Gouged: The End of a Fair Price--and What That Means for Your Wallet

I heard about this book from Marketplace. I knew companies have been playing with prices online for ages, but now we're getting into the same games with in-person shopping in brick and mortar stores. We all want to feel that we're getting a fair price for whatever we're purchasing.

When you feel like you're the subject of price manipulation that you as the consumer don't have any access to, and certainly can't predict with any measure of certainty, it just feels very unfair. Public trust collapses when prices become volatile, opaque, and constantly in flux. Participating in society, whether at work, in a neighborhood, or at a farmers market, depends on a shared set of rules. When those rules erode or norms shift, we're given the opportunity to re-evaluate what matters. In the face of the disappearing price tag and the rise of dynamic pricing, this is that moment. We must reassert the importance of stable transparent prices for everyone.

Lindsay also does a good job talking about those loyalty programs you sign up for are only making it even easier for them to adjust the prices you pay.

These programs are the proving ground for surveillance pricing. Once companies have granular individualized data, they can begin charging different people different prices based on perceived willingness to pay. And thanks to carveouts in many state privacy laws for bonafide loyalty programs, much of this activity is perfectly legal.

The right to repair is also brought up. We're all affected, but this story from the US Navy is comical. It does show how it affects everyone.

In one case, the Navy had to fly in a contractor from Norway just to change two fuses on a davit, a small crane used to lower rescue boats into the sea.

And so much of this comes down to the consolidation and formation of monopolies in the market.

Competition is kryptonite for gougers, so the first step is to wipe out the competition. And that's exactly what happened. Over the past few decades we've witnessed runaway corporate consolidation. Three quarters of American industries are now more concentrated than they were a generation ago. In many markets, giants roam unchecked. Even when it looks like you have a choice, that choice is often an illusion.

The book was a good deep dive into all the different ways companies use data and other methods to make things more expensive for us. There's so often very little we can do without some form of regulation or rules put in place blocking it. It's depressing and anger inducing, but it's good to know what's happening to protect yourself as best you can.