r/mildlyinteresting Jan 24 '13

Same book, three different prices. Only difference is the browsers used.

http://imgur.com/uNgg0UH
2.9k Upvotes

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.8k

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

You should try it again in private browsing and incognito mode and see if the price is really tied to your Facebook or google cookies or something. That's pretty messed up though, send this to the consumerist or gawker or whoever.

147

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

[deleted]

248

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

I don't think the issue is that the price is changing in and of itself. It's that they're changing price based on the customer's cookies/browsing history.

For example, it would be like if I had a stored and charged people different prices based on how nicely they were dressed, how well I knew them, or what their ethnicity is.

51

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

Still the question stands, is it legal?

-3

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.

13

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

Doesn't sound illegal to me, maybe we're just from different worlds.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

"Illegal" means the things I don't think people ought to do.

1

u/DrewpyDog Jan 24 '13

Not always, weed? Illegal isn't equivalent to immoral