Price Discrimination

02What People Think

"We bought the same thing. Surely we should have paid the same amount."

03What’s Underneath

Price discrimination lets a seller charge different prices for equivalent purchases when cost differences do not fully explain the gap. A student ticket is an everyday example. The cinema offers a lower price to an eligible group while continuing to charge other customers the regular amount for the same screening.

The seller is responding to differences in willingness or ability to pay, or using conditions that help customers sort themselves. A coupon may reach people prepared to spend time finding it; an advance-purchase condition may appeal to those able to plan. The seller usually needs some way to prevent the lower-priced offer from becoming everyone’s automatic price.

The word discrimination is an economic description here, not by itself a finding of unlawful treatment. Some buyers gain access through discounts; others pay more than they would under a different pricing arrangement. Different prices can also reflect genuinely different costs, timing or service. A screenshot showing two prices is not enough to prove that a platform secretly targeted a particular person.

04The Game

Are the offers truly equivalent, and what conditions explain the difference? Compare eligibility, restrictions and the complete price. A discount only improves your outcome if its requirements fit the purchase you actually want to make.