Comment On Advantage Pricing

$$ERR:get_name_fail:

Visual Studio 2010 developers really think of everything.

They are not just checking for errors caused by a CPU malfunction, they even were thoughtful enough to identify that the cause is a meltdown in the 3rd CPU core.

Did you remember to catch CPUMeltdownException in your last program? No? See how much you can learn from Microsoft developers!

Jack:

Why do you think the prices keep changing so often? It isn't because the costs are changing that much. They are testing you, and every other shopper, to see just how much you will swallow. It used to be they had to set one price for everyone, but now, they can slice the market up into razor thin segments and extract the maximum possible from each one.

The OP is right. They're evil.

trtrwtf:

If the customer doesn't want to buy that 12-pack of soda, guess what? Nobody can make them do it.

I'd pay it to not have to deal with supermarket tracking.

iK the Alcoholic:

I'd pay it to not have to deal with supermarket tracking.

Paul:

Unless the "seller" is the government, and the "product" is is a perpetual revenue stream for big corporations, like, say, health insurance*. Then, yeah, they can force you to buy the product with the full weight of the most powerful country in the world behind them if you resist.

Let's keep our focus on where the true evil lies.

(* P.S. Health care != health insurance. You don't buy grocery insurance do you? Yet everyone needs food to live! Since it is such an important need, shouldn't we force you to buy grocery insurance?)

@Deprecated:

The MSU one reminds me of a compression algorithm that was presented in my first C book, "C Primer Plus".

It was a simple and efficient algorithm: discard every 2nd and 3rd character.

It even came with an example:
"So even Eddy came oven ready"
Try it yourself... Stupid Akismet won't let me post the 'compressed' string.

Reconstructing the original message is a real bitch, tho.

PedanticCurmudgeon:

I suppose it would be out of the question to find out why health care is expensive and fix that instead.

Paul:

trtrwtf:

If the customer doesn't want to buy that 12-pack of soda, guess what? Nobody can make them do it.

Unless the "seller" is the government, and the "product" is is a perpetual revenue stream for big corporations, like, say, health insurance*. Then, yeah, they can force you to buy the product with the full weight of the most powerful country in the world behind them if you resist.

Let's keep our focus on where the true evil lies.

(* P.S. Health care != health insurance. You don't buy grocery insurance do you? Yet everyone needs food to live! Since it is such an important need, shouldn't we force you to buy grocery insurance?)

blank:

Jack:

Jellineck:

I forget:

Those "advantage" type cards are evil and aught to be illegal.

I know. I can't imagine what kind of junk mail the guy that lives at 666 Mulberry Lane is getting from 15 years of using my card at the grocery store.

Oooh! You're so clever lying to the store, its a wonder no one else ever thought of that before!

Got news for you. You're still getting screwed. The reason those cards are so valuable to the marketers (aside from junk mail) is that by assigning a unique ID to each purchase and purchaser, they can figure out exactly how much you're willing to pay for a 12-pack of Diet Coke. Sure they can make it and sell it at a profit for $1.25 but why should they sell it to you at that price when they know that you are willing to pay $4.99?

And how do they know that?

Because when they have a sale most people load up but not you, no, you just keep buying your same 12 pack every week. And when the sale is over most people stop buying but you just keep grabbing that same 12 pack every week. The only week you didn't was when they let it go up to $5.29. That was a test. If you'd bought one that week you can be sure that price would come around again some day -- just for your benefit.

And so on for every other product in the store.

They use those cards to figure out how many people are in your house, and their approximate age and gender. They know whether you go for the cheap fatty ground beef or the premium steak. So they have a good idea of your income bracket too. Most likely they know more about your financial and consumption habits than you do. And they can do all of that without ever needing to know who you really are. They don't care who you really are. They only care that "customer 1985763278 can be regularly screwed out of $17.32 per week". That's why your data is valuable to them, and they're willing to pay you to hand it over.

Why do you think the prices keep changing so often? It isn't because the costs are changing that much. They are testing you, and every other shopper, to see just how much you will swallow. It used to be they had to set one price for everyone, but now, they can slice the market up into razor thin segments and extract the maximum possible from each one.

The OP is right. They're evil.

agree.
maybe use multiple (fake id) "loyalty" cards with each company?

are they doing facial recognition from cctv too (yet)?
i guess it's back to balaclavas for the 'noids and "it's 1984" brigade. or are they illegal now?

*considers creating fake id email handling (spam rebound) service*

Matt Westwood:

Mind you, the trivial sort of shit that people go to the emergency room for makes me piss myself with jeering laughter. No fucking health insurance for me because I'm not a sickly bag of psychosomatic hypochondria. Now FOAD.

P. Almonius:

Recursive Reclusive:

I'm not seeing the superpower connection on the previously expensive tshirt.

I saw someone today in a tshirt with a logo saying "Zip". I wonder if it's slimming, and "Rar" brand is even more effective.

Jack:

They can figure out exactly how much you're willing to pay for a 12-pack of Diet Coke. Sure they can make it and sell it at a profit for $1.25 but why should they sell it to you at that price when they know that you are willing to pay $4.99?

[...]

So they have a good idea of your income bracket too. Most likely they know more about your financial and consumption habits than you do. And they can do all of that without ever needing to know who you really are. They don't care who you really are. They only care that "customer 1985763278 can be regularly screwed out of $17.32 per week". That's why your data is valuable to them, and they're willing to pay you to hand it over.

Paul:

trtrwtf:

If the customer doesn't want to buy that 12-pack of soda, guess what? Nobody can make them do it.

Unless the "seller" is the government, and the "product" is is a perpetual revenue stream for big corporations, like, say, health insurance*. Then, yeah, they can force you to buy the product with the full weight of the most powerful country in the world behind them if you resist.

[etc etc]

Captcha:vulputate:

I don't get it.

They cannot possibly sell you the Diet Coke for $4.99 and sell them to everyone else for a lower price.

Jack:

Captcha:vulputate:

I don't get it.

They cannot possibly sell you the Diet Coke for $4.99 and sell them to everyone else for a lower price.

But that's exactly what they do!

Week 1

Poor Paul: Damn, that $4.99 Coke is expensive! I'm not buying any.

Rich Ralph: ... and I'll need another 12 pack of Coke ...

Week 2

Poor Paul: $1.99! Hot diggity! Load up!

Rich Ralph: ... and I'll need another 12 pack of Coke ...

Why do you think the prices keep changing every week or two? The store knows "If we jack the price up to $4.99, 75 customers will still buy it. Then when we lower the price again everybody else will buy."