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Maryland becomes first state to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores

theguardian.com

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Re: Maryland becomes first state to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores

#111

Post by tombert »

Terr_ wrote: post #46
tombert wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"too high for my liking" is doing a lot of work there. Some of these loans are outright predatory, with multi-thousand-percent interest rates. These aren't loans that people who have better options are taking, and moreover I think a lot of people really don't understand how horrible that can be. Call your congressperson to get more funding for math education, and then maybe we can argue we should get rid of usury law…

> I guess I feel like the term "consent" is weaponized; did people opt into these loans? That also leads into complex questions like "is it really consent if the alternative is X", or "can someone consent to chattel slavery", or "at what point is chemical addiction no longer consensual", etc. _______________ > "I should not agree with your young [socialistic] friends," said Marcus curtly, "I am so old-fashioned as to…

I hadn't heard that particular quote. I was thinking Squid Game :)

I do pretty ok now, but in 2016, I was completely broke. I was unemployed for awhile, but even after becoming employed it felt like I couldn't catch up with my debt. Even though I know they're basically scams, and I know how to calculate compound interest, and I know math better than the average American, I still considered one of those scammy payday loan places, just because the high interest was "Tom in a few month from now"'s problem. Fortunately I didn't have to go that far, and things did pick up, and I feel lucky for that.

I think about that situation a lot; it was a very humbling moment. I guess I hadn't fully realized beforehand that the right combination of circumstances can really make people who would otherwise know better make objectively bad decisions.

Life is already pretty hard even when things are going fine. We don't need assholes weaponizing circumstances for when they aren't.

Re: Maryland becomes first state to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores

#112

Post by Tangurena2 »

BigTTYGothGF wrote: post #106
jbxntuehineoh wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's so embarrassing that we banned forcing employees to work sixteen hour days without lunch breaks. Just go to another employer. Banning an employment model should be unconstitutional.

You're not even allowed to pay them in company scrip anymore!

For now. There are some of the billionaires wanting to bring back company towns and company scrip.

Re: Maryland becomes first state to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores

#113

Post by bityard »

slg wrote: post #41
lotsofpulp wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buyers and sellers should be able to negotiate prices however they want. It is how markets have worked since the dawn of human trading. It would also be costly to police. If the problem is that a grocery store has a monopoly in an area, then that is a different problem fixed by adding grocery store(s).

This is a law about grocery stores. How much haggling do you think is happening at grocery stores?

I routinely ask the cashier for half off on anything that is perfectly fine but has less-than-pristine packaging. I usually get it.

(But I understand this isn't really relevant to the article or discussion here.)

Re: Maryland becomes first state to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores

#115

Post by sandworm101 »

crazygringo wrote: post #44

Sadly, this article doesn't explain how this "surveillance pricing" (which is just a scarier-sounding synonym for "dynamic pricing") would even work in a physical grocery store. Like, prices are displayed on the shelf for everyone to see. And they have to match what you pay at checkout. So how the heck would a grocery store even do this? And this law is specifically around grocery stores . Like, there was a big kerfu…

They remove the pricetags and replace them with a shopping ap able to track your habits and maximize your spending.

This already happens online. Try getting two people to book a vacation, one on a new iphone and one using an ancient android. Prices will differ.

Re: Maryland becomes first state to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores

#116

Post by manwe150 »

Tangurena2 wrote: post #96
crazygringo wrote: post #44

Sadly, this article doesn't explain how this "surveillance pricing" (which is just a scarier-sounding synonym for "dynamic pricing") would even work in a physical grocery store. Like, prices are displayed on the shelf for everyone to see. And they have to match what you pay at checkout. So how the heck would a grocery store even do this? And this law is specifically around grocery stores . Like, there was a big kerfu…

> Like, prices are displayed on the shelf for everyone to see. And they have to match what you pay at checkout. Not all stores honor the prices posted on the shelves. Dollar General is one of the major offenders of this. > Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has filed suit against Dollar General, claiming deceptive and unfair pricing at its more than 600 retail stores throughout the state. The lawsuit alleges tha…

Seems not contradictory to say that it legally has to match what you pay, when that is the content of the lawsuit against them, implying that their actions are illegal. Many states also already impose a stiff additional penalty for this practice (e.g. item must be sold heavily discounted or given free to any consumer that observes that the price charged at checkout differs from a price posted in the store)

Re: Maryland becomes first state to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores

#117

Post by wat10000 »

crazygringo wrote: post #44

Sadly, this article doesn't explain how this "surveillance pricing" (which is just a scarier-sounding synonym for "dynamic pricing") would even work in a physical grocery store. Like, prices are displayed on the shelf for everyone to see. And they have to match what you pay at checkout. So how the heck would a grocery store even do this? And this law is specifically around grocery stores . Like, there was a big kerfu…

A lot of grocery stores allow ordering online for pickup or delivery.

Re: Maryland becomes first state to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores

#118

Post by dylan604 »

toast0 wrote: post #69
crazygringo wrote: post #44

Sadly, this article doesn't explain how this "surveillance pricing" (which is just a scarier-sounding synonym for "dynamic pricing") would even work in a physical grocery store. Like, prices are displayed on the shelf for everyone to see. And they have to match what you pay at checkout. So how the heck would a grocery store even do this? And this law is specifically around grocery stores . Like, there was a big kerfu…

> Like, there was a big kerfuffle a while ago about how Wendy's was going to engage in dynamic pricing so that a burger would be cheaper during the slow period at e.g. 3-4 pm, compared to the lunch rush. But that wasn't personalized. And the outcry was so strong they never did it, no law needed. That's crazy that people were kerfuffled over it as stated. Restaurants very commomly have early bird and happy hour specia…

They were wanting to charge more during the rush and not just give discounts. It was closer to Uber's surge pricing.

Re: Maryland becomes first state to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores

#119

Post by themafia »

nsxwolf wrote: post #70
chucksta wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facial recognition https://epic.org/krogers-surveillance-pricing-harms-consumer...

How is this supposed to work? There’s hundreds of people in the store. Someone is always right next to me. How will the can of peas know which price to display

> There’s hundreds of people in the store.

Where are you shopping? I get groceries the most I've seen is 30 people at a time.

> How will the can of peas know which price to display

People are talking about facial recognition and smart phones driving this. What they're missing is that your shopping cart is likely to contain a selection of items which make it _highly unique_. Not just on the day you're shopping but across large spans of time.

Of course the lowest tech is I can just put a tracker in your cart or in your basket.

Re: Maryland becomes first state to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores

#120

Post by everdrive »

tt24 wrote: post #110
everdrive wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That doesn’t mean we create price control laws or make everything free lol I'm not suggesting anything of the sort.

You’re supporting a price control law right now.

No, I just hate what the company is doing. I don't even live in MD and have no say in the law whatsoever.
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