Why we hate "dynamic pricing" — even when it can save us money

Uber-style pricing is coming for everything. vox.com/culture CULTURE   When I saw a headline a few weeks ago that Wendy’s would experiment with “dynamic pricing” — the practice of changing prices based on demand, time, supply, and other factors — I chuckled and assumed it was a story from the Onion. Reader, it was not. While the fast food chain clarified it would not, in fact, be raising prices when more customers were craving burgers and Frostys, the news launched a public discussion over the opacity of prices in general. “Between flights, hotels, concerts, car insurance, electricity, gas, Ubers, and online retailers like Amazon, many sellers adjust their prices using the trove of data at their fingertips to predict what people might pay at any given moment,” my colleague Whizy Kim writes in [her latest about the creep of surge pricing](. In the piece, she talks to experts who predict dynamic pricing may come for table service restaurants (pay more to eat out on a weekend!) and grocery stores. I, for one, cringe at the thought of timing my grocery shopping down to the cheapest minute, but I guess I already do such strategizing when booking flights. Dynamic pricing’s got us in its grasp. What will it come for next? —[Allie Volpe](, senior reporter Uber-style pricing is coming for everything [an illustration of wads of cash on an ocean wave-like background]( Getty Images In the future, the ideal time to eat a burger won’t be when you’re hungry and really hankering for one. It’ll be the oddest, most awkward hours — late mornings or afternoons, the middle of the night on a Tuesday — the slices of time when prices will be lowest. Not unlike your [Uber]( ride, fast food prices will go up or down depending on demand. At least, this is the world people imagined when fast food chain [Wendy’s revealed it would be tinkering with “]([dynamic pricin](g](,” a broad term that describes any strategy where prices fluctuate based on supply and demand — like flights and Uber rides. The uproar was swift and sonorous; Wendy’s tried to clarify that it would use the strategy to offer lower prices, not to raise them when traffic is highest, but the reputational damage was done. In countless headlines, Wendy’s was accused of using surge pricing on food at a time when steep food prices at both restaurants and grocery stores have left many people drastically tightening their belts. Above all, [the Wendy’s fiasco also highlights an uncomfortable truth](: It feels impossible to know what to expect to pay for anything. There are a lot of reasons for this — inflation, hidden fees, tipping creep — but one simple one is that we’ve been in the trenches of dynamic pricing for a long time. Between flights, hotels, concerts, car insurance, electricity, gas, Ubers, and online retailers like Amazon, many sellers adjust their prices using the trove of data at their fingertips to predict what people might pay at any given moment. Restaurants are just dipping their toes in an arena that Amazon and Uber seem to have perfected. [Read the full story »](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Beyoncé, the CMAs, and the fight over country music’s politics, explained The backlash over Beyoncé and the Chicks’ CMAs performance is really a fight over country music’s politics. [Read the full story »]( The Mr. Beastification of entertainment The most popular YouTuber in the world is going Hollywood. [Read the full story »](   Support our work We aim to explain what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters. Support our mission by making a gift today. [Give](   More good stuff to read today - [Should Black women stop going on Love Is Blind?]( - [The Kate Middleton mystery, explained]( - [The couples’ guide to moving in together]( - [Pilates, a xylophone, and a wedding from hell: How Vox readers spent their tax refunds]( - [Could a major lawsuit against realtors mean lower home prices?]( - [Abortion influences everything]( - [The messy legal drama impacting the Bravo universe, explained](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe](param=culture). If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved.