever they like if there is demand. So a morning train to London will cost hundreds of pounds if bought 5 minutes before departure,but only 20 pounds if bought 3 months in advance. I find this offensive on the deepest level. I understand that this is how capitalism works,but it is against human freedom and flexibility, in order to do nothing else but maximize corporate profits.

jarek 12y ago
To clarify this example, the capacity of the train doesn't change when a ticket is bought on the day of travel, so the higher pricing is simply because they can, not because it costs more to add necessary capacity.
jpatokal 12y ago
But it goes both ways -- if you can plan in advance and are happy to travel at an unpopular time (middle of the day etc), you can get dirt cheap fares, much cheaper than the regular/full fare. In Japan, by contrast, the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka costs around Y14,000 (~US$140), every day, all the time. So at unpopular times, the trains are half empty, because people fly or take highway buses or drive instead, all of which are slower and less environmentally friendly, but deregulated and thus cheaper. I find this offensive on the deepest level.
- gambiting 12y ago
  >> you can get dirt cheap fares, much cheaper than the regular/full fare. I think you got tricked into believing that you are getting a deal. You are not. The "dirt cheap" fare is what the regular/full fare should be, it's not a promotion or a good deal. The problem with Shinkansen pricing is that its always expensive. There is no surge pricing,but the baseline price is still too expensive. That is an entirely different problem altogether.
  - haberman 12y ago
    > The "dirt cheap" fare is what the regular/full fare should be Why? Just because you say so? What if the "dirt cheap" fare, offered all the time, wouldn't even cover the costs of running the line? Is your salary higher than you absolutely need to survive? If so, how do you justify your demand-based rate hike?
  - jpatokal 12y ago
    I've paid something like 10 euros to travel the ~250km from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt in a high-speed ICE bullet train. There is no way in hell they could operate that service if everybody was paying that price.
- potatolicious 12y ago
  But we don't see this effect happening. Uber for example does not do "counter surge" pricing when demand is abnormally low, the price always bottoms out at "normal fare". The consumer only stands to lose. Travel at a busy time and pay more. Travel at normal times for normal fares. Travel at low times for... normal fares.