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Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

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Re: Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How the fuck is that even legal?

Why would it not be? I’m not trying to be snarky. Under what law would that be illegal? Charging different people different prices for the same thing is perfectly legal so long as it’s not due to that person being a member of a protected class (race, sex, etc.).

Certain cards are very popular with certain demographics.

I would not do something as stupid using cards to discriminate pricing.

Now of course, we live in a society where the courts would never actually make that link, so you can argue I'd be a bad leader leaving money on the table like that...

But I'd say that's more a problem with our system than anything.

Re: Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

#112
post #68
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In the US, at least, you actually need to to get pre-approval for your prices and how you arrive at that price, and that information becomes public record. But some factors get a free pass whereas others don't. eg. age/sex is allowed, but race/income/education isn't (although zip codes approximate some of those, to an extent).

It varies based on state though. In California, insurers are legally prohibited from using race, sex or zip code in pricing. It's supposed to be strictly based on age, vehicle type and claims history, although I have no doubt that insurers do their best to get around that. (Side note, in the lead up to the restriction on how insurers could base their premiums, there was a failed initiative in the 90s that would have…

In NZ, car insurance companies openly use location, gender and age in pricing.

Men under 25 pay the highest premiums due to their repeated statistically demonstrated tendency to take far more risks and accordingly have far more serious accidents.

(And good luck getting full insurance if you're male, under 25 and own a vehicle with a turbo.)

Likewise, women 30+ get lower premiums than men because while they have more fender benders, they have far less serious crashes - and our insurance companies proudly advertise to women on that basis.

And your car premium will vary based on your location's car theft rates, although how you store your car (garage vs. driveway vs. street parking) and installed antitheft devices will reduce it.

However, race based pricing is very much not a thing.

It probably could be, as a proxy for socio-economic status, as the indigenous people of NZ are over-represented in all negative socio-economic indicators, thanks to colonisation followed by about a century of government policy, some deliberate (e.g., Tohunga Suppression Act 1907), some accidental (Manpower Act 1944).

And poor young men are even more at risk of serious accident than other young men.

That said, as no insurer will pay out if your car didn't have a current warrant of fitness (proof that your car meets minimum safety regulations), or current registration (just a tax, used to fund road maintenance and our no-fault accident insurance scheme), that effectively discriminates against poor people anyway.

Incidentally, NZ doesn't have compulsory third party insurance.

And I strongly support that - making it compulsory only benefits insurance companies by reducing their risk (which they aren't compelled to pass on to customers as lower premiums), and because once something is mandatory, you can charge far more than is fair, and people can't respond like a rational market would by just not buying your service.

Re: Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

#113
Tinder is so extremely effective that it's almost certainly underpriced at all of these levels purely because of perception. I only had gold once and bought a couple of boosts but for over two months I would fill my calendar with 2-4 dates a week at something close to Spotify sub ($20/mo iirc).

There is no other way to meet women this efficiently. And it was a lot of fun, too. It took out all the slog out of dating. It would be a steal at $100/mo.

Re: Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

#114
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How the fuck is that even legal?

Because it’s likely not true or the full story.

Why would i lie? I'm pretty sure they also use my destinations to asses my income and factor that into how much i'm willing to pay for a ride

Re: Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would it not be? I’m not trying to be snarky. Under what law would that be illegal? Charging different people different prices for the same thing is perfectly legal so long as it’s not due to that person being a member of a protected class (race, sex, etc.).

Certain cards are very popular with certain demographics. I would not do something as stupid using cards to discriminate pricing. Now of course, we live in a society where the courts would never actually make that link, so you can argue I'd be a bad leader leaving money on the table like that... But I'd say that's more a problem with our system than anything.

I'm pretty sure it is more than that. I mentioned in a comment below this one that they probably use my destinations as a proxy to asses my income and how much I'm willing to pay for a ride

Re: Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

#116
I seem to remember articles from lots of sources, I believe Stratechery was one, about a decade ago advocating for this kind of pricing scheme of using analytics to figure out the price that people will pay and charging them that. A lot of the examples was based on income level which of course made me think, hey here I've struggled all my life to get into the middle class and now they want to change up how you pay for things so at the end of the month I can buy the same amount of things and have as much left over as when I was poor.

Anyway I am against it, find it immoral, and think the EU should have some regulations forbidding it.

Re: Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

#117
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tinder sells access to women. It’s the online version of “ladies night”, where women get into the bar for free while men do not.

What do you mean? Women have to pay for premium Tinder features.

They don't need to, for most women liking someone would probably result in a match.

Re: Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

#118

Disclaimer: I think Tinder is a rent-extracting garbage app, BUT, philosophically speaking, why is dynamic pricing unfair? If the algorithm detects that based on your biography, location and usage patterns, you would keep using this service even if it charged you 5x as much, isn't that just the market becoming more efficient?

An efficient market isn't necessarily the goal of human life, and a free market can be "bad." Nothing substantive to contribute to a detailed discussion otherwise, but keep this in mind.

Re: Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the narrative has really changed. It’s not that different from the lab leak theory

I wonder what other opinions we aren’t allowed to have today that could end up being true?

Remember when it was fringe to think that the government was spying on everyone before Snowden came out?

Re: Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would it not be? I’m not trying to be snarky. Under what law would that be illegal? Charging different people different prices for the same thing is perfectly legal so long as it’s not due to that person being a member of a protected class (race, sex, etc.).

Certain cards are very popular with certain demographics. I would not do something as stupid using cards to discriminate pricing. Now of course, we live in a society where the courts would never actually make that link, so you can argue I'd be a bad leader leaving money on the table like that... But I'd say that's more a problem with our system than anything.

Your legal case would pretty fast turn into bizarre hate speech:

”They’re charging people using the costco mastercard more!”

”Yeah, and?”

”Well, everyone knows that the jews love costco, and you can’t discriminate against an ethnic minority!”

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