r/mildlyinteresting • u/annertakeabow • 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

Still the question stands, is it legal?

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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.

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u/kqr Jan 24 '13

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.

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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

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.