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Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

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Re: Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

#41

Post by coldtea »

GuB-42 wrote: post #40
teeray wrote: post #12

It would be abhorrent to let humans change the prices of goods and services based on the color of your skin, age, gender, religion, etc. However, if a computer does it, that’s apparently just fine.

For age it is common and explicit. Senior discounts for instance, and a bit less explicitly, student discounts. It feels better when it is framed as a discount, but it is equivalent to overcharging those who don't get the discount. For the other categories, it is usually not explicit, but it definitely happens, especially when haggling is involved.

Not the same, in fact the exact opposite.

Student and senior discounts are meant as support/benefits/encouragment, to the poorer and weaker.

The commercial version is about the inverse: skinning every group as much as possible.

Re: Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

#42

Post by [deleted] »

GuB-42 wrote: post #40
teeray wrote: post #12

It would be abhorrent to let humans change the prices of goods and services based on the color of your skin, age, gender, religion, etc. However, if a computer does it, that’s apparently just fine.

For age it is common and explicit. Senior discounts for instance, and a bit less explicitly, student discounts. It feels better when it is framed as a discount, but it is equivalent to overcharging those who don't get the discount. For the other categories, it is usually not explicit, but it definitely happens, especially when haggling is involved.

[deleted]

Re: Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

#43

Post by nickburns »

bigiain wrote: post #36

"In 2012, Orbitz infamously displayed more expensive hotel offers to Mac users on the assumption that they were less price-sensitive." I was doing that in the late 90s. Not marking up prices, but displaying higher priced hotels at the top of search returns. It was surprisingly effective when we compared aggregated per night rates between Mac and Windows users (as identified by user-agent).

So you're an admitted scumbag? (Primarily Windows user by the way.)

Re: Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

#44

Post by esseph »

victorbjorklund wrote: post #30
nh23423fefe wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the price increase can incentivize more drivers thus increasing supply. conversely driving the price to zero would certain increase demand and eliminate supply. i mean, if you posit inelastic demand, you dont get you pretend you derived it as a conclusion right?

Also it decrease demand. Someone who is feeling ”eh maybe I’ll take an uber or the train” will be more likely to take the train.

Not an option in much of the US. I'd argue it's mostly a Bay Area and DC corridor thing.

Re: Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

#45

Post by fuzzfactor »

shimman wrote: post #39
wg0 wrote: post #37

Few years ago, recruiter at a very well known retailer was on phone with me for a Python backend role. I asked him how many people were on my team that I'm going to join. He told me some 80 developers. Bit surprised and thinking probably recruiter is too noob and quoting me the size of the development team, I asked him again that no, I'm interested in knowing my team size. He instead corrected me saying that he's not…

Modern corporations aren't profitable because of sound business decisions, they're profitable because of corporate welfare + federal subsidies. Not shocked to hear such numbers. I worked at an insurance company that had very similar numbers. Went as well as you suspect.

>Modern corporations aren't profitable because of sound business decisions

One of the things to think about is the way that lots of average businessmen have always been able to rake in the bucks without resorting to any type of predatory approaches coming anything close to this.

Probably more so in less-modern times, like before MBA's had yet made significant impact. And some of these were much rougher times economically.

The contrast can be so dramatic that there's a major logical conclusion about operators who run their businesses this way now.

They're just plain below-average businessmen.

Re: Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

#46

Post by PradeetPatel »

nickburns wrote: post #43
bigiain wrote: post #36

"In 2012, Orbitz infamously displayed more expensive hotel offers to Mac users on the assumption that they were less price-sensitive." I was doing that in the late 90s. Not marking up prices, but displaying higher priced hotels at the top of search returns. It was surprisingly effective when we compared aggregated per night rates between Mac and Windows users (as identified by user-agent).

So you're an admitted scumbag? (Primarily Windows user by the way.)

No need for this kind of attitude here. If you can extract more value out of a customer using more data points, wouldn't you? Or will you simply leave money on the table for someone else to take.

Re: Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

#47

Post by OgsyedIE »

PradeetPatel wrote: post #46
nickburns wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're an admitted scumbag? (Primarily Windows user by the way.)

No need for this kind of attitude here. If you can extract more value out of a customer using more data points, wouldn't you? Or will you simply leave money on the table for someone else to take.

I agree, if you can take advantage of a situation in some way, it's your duty as an American to do it. Why should the race always be to the swift, or the jumble to the quick-witted? Should they be allowed to win merely because of the gifts God gave them? Well I say, cheating is the gift man gives himself.

Re: Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

#48

Post by killingtime74 »

GuB-42 wrote: post #40
teeray wrote: post #12

It would be abhorrent to let humans change the prices of goods and services based on the color of your skin, age, gender, religion, etc. However, if a computer does it, that’s apparently just fine.

For age it is common and explicit. Senior discounts for instance, and a bit less explicitly, student discounts. It feels better when it is framed as a discount, but it is equivalent to overcharging those who don't get the discount. For the other categories, it is usually not explicit, but it definitely happens, especially when haggling is involved.

Anyone can be a student though. Senior discount is definitely legal positive discrimination.

Re: Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

#49

Post by downboots »

teeray wrote: post #12

It would be abhorrent to let humans change the prices of goods and services based on the color of your skin, age, gender, religion, etc. However, if a computer does it, that’s apparently just fine.

No problem https://i.redd.it/1c3h2y6uzks61.jpg

Re: Surveillance Pricing: Exploiting Information Asymmetries

#50

Post by bigiain »

nickburns wrote: post #43
bigiain wrote: post #36

"In 2012, Orbitz infamously displayed more expensive hotel offers to Mac users on the assumption that they were less price-sensitive." I was doing that in the late 90s. Not marking up prices, but displaying higher priced hotels at the top of search returns. It was surprisingly effective when we compared aggregated per night rates between Mac and Windows users (as identified by user-agent).

So you're an admitted scumbag? (Primarily Windows user by the way.)

With the benefit of hindsight. Yeah. Probably...
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