Dual pricing...Not just Thailand.

[rawlins]

It is everywhere - even shopping online you could be getting ripped off based on what they think you can afford to pay....

Personalising online prices: How deep are your pockets? | The Economist

Online retailers are being offered software that helps them detect shoppers who can afford to pay more or are in a hurry to buy, so as to present pricier options to them or simply charge more for the same stuff.

Cookies stored in shoppers’ web browsers may reveal where else they have been looking, giving some clues as to their income bracket and price-sensitivity. A shopper’s internet address may be linked to his physical address... Most up-to-date “price customisation” software can collate such clues with profiles of individual shoppers that internet sellers buy from online-data-aggregation firms.

One of the few big online firms to admit to using such techniques is Orbitz, a travel website. Its software detects whether people browsing its site are using an Apple Mac or a Windows PC and, since it has found that Mac users tend to choose pricier hotels, that is what it recommends to them. Orbitz stresses that it does not charge people different rates for the same rooms, but some online firms are believed to be doing just that, for instance by charging full whack for those assumed to be willing and able to pay it, while offering promotional prices to the rest.

One way to do this is to monitor how quickly shoppers click through towards the online seller’s payment page: those who already seem set on buying need not be tempted with a special offer.

At least six of America’s ten biggest web retailers are now customising prices in some way, but it is hard for shoppers to spot when this is going on.

Maybe the rise of price-customisation software will spawn rival apps that help customers defeat it, by disguising their trail of clicks. In the meantime, online shoppers might look at ways to avoid appearing like moneybags. Surf on a PC, not an Apple. Start by visiting a price comparison site - on arrival at a sellers site - feign interest in its cheapest stuff. Having made your choice, dawdle your way to the checkout page.

[Panty Hamster]

Caveat emptor.

Example: Airline seat prices change by the hour -- and differ widely depending on where you're buying the ticket.

[Troy]

^ Caveat emptor....and example...agreed....

Also remember that cheapest is not always best...and flexibility costs...

I realise it is hard for families with children and fixed work time-off to book anything else...and so do the airlines...disgraceful in my opinion...even if it works for me so well....Sometimes it is great being a dinosaur....

[Lorenzo]

Amazon tried this 10 years ago, got caught out and discontinued the practice with apoligizies.

[rawlins]

^ From the same article:

...Amazon in the autumn of 2000. Word broke that the internet giant was selling DVDs at differing prices, to see which web browsers happened to be favoured by shoppers least concerned about cost, former executives say. The resulting backlash prompted it to refund those who paid more, and Amazon now declines to discuss its pricing system.

[Panty Hamster]

The difference between this and Thailand's dual pricing is that here it's based on nothing more (stated: nationality, in practice: race) and you can't shop around to another museum/zoo/park entrance to try to get a better deal.

[rawlins]

^ Not really. Thais are basing it on your perceived ability to afford to pay more - A white westerner will most likely will be a tourist with a western income and generally have a higher disposable income than a local Thai. An expat with a local driving licence can use that as a discount card.

The online shopping software is looking for clues on wether you can afford to pay more or not.

Both systems are just taking an educated guess on your worth.

[Panty Hamster]

In my experience...
Japanese and Korean visitors, not to mention Cambos and Laos and all other SEA people NEVER queue up at the whitey pay stall. Because the signs are almost always in English only. And while the rule may be คนต่างชาติ (from outside Thailand), in practice, it's a non-Asian tax -- racist. Because the ticketmaster isn't about to start checking for Thai ID cards.

White people are neither the largest number (by far) nor the richest subset of foreigners visiting Thailand.

Also, if you look at people visiting theme parks or higher-end attractions where dual-pricing is enforced, I'd hazard a guess that whitey is among the poorest visitors. Check how many fancy cars are in the parking lot.

I agree with you it's fairly shitty for online vendors to "check you out" before offering a price menu. In a perfect world, they should offer the same price to everybody. However, the decision to buy still lies with the customer. The first rule of business: the price of something is whatever both parties will agree on.

[rawlins]

คนต่างชาติ - kon dtang chaadi ? (I'm still learning)

Agreed.. Gook eyed fuckers ganging together.

But we are more easily spotted and traditionally have been richer. Now that our economies are bollocksed and the exchange rates are crap it isn't really fair.

[PlanK]

to see which web browsers happened to be favoured by shoppers least concerned about cost

So which browser would be the choice of the budget traveller?

IE, because only the retards use it now?
FF, because it's been a favourite for open source (free) users?
Chrome, because it's where all the hip, but not up to date, users go?
Safari would be a deathtrap, nuff said.

[rawlins]

^ I don't know how they could find any relation between what internet browser you use and how much money you have.

[VocalNeal]

While the method and result sucks it is really no different that an Asian shop keeper looking at your shoes before he tells you the price.

[clueless]

Airlines are a bit different .

Many airlines offer incentives to passengers who make their own bookings on the Internet. And the savvy traveler who can stay awake long enough to make an Internet booking after midnight will occasionally come across so-called "Internet specials", super cheap deals that disappear when the rest of the nation wakes up and starts booking their airline travel.

Computers are constantly monitoring sales and adjusting fares as often as ten times a day, the only real option for the fare conscious air traveler is to use a Web service to try to locate the best deal. A number of such services have sprung into being in recent years, among them Expedia, Travelocity, and CheapTickets. These services trawl the Web looking for the cheapest fare for any given destination and dates of travel.

Airline pricing has grown so complex that it is now practically impossible to find the cheapest fare. In mathematical terms, the (idealized) problem of finding the cheapest airfare between two given locations is actually unsolvable, and even if you specify the actual route or the flights, the (idealized) problem of finding the lowest fare means it could take the fastest computers billions of years to solve.

Ever tried booking say 6 seats on a certain date and then wait a few hours before confirming it? The price usually goes up - which means if you do not book your seats immediatley the price changes later .

Like everything you buy , it is all about supply and demand .

[Panty Hamster]

Interesting stuff on airlines.

Like everything you buy , it is all about supply and demand.

Unless you show up at an empty Thai national park, off season, at 6 a.m.
Then it's all about what color your skin is.

[Troy]

I have found that speaking Thai (not particularly well) tends to get you a lot better deals...and with a local driving licence...they let you in cheap if you are with local Thais.