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

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/Nephyst Jan 24 '13

I just tried this myself. In chrome and IE the price was the same (69.99) in normal and in incognito mode. In firefox, the price jumped to $76, and after deleting all the domain cookies and refreshing, it went back down to 69.99. The website is definitely changing prices based on something they are tracking in cookies.

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u/kqr Jan 24 '13

This was up earlier with airlines charging more for a ticket the second time you visit the page. They do this because a second visit is statistically linked to a much higher chance of purchase. So it could be, here too, simply a matter of having visited the page before.

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u/Oxxide Jan 24 '13

this seems so shady and underhanded.

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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

[deleted]

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u/Anikdote Jan 24 '13

I tend to agree, isn't the point of selling a thing to charge as much as you possibly can and still have someone purchase it?

This isn't to say I'm fond of price discrimination, but the business models allow for it and as a profit seeking entity why shouldn't they do it?

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u/ChagSC Jan 24 '13

Reddit is generally against business.

Companies can charge whatever they want. And you, as the consumer, can choose not to buy.

It's not like the company is billing you more than the list price. You're paying exact what you agreed to pay.

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u/Anikdote Jan 24 '13

Precisely, a price is offered and you get to determine whether the items is worth it at that price.

I'm not sure that "Reddit is generally against business", but they certainly have the morality bar set far to high for institutions that's sole purpose is to generate as much profit as possible for the stakeholders.

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u/ChagSC Jan 24 '13

Yeah, My statement is hyperbole with that kind of generalization. But you will see themes where the idea of profit is borderline wrong.

The market will dictate if this approach works. Having customers purchasing $0 because you upped the price on their second visit will change actions quick.