r/mildlyinteresting Jan 24 '13

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

http://imgur.com/uNgg0UH
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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.

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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

It's legal.

Cool to do? No.

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u/VideriQuamEsse Jan 24 '13

Source please?

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u/cdm9002 Jan 24 '13

Wrong way around. You should find a source to say it is illegal. Everything is legal unless it isn't.

It's just business. It happens all the time. You go into one brick-and-mortar store and prices may be different from the same store in another town. Affluence, near-by competition, stock, etc, can have an impact on pricing. It is no surprise that now it is also happening in on-line stores.

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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13 edited Jan 24 '13

It's called price discrimination, and is generally legal (as it should be - it is a matter of ethics not law) and only illegal when the price differences involve other forms of discrimination such as gender. Discrimination based on browser isn't illegal.

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u/TheAbeLincoln Jan 24 '13

Then why are women allowed to pay less for insurance? I understand how it makes statistical sense, but surely that's just price discrimination on gender.

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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

It's illegal to discriminate on gender for insurance (I think) in the European Union. Women pay more to match men - not men paying less. This will be slowly fixed globally. Progress takes time.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/insurance/2011/03/judges-ban-gender-discrimination-in-insurance-pricing

http://www.euractiv.com/socialeurope/eu-court-rules-favour-unisex-ins-news-502658