Michael Giberson
Michael Finney observes that Girl Scout cookies sell at different prices in different locations, and he asks (tongue in cheek), is it “Girl Scout cookie price gouging?”
No, actually it is more like “zone pricing“ price discrimination – setting the price to a level that the local market will bear.
(EDITED, see comments for explanation).
price zoning?? I believe the more conventional and common term for the phenomenon is price discrimination.
You’re right, it is price discrimination. Zone pricing is a form of price discrimination, but typically practiced by wholesalers trying to capture some of the rents that otherwise would go to the advantageously-located retailer. Since it isn’t claimed that the national Girl Scout organization is charging different prices to different Girl Scout troops based on location of the troop, I guess zone pricing is technically incorrect.
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