If I was in line at Wegmans (local / regional grocery chain) and they charged the woman in front of me $2.99 for a gallon of milk, then looked at me and charged me $3.50, then looked at the person behind me and charged say $3.24, people would be incensed. It certainly seems offensive (and likely illegal) to us that we should be charged varying prices for the exact same good, especially after being “sized-up” by the seller.
But isn’t this what is done as a matter of course in U.S. colleges these days? The University of Rochester for example charges over $55,000 for a year of undergrad tuition, and quickly tempers this by saying most students get some financial aid or money from the endowment.
In effect, doesn’t this allow the school to look at every applicant and essentially charge them different prices after “sizing them up?”
Am I the only one who finds this inconsistent or troublesome? Why are we bothered by one case of price discrimination, and not another?
Further, what should we think of the fact that on a given airline flight, you’d be hard-pressed to find five people who paid the same price for their tickets?