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Comment by Cthulhu_ | Hacker News Reader

> These companies are going to whine and scream about these changes, but they really brought this on themselves.

Yeah, as the article said, one guy states that they'll just push the cost to other consumers - but this isn't cost, it's ridiculous profit margins.

The problem isn't so much the price that they charge people, it's that they cannot substantiate these costs - they're extra profit, pure and simple.

But this is a thing ingrained in US culture, charging additional fees on top of the base fee for anything - I'm thinking of tipping culture as well, which evolved from a "I really appreciate what you did" thank-you, to a "We don't pay our staff enough so we expect you to pay us extra to compensate". Shameful. I'm glad the US seems to have a resurgence of unions and people are standing up to it.

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> but this isn't cost, it's ridiculous profit margins

Profit margins are a different discussion. If you charge me $20 for a cookie or you charge me $15 + a $5 baking fee, your profit margins are the same. We can argue either way that they are ridiculous. But you shouldn't be able to advertise that you sell $15 cookies if there's no way to buy them for $15.

Another trick is price changes by some popularity metric. Advertise 15 dollar cookies, but only charge 15 if it is after 6pm and the cookies are cold. Peak hours? That’ll be $25.

Assuming the company's main product is a hot cookie, then I take issue with this particular example, because a cold cookie is really a different product. But in general, I have no issue with peak pricing. I'm okay with you advertising a low price if it's something that a reasonable person might be able to take advantage of (e.g., I'm not okay with you advertising $15 cookies if that price only applies between 1:48 and 1:52 AM).

That’s why I don’t tip at coffee shops - if my espresso is $4, and it doesn’t include your labor, then what does it include? Coffee beans and water cost like .25

They're already pushing the cost to consumers! They just shouldn't be able to lie about prices. Which you'd think consumer protection and truth-in-advertising laws would already cover, but evidently not.

Other countries even have laws mandating that prices posted in stores include tax. Of course, if you suggest such a mandate in the US, you'll hear a well rehearsed litany of excuses about why it isn't possible.

>The problem isn't so much the price that they charge people, it's that they cannot substantiate these costs - they're extra profit, pure and simple.

Since money is fungible, isn't it true by definition that any mandatory fees are "pure profit"?

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