Post #4276994
2026-07-30 12:55 UTC
You don't have to know why one group of purchasers consistently accept higher prices between 6AM and 8AM - you can just automatically jack up prices on them without knowing or caring that you're gouging parents of young children who are re-ordering essential supplies while trying to get their kids to school in the morning.
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Replies (1)
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@pluralistic@mamot.fr 2026-07-30 12:55
I thought up that example. I don't know if it's really happening. But here's something that really *is* happening: ecommerce sites charge parents of newborns extra when they order thermometers in the middle of the night. I'm not saying anyone ever sat down and said, "Parents with sick children will pay whatever we charge for a thermometer at 2AM." They didn't have to: this is the kind of thing an automated system can do without any human intervention: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p246202_surveillancepricing6bstudy_researchsummaries_redacted.pdf 8/