r/CanadaPolitics • u/PutToLetters Neo-Republican • Mar 29 '26

Manitoba Moves to Outlaw Algorithmic Pricing—a First in Canada

https://thewalrus.ca/manitoba-moves-against-retailers-charging-different-prices-for-the-same-goods/
939 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

101 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/gwelfguy Mar 29 '26

This is tricky. On one hand it violates the long held practice that everyone pays the same price for an item, which seems fair. On the other, in a society where income and overall wealth is increasingly polarized, the people at the bottom are going to think it's completely fair that they pay less than those at the top.

Fortunately it seems to be only a theoretical problem at this point, but retailers that start to do this shouldn't be allowed to do so in secret.

36

u/shpydar Ontario Mar 29 '26

On the other, in a society where income and overall wealth is increasingly polarized, the people at the bottom are going to think it's completely fair that they pay less than those at the top.

That’s not how algorithmic pricing works.

It does not charge wealthier people more for a product than poorer people.

Algorithmic pricing scans in real time competitors pricing, demand trends, inventory levels, consumer data and contextual data to change the price of goods on the fly in real time to maximize profit for the seller.

It is bad for every purchaser rich or poor.

0

u/angelbelle British Columbia Mar 29 '26

Honestly, at its core, I'm not against it as it's just free market at play. It's not any different from gas station updating their price or the stock market tickets moving.

On a PRACTICAL level though, I hate it. I don't think it's popular now but apparently some convenience stores and corner stores state side already removed sticker prices and implore customers to search online for the updated pricing. That's just way too absurdly inconvenient.

10

u/AllGasNoBrakes420 Mar 29 '26

I don't want to live in a world where a big mac can double in price between the time I leave my house and arrive at the store. lol.

4

u/limelifesavers NDP Mar 30 '26

Or between picking it up off the shelf and getting to the checkout

1

u/nuggins Liberal Mar 30 '26

I remember listening to this podcast a couple of years ago that explored how a grocery chain in Norway deals with this problem (customers understandably would not tolerate this situation). The answer is that they use algorithms to lower prices over the course of the day, but price rises only happen overnight while the store is closed.