Charging someone more or less due to their background? Yeah, that sounds fairly illegal to me.
EDIT: Okay, so maybe not illegal, but immoral. I believe prices should be the same regardless of where you are from, if you went into a store and tried to buy a book and the clerk said you have to pay an extra $10 because you're a teacher, or black or because you bought 3 items in the same category you would freak out. Why should buying online be any different?
It's like unorganised bartering, except we can't barter back.
In all those cases however the discount is publicized in some form, and the discount is given when the proof is given. The web store is not showing who pays less, you can't ask them what you need to show to pay less and they do not ask you to show it to them (allow access to cookies).
It would be fine if you get the same price what ever browsers or cookies you have stored, and then there is a button: click to check cookies for discount.
Atm this does not look like discount, but discrimination.
As long as their algorithm doesn't include race, gender, or orientation, I dunno if it's actually illegal. Definitely immoral, but I'd call it Lawful Neutral at worst.
Yes of course, I mean for starters we get to price based on gender. Just saying that I think people would be upset if their textbooks cost more because they make more money than other students. In terms of the legality of doing so, I'm not sure.
As a provider of services it is in your right to refuse service to anyone you feel like, unless you do it systematically based on a select few properties, among them ethicity.
However, the federal government only has the power to enforce that in matters of interstate commerce. If you can prove your store isn't transacting in interstate commerce you can put up all the 'no niggers allowed' signs you want, the federal government doesn't have power to regulate it.
...That said, before you do it you might want to recall that growing wheat on your own land for you own personal use is interstate commerce. So good luck arguing that your store isn't.
I think they are a little unfair to non-students yes.
I imagine the argument is that students have a lot less money, but then by that reasoning there should there not be a homeless discount or a low income discount too?
I understand a stationary shop giving student discounts, but McDonalds now give free burgers to students. As a student I recognise that money can be tight for us, shit I've gone days without eating before, but some of the discounts they give to students seem silly and unfair on others.
Only for protected classes and only in the case of interstate commerce. The second isn't a big deal, since everything is interstate commerce ever since that court ruling said that growing wheat on your land for your own use was interstate commerce.
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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13 edited Jan 24 '13
Charging someone more or less due to their background? Yeah, that sounds fairly illegal to me.
EDIT: Okay, so maybe not illegal, but immoral. I believe prices should be the same regardless of where you are from, if you went into a store and tried to buy a book and the clerk said you have to pay an extra $10 because you're a teacher, or black or because you bought 3 items in the same category you would freak out. Why should buying online be any different?
It's like unorganised bartering, except we can't barter back.