A Boring Dystopia

For the love of anything holy. Then they'll require to install a shitty app to shop at the grocery store in the first place. No, thank you

If you’re on the billionaire whitelist, you pay even lower than the people in poverty.

don't worry. prices will come down when albertsons and kroger merge. large corps are just more efficient.

This way maybe a banana could cost $10

If this happens... You can bet your ass my unemployed relative is going to be the one buying all the groceries with cash.

No cash? Well it turns out the untaxed gift allowance is $18,000, or $1500/mo, more than enough for all the groceries of a large family.

So instead of taxing millionaires fairly... It's come to this.

Then they get mad when people start stealing shit

Demonstrating the inherent contradiction of capitalism in practice.

Capitalism is allegedly the only fair way to price things, via the "Price Mechanism". However, capitalists have simultaneously been creaming their pants at the idea of charging specific people or people in specific situations more, because they can get more profit, in service of Profit Maximization.

I'm sure I'll get a lecture on how they are not at all mutually exclusive but I don't care, honestly. It's either going to price gouge when the customer is perceived to be in more need (low battery pricing for taxi apps) or have a price based on the customer's ability to pay... at which point why not socialism?

Essentially, the capitalist will support what is best for themselves and make up reasons why it theoretically might benefit consumers (but not really).

This isn’t new. Websites have had higher prices when browsed with a Mac than when browsed with Linux.

Interesting. Progressive private taxation.

I think it's cute that people think the dynamic pricing is charging the poor less,

If you see someone shoplifting anything from Kroger or one of their subsidiaries, no you didn't. Now cause a distraction while that shoplifter does the Lord's work.

What the hell is wrong with these people. How the fuck isn't this illegal and punishable by life imprisonment?

This is why so much money is being pumped into AI. This is the future and our politicians are too old to understand any of it. It isn't sentience you should be worried about folks.

I would walk up to a homeless person and invite them to shop together. They can get some for themselves, and I can pay them while saving money

Security cameras feed goes through an AI model to classify customers into wealth bands based on appearance, and continually updates the e-ink price labels nearest each customer accordingly.

If this were just "it costs more to be rich" I'd be all for it, but more likely it's just about jacking up prices based on other factors. So it'll probably hit poor people, too, by charging more for things they want more, forcing them to give up other stuff they want less.

Airlines have been doing this for years.

Browser ID say you’re using a Mac? Higher price for you since you must have a higher income.

I'm less worried about the idea that people are charged groceries based on income and more worried based on need.

Will the person who buys cigarettes twice a day pay more than the person who pays once a fortnight because it's clear that they require it more? Will the shopper of the family of 6 pay extra because they don't have the time or energy to drive to the next place that offers groceries without this system?

Introducing this based on income seems like a sugarcoating of something far more insidious.

Thats not the way it will work. They will give discounts to the rich and charge the poor more. This is essentially what dollar general is. A added cost for being poor.

More like... "We have established your low ability to complain and will be raising the price.... Suck it"

Can't wait till it gets to the Health industry.... Oh, wait...

From each according to their ability; to each according to their greed.

I am going to go to Kroger, speak with the manager, and scream loud enough while complaining for the entire store to hear, and never return the first time this happens.

I'm lucky enough to have options. A lot of small towns aren't. This idea needs to die fast, and it won't unless we are loud and borderline violent in pushing back against it. Tank their sales and reputations as quickly as possible.

Edit: because people think I hate th manager, changed wording. And yea, it sucks that I can't scream directly at the CEO, but if you've silent, this gets implemented with no friction at all, and they declare it a success.

the only innovation capitalism breeds is new ways to overprice stuff

Rich people are more stingy than poor people, change my mind.

This seems like it should be illegal.

Dynamic pricing should be illegal. A price for a product should be the same for everyone and not dependant on their income, which smartphone brand they use or how much yoghurt they eat per day.

How do they know what my income is?