‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

Seattle City Council votes to ban surveillance pricing in sale of groceries

395 points · 229 comments · ortusdux

  1. flowerlad · · focus · HN ↗
    Why is this limited to groceries? I don't want to pay a different price than others for any category of item, not just groceries.

    Should gyms be able to charge me more based on my weight? Should airlines charge me more because they know I need to travel urgently? Should pharmacies charge me more for medication because they know I have a chronic condition? Should an online retailer charge me more because my browsing history suggests I'm willing to pay a premium? Should insurance companies charge me more because they know I'm unlikely to shop around?

    1. micromacrofoot · · focus · HN ↗
      you already do pay a price difference for many categories of items, insurance is a big one... where you live, how old you are, gender, etc

      it used to be the norm with health insurance until the ACA dropped discrimination for chronic conditions

      airlines charge more if you're too large to fit your seat

      online retailers very often charge people more, there are hundreds of factors now... but one funny case was mac users getting redirected to more expensive hotels by travel sites

      car insurers will raise premiums for people who haven't switched recently, I had to switch every 6 months for a couple years until one of them just stopped hiking prices around renewal

      dynamic pricing is very very prevalent, but doing it on food (like health insurance before it) is particularly egregious

      1. ericmay · · focus · HN ↗
        > airlines charge more if you're too large to fit your seat

        I don't think this is a good example, because you're literally using more of the product that's being sold. I get where you're coming from but this one doesn't seem to really reinforce the point you are trying to make. It's like selling by weight or something if you wanted to compare it to groceries.

        1. micromacrofoot · · focus · HN ↗
          well there are valid and invalid examples, I don't think you could have a blanket rule that covers everything

          with the airline seat example some could argue that they have health reasons beyond their control and it's not their fault that airline seats are so small (they really are smaller than ever)

          another example are stories of electricians charging more to people who want EV chargers installed because they already paid a premium to buy the EV, contractors will often bump up their prices if a house looks nicer, etc... these sort of biases have been rampant everywhere for a long time

          1. ericmay · · focus · HN ↗
            > another example are stories of electricians charging more to people who want EV chargers installed because they already paid a premium to buy the EV, contractors will often bump up their prices if a house looks nicer, etc... these sort of biases have been rampant everywhere for a long time

            I think this is a more concerning problem and it's tough to tackle but I'd also say don't let perfect be the enemy of good. We can do some things to start with which I think would capture a lot of the downsides of these pricing models.

          2. tzs · · focus · HN ↗
            > another example are stories of electricians charging more to people who want EV chargers installed because they already paid a premium to buy the EV.

            I've heard people work around this by getting a plug-in charger instead of hardwired. They get a 14-50 plug put in saying it is for a welder for their home workshop or for an electric range or an RV hookup for when their parents visit or something like that. A clothes dryer outlet works too, but usually won't support as many amps.

            All those, except the clothes dryer, still do give some indication you probably are reasonably well off or have well off parents at least, so might invite some gouging.

      2. flowerlad · · focus · HN ↗
        There is charging more because your costs are higher (most of your examples), then there is charging more because of opportunism. Insurance is customized because the costs are higher. That's fine.

        Taking advantage of your personal circumstances that is unrelated to cost to charge you more--especially when it is hidden from you--is what is bad and should be illegal.

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.