Instead of looking into a two-tier payment system to try in North America, because I assume that’s the whole purpose of this article, how about copying the Japanese model on tipping? It’s out of hand here; even fast food places like Five Guys and Subway ask for a tip!
How would you even pull off a two tier system in the US. In Japan, they probably visually determine if you’re a foreigner based on race or language. That’s would be impossible in the US.
“Show state ID, driver’s license, passport, or voter registration for discount.” Could also ask to scan the state ID/driver's license 2D barcode as part of your discount program [1], which all 50 states have.
So basically I would now need to show my ID for every purchase? Not trying to make it sound like some massive obstacle, but it is just one extra annoyance I can totally live without.
And that’s without even getting into the weeds around the fact that there is a non-insignificant number of US citizens born and raised here without an ID (hence the endless controversies around proposals to implement a mandatory voter ID requirement for voting, which pop up every election cycle).
To me this seems like complaining that the T-shirts in the museum gift shop are overpriced. They absolutely are, and you're free not to buy one, but that's the premise of a gift shop. Similarly, whenever I'm a tourist, it's evident to me that I'm being charged a premium at every turn, and apart from the obvious ways to avoid it (like getting snacks from a convenience store instead of the hotel) I don't dwell on it because that energy would be better spent enjoying my trip.
I suppose the equivalent of not buying the T-shirt would be not traveling to touristy destinations.
In general, we should be quite careful when discriminating groups of people. Pricing things different based on where you're living isn't unheard of - if you're an American visiting India for a few months, what would be the "right" price for Netflix - but can be problematic
I don't disagree but "this requires care because it could lead to unspecified problematic outcomes" is true of literally everything. I think you have to specify what outcomes you're worried about or what's different about this instance for it to be a criticism.
Is it unfair? It seems reasonable that someone might prioritize - and subsidize - a long-term relationship with a repeat customer, over someone who's just passing through.
> Astounding such behaviour exists in modern times
Go shopping in a Moroccan medina some time and you may really have your mind blown - "such behavior" is the whole point there; every sale is a negotiation, no fixed prices for anything. Cultures vary!
So is that okay at your grocery store, with your public utility, with employment, with buying a car, etc? I would prefer a system with equal charges for everyone, that is inherently not discriminatory
Adding reply since I’m rate limited:
I understand the “reality” with things like cars, but I’m asking if that’s what you want. A society where everything requires constant negotiation is not just exhausting but leaves lots of room for discrimination. Also regarding public utilities - I believe California recently proposed discriminatory pricing for utilities.
Grocery stores have coupons and customer discounts, employees can make different wages doing the same job, and car dealers absolutely give deals to some clients that they won't give to others. Public utilities are an exception, and that's specifically because they're government regulated.
But we're discussing commerce here and in commerce, prices are rarely the same for everyone.
You could always call them just-in-time tariffs? I don't like them personally, but I can certainly understand the desire to incentivize what you like, and disincentivize what you do not.
I’ve seen similar schemes that try to take advantage of tourists or otherwise mistreat them, and it always feels discriminatory and negative. I see this the same way. And honestly it won’t serve the Japanese well since they already have a reputation for being rampantly xenophobic
> He maintains that he doesn’t charge tourists extra. Instead, he offers a 1,000 yen ($6.50) discount to locals.
I've seen businesses in the US use the exact same "logic". It's disingenuous because there's zero logical difference between charging party A more than party B and charging party B less than party A.
> “We need (this pricing system) for cost reasons,” Yonemitsu said.
I understand the practice and genuinely think it's perfectly acceptable. But to explain it in that way is deceptive.
You are correct of course. People fool themselves by pretending there is such a thing as the "regular price" and saying it's okay to charge some people less than the regular price, but not to charge more than the regular price. But really there is no regular price, just the different prices paid by different groups.
The iconic example from Ninotschka is man walks into a coffee shop and asks for coffee without milk, server says we’re all out of milk but have cream. Black coffee is black coffee, but what matters is the act of saying no to something.
Sublation is not equal to something not existing or being.
man asks for coffee without milk that implies the existence of coffee with milk. however the cafe is all out of milk - but they do have cream! would the customer perchance like some coffee without cream instead?
Let's say Jane is throwing a party for friends and intentionally didn't invite her friend Joe. Or she could have simply not have held the party at all.
In either case, Joe is not attending the party, but in one scenario Joe might feel left out, insulted, etc.
Lots of bars have "happy hour all day" except during peak hours, like 7-9. I submit that they don't actually have a happy hour, but instead a sad hour. Waiting for somebody to propose legislation to require that they market it this way.
To me there is actually a logical difference from a game theory perspective, ignoring ethics:
A seeming native is a "likely potential regular customer." So you offer a lower price per visit, but in the long run make lots of money from so many visits.
A seeming foreigner is a "likely never to return customer." So there's an incentive to screw over the customer and profit-max, no downside since they weren't returning anyway.
So there is this universal capitalistic incentive to over price the Gweilo. Of course a way to soften this is to invoke capitalism again and allow competition to drop prices. But then this dives into things like price elasticity for tourists versus natives, and how clientele feel about tourists. If the local clientele are xenophobic the bar may even expel those they don't like much less charge a higher price, and from a capitalistic perspective this may be a tactic to retain ongoing regular customers.
I would argue this type of reasoning is seen throughout many fields. For example, anything involving money and the field of medicine has wildly all over the place made up pricing.
I would argue in all cases, this is in fact scummy, and the solution would be to mandate a clear pricing schedule (specifically with criteria on if and when different people are charged different prices) and thus open information availability to inform the customer. Tourists can then voluntarily say "I really want the food here, I'll pay the premium" or voluntarily say "on principle this is unfair, I'll vote with my feet and go to the even-priced competitor"
There are various discounts for things like senior citizens and military and such throughout, so none of this is a new idea.
>For example, anything involving money and the field of medicine has wildly all over the place made up pricing.
Only in America. In countries with better healthcare systems, prices are fixed or very regular.
>I would argue in all cases, this is in fact scummy, and the solution would be to mandate a clear pricing schedule (specifically with criteria on if and when different people are charged different prices) and thus open information availability to inform the customer.
In the few places in Japan currently doing this, AFAICT, they do print it clearly. So far, it just seems to be a few places that then get lots of media attention.
There may have been a misunderstanding when I said "tips", what I meant to say was a donation to the restaurant. Even if the donation is zero cents, it doesn't make the accountant cranky. (deepl translate jp=>en)
