It is a real difference when you see that there is a student price posted at the box office, but you can also see that the regular price will apply to you, so y

It is a real difference when you see that there is a student price posted at the box office, but you can also see that the regular price will apply to you, so you pay that. In an opaque market in which everyone pays a different price, but no one knows what anyone else is paying, the consumer is at a disadvantage. There have always been coupons, special deals, and so on, but having every transaction getting prices separately and privately is something new, and consumers aren't going to like it, for two reasons: they hate the idea that other people are getting a better deal, and the information asymmetry means that they are almost certainly actually going to pay more on average.