“And when everyone’s super, no one will be.”
Syndrome’s evil plan, The Incredibles
Ok, so we all know price gouging aka skyrocketing prices of necessities in a crisis is monstrous and illegal, despite what the laws of supply and demand say. That much is clear.**
But I’ve heard people use that fact to condemn any and all upward price adjustments, even adjusting your pricing to counter inflation, which I think is also an insane thing to say.**
This is dangerous because, just like the Pixar villain said, if all price-raising mechanisms are seen as just as bad as the worst examples, predatory pricing becomes normalized. Overuse often leads to trivialization.
So let’s be clear – none of the following is bad behavior, morally or otherwise, in most circumstances.
– Price Discrimination: aka pricing different groups of clients differently based on their locality or financial means, and this includes discounts for students/seniors
– Peak pricing: charging more in times of great demand to filter out people who see you as a scapegoat or a distraction and end up with fewer, but better-fitting clients
– Seasonal pricing: charging more based on predictable demand patterns, (e.g. tax season for accountants, campaign season for political PR providers)
You may draw the line differently, but my point is that many valid reasons for raising prices have absolutely nothing to do with greed.