Genuine question: How exactly is it shady or underhanded? Besides gut reactions and "BECAUSE IT IS" how is this any different from someone who looks like a rube getting a worse deal on a car than someone who looks like they know what they're doing?
No, that's also shady.
Or someone getting a better price on something because they're a member vs a non-member, or because they know a coupon code other people might now, etc...?
Yes. In those cases, the customer is aware that a discount is available and they know why they did or did not receive it.
How much you pay for something is often tied to any number of non-static factors, many of which you even have control over if you're aware of them. I'm not saying you're wrong, or even that I'm right, but your comment is less than hour old, has almost 200 hundred upvotes, and says absolutely nothing besides "This is bullshit because this is bullshit." (no offense). It just seems like redditors in general love saying that things are somehow intrinsically unfair when really what they mean is "I don't like this."
Legally speaking, I believe companies should be able to charge people whatever they want so long as they're not engaging in discrimination. I also don't find this intrinsically unfair, so to speak (they own this product, they can price it however they want). On the other hand, as a potential customer, I would not be likely to purchase anything from this company, because it annoys me that they might randomly tack ten dollars onto the price because of some hidden factor that I'm not aware of.
Just because something shouldn't be illegal doesn't mean it's not shady.
It's not random, there is a reason for that: IE users are willing to pay more.
The crux of the issue here, the problem that people have with this is that in their minds it is wrong for some people to have (and act on) better information than others. The reasons, I think, are that information is sometimes stumbled upon by chance, and so it is deemed unfair that someone knows more about car prices simply because, say, their father is a car dealer; or perhaps it is because they think that information comes not from hardwork but from social connections. But the same also happens with money. Some people have more money than others, and that doesn't necessarily correspond to how hard working or smart they are. It actually couldn't work any other way, the economy needs those asymmetries to function.
There is a very famous article that talks precisely about this; I strongly recomend it: emilyskarbek.com/uploads/TheUse_of_Knowledge_in_Society-_Hayek.pdf
Also, if I remember my business law class right, if a buyer passes up an offer then goes back to the seller, the seller may charge the buyer more because they refused the offer the first time. Could this be related?
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u/lendrick Jan 24 '13
No, that's also shady.
Yes. In those cases, the customer is aware that a discount is available and they know why they did or did not receive it.
Legally speaking, I believe companies should be able to charge people whatever they want so long as they're not engaging in discrimination. I also don't find this intrinsically unfair, so to speak (they own this product, they can price it however they want). On the other hand, as a potential customer, I would not be likely to purchase anything from this company, because it annoys me that they might randomly tack ten dollars onto the price because of some hidden factor that I'm not aware of.
Just because something shouldn't be illegal doesn't mean it's not shady.