What’s up, Thingers?
In 1999, Coca-Cola’s CEO floated raising prices on hotter days using new technology in their vending machines. This caused an avalanche of bad press and the company backed off their plan. Today, that sort of variable pricing is commonplace, with companies hiding behind algorithms and economic shocks to shield themselves from malicious price gouging tactics. This week, we find out how we lost control of the concept of a “fair price.”
(Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Others)
Our guest this week is Lindsay Owens, President and CEO of the Groundwork Collaborative and author of the new book Gouged: The End of a Fair Price — and What That Means for Your Wallet.
What’s the most egregious price you’ve run into lately? Let us know in the comments below, and scroll down for links to research and stories discussed in the episode.
More on the Instacart experiment is available here.
If you want to check out the survey we discuss in the episode and test the fairness of your friends and family, check it out here: Fairness as a Constraint on Profit Seeking: Entitlements in the Market
The New York Times, 1999: Coke Tests Vending Unit That Can Hike Prices in Hot Weather
Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (860) 325-0286.
If you like the show, please share with a friend and leave us a five-star rating wherever you listen to our show. Thanks and we’ll be back next week with a new episode!
What I find the most insidious is "shrinkflation," and I'm seeing it everywhere at the grocery store now. So many packages that used to be one size are now definitely smaller. The insidious nature of it is that I definitely can tell the item is smaller, but it's hard to know or remember exactly by how much. And did the price drop, or stay the same? I know I'm paying more for whatever I'm buying, but how much more? There are some grocery store items that feel fixed at a certain size (six-pack of beer, a dozen eggs, five-pound bag of flour) but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before manufacturers figure out a way to reduce those sizes, too.