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How to Beat Surveillance Pricing Before It Bleeds You Dry
WIRED • • business
Key Points:
- Lindsay Owens, author of "Gouged: The End of a Fair Price and What That Means for Your Wallet," highlights how technology has ended the era of fixed pricing, enabling companies to charge consumers more through personalized and surveillance pricing.
- Loyalty programs collect extensive consumer data, which companies use to identify and charge their most eager customers higher prices, effectively making consumers pay a price for their loyalty.
- Generative AI and agentic commerce are intensifying upselling and personalized pricing tactics, potentially leading to higher costs and more exhausting shopping experiences for consumers.
- Legislative efforts to regulate surveillance pricing are occurring at both state and federal levels, with some states like Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland already passing laws to curb these practices.
- Owens advises consumers to fight back by comparing prices within brands across different platforms and accounts, and by collaborating with others to identify and counteract price discrimination tactics.
