cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/50434194
Proton VPN’s pricing page exposed an ab-test identifier linked to two VPN Plus prices: €2.99/month (70% off) and €3.49/month (65% off). Repeated testing produced B → A → B → A → B, with the variant matching the rendered price each time. €12 difference over 24 months.
It’s because despite what economists believe, prices are not determined fairly by the market but are dictated supply-side. So this kind of “testing” is one of the more blatant ways in which consumer trust is violated in the name of maximizing profits. It makes it obvious that you’re not paying a fair price for a service or product, but a price that was dictated for someone else’s convenience without taking your interests into account at all, violating the social contract.
IF the testing was purely random assignment of price points to gauge the markets ability to support a higher price, I think that is capitalism operating normally.
Now, on the other side, if the pricing changes were based on using the customers own data and spending habits to determine what a specific customer could be squeezed for, it is unacceptable and should be boycotted.
“Capitalism operating normally” is often unacceptable as well. This is one such case. At best, they screw over a few people with no public backlash. There should be backlash.
You’re not wrong! Life is a nightmare. It’s really sad that my metric nowadays for right and wrong is mostly whether or not the business is actively spying on me to find out how many pennies they can squeeze out of me.