What is meant by surveillance pricing and does it cost us more?

Ralph
00:00:00

Are you feeling the strain of rising prices everywhere you turn? Does it seem like the cost of that laptop you've been eyeing keeps going up every time you check? Well, let me tell you, you're not imagining things, and that's what's really happening. It could be costing you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. Imagine discovering that the price you're seeing online isn't the same price your neighbor sees for the exact same product. This isn't science fiction—it's happening right now.

And it could be draining your bank account without you even realizing it. Today, we're going to pull back the curtain on this practice, revealing how it's affecting your everyday purchases and arming you with strategies to protect yourself and your hard-earned money. Plus, we're going to explore how this modern business tech aligns—or doesn’t align—with our Christian values.

You don't want to miss this eye-opening episode that could change the way you shop forever. Stay tuned as we uncover the hidden world of surveillance pricing and how it's impacting your wallet in ways you never imagined.

Narrator
00:01:01

Welcome to the Ask Ralph podcast, where listening to an experienced financial professional with over 30 years of experience can help you make sense of confusing questions, current headlines and industry trends about taxes, small business, financial decision making, investment strategies, and even the art of proper budgeting. Ask Ralph makes the complex simple by sharing his real world knowledge from a Christian perspective with all things financial.

Now, here's your host, Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph
00:01:30

Thank you for joining me today; I’m going to have a game-changing discussion.
You might be thinking, “Ralph has lost his mind. What is he talking about? What is this surveillance pricing?” I'm going to get to that, but today the goal is to help you keep more money in your pocket. Let me tell you, this is a creepy thing to discuss. This aggregation of data is just scary. It's scary how much information is out there, and we're going to talk about how that information is being used today.

Now, before we get to today's show, I want to talk about yesterday’s show. Yesterday, we talked about what happens if I outlive my life insurance. It’s a scary thing for people who have term life insurance, and I outlined some essential strategies to help you find that financial security if you find yourself in that place, just like I am—where you're looking at, “What do I do if I'm getting ready to outlive my life insurance?” So, I'm going to encourage you to check it out.

Well, I got a truly thought-provoking question from a listener named Greg. Here’s what Greg had to say: “Hey Ralph, I've been experiencing something unsettling lately. I was shopping online for a new laptop for my small business, and I noticed the price kept changing every time I visited the site. At first, I thought I was imagining things, but then I asked my wife to check on her computer, and she saw a completely different price. I feel like I'm being manipulated, and it’s really shaken my trust in online shopping. Is this what they call surveillance pricing? As a Christian business owner, I'm struggling with the ethics of this practice. How can I protect my business and personal finances from this kind of pricing strategy? And how do I reconcile this with my faith and my desire to be a good steward of the resources God has blessed me with?”

And listen, Greg, that is a great question, and it’s a question that comes at a critical time. It’s a crucial issue in our digital economy—it just is. There are tools, and there are companies and people who are daily working to grab and aggregate this data.

But I always like to start by looking at scripture for guidance, and I found a great verse from the book of Proverbs. It comes to us from 11:1, and it says this: “The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him.” And that verse is right on point. It reminds us about fairness and honesty. And here’s the thing, folks—this surveillance pricing, it’s the scary outcome of improved technology. We all like technology—hey, I'm a technology nerd; I like technology. But the thing you’ve got to understand about technology is that with all of that data aggregation comes these types of things.

So you might be asking, “Ralph, what are you talking about? What is surveillance pricing?” It’s really not that complicated to discuss, so let’s jump right to it. What I’m really talking about is what they refer to as dynamic or personalized pricing, and the way it works is this: companies go out and buy data. That data looks at your online behavior. It might be things like your purchase history, personal information, your age, where you live, what kind of car you drive, what websites you visit.

Think about this—every time I go on my Facebook feed, I see items that I might have been looking at on Google. And I’ll talk about that in a bit, but that’s what I’m talking about. This data aggregation looks at what websites Ralph visits, what stores Ralph goes to, where Ralph lives, how old Ralph is, and what kind of career Ralph has. What it’s done is combine financial expertise with modern technology. The thing we’ve got to ask ourselves is whether there are significant ethical concerns here. And this isn’t new.

Think about this—it's the same thing they had back in the old car salesman days. You pull up to the car lot, get out of your car, and the salesman looks at you. They’re sizing you up, trying to decide how much of a car they can sell you. And it’s funny because when I go car shopping, I tell my wife, “I’m going to dress like a bum,” which maybe isn’t a nice word to use, but the reason is, I don’t want to look like I’ve got a ton of cash. It still goes on today, and this is exactly what I’m talking about, but on a more precise and more technological level.

And to be honest with you, it’s happening on a higher scale. I’ll give you a personal example. A few months ago, we were planning a vacation. I got in front of my computer, because that’s how we do it now—we don’t call a travel agent anymore, although maybe we should because we might get better pricing—but I was researching it on my computer. I noticed that because I hadn’t made a decision right away, the prices seemed to be going up day after day. I thought, “That’s strange, why would the prices be increasing?”

I said to my wife, “Hey, do me a favor. Can you look at the pricing for this particular place we’re planning to go? Look at the airline tickets and the hotels.” She said, “Sure, I’ll take a look at it.” I told her, “Here are the prices I’m seeing.” She goes, “Ralph, what are you talking about? If what you’re seeing is what I’m seeing, it’ll be the same.” Well, guess what? She looked at it, and her prices were much lower. And let me tell you, that made me mad. My wife said, “Ralph, how is that possible?”

I love technology, but it made me mad because somehow, they were seeing me as a bigger fish. I don’t know what they call that in casinos—the whale that comes in—but it made me mad because how come my wife’s prices for the exact same hotels, flights, and vacation spots were so much lower? Well, let’s jump right into why businesses use this, because there are definitely some business advantages.

The biggest advantage is that they can maximize profits by charging what they think customers will pay. They're sizing you up just like that car salesman. They’re seeing Ralph pull into the lot and think, “Ralph’s got deep pockets—we can really sock it to him on this car because he wants that Corvette, he wants that flashy red sports car.” Another thing businesses take advantage of is offering lower prices to sensitive customers while charging more to others.

So, if they see someone who goes to Facebook groups for coupons or visits websites for coupon codes, they might drop their prices. But if they see someone who doesn’t clip coupons or visit discount code sites, they’ll charge more. Of course, with anything, there are downsides, and the biggest downside is that it leads to unfair treatment.

Think about this for a second—you are getting a different price for the exact same thing. Imagine you’re looking at a 50-inch TV online, and let’s say it’s priced at $300. But when your neighbor looks at that same 50-inch TV, it’s only $280. How’s that possible? It’s the same TV, but the price is different. And here’s the dirty little secret no one wants to talk about—all of this data aggregation is based on your browsing history, or where you live, or your zip code.

The problem is, this erodes trust between businesses and consumers. It truly does. As a consumer, think about how mad I was when I saw that the prices were different for the same hotel, the same flights, and the same vacation we wanted to plan. I said, “Well, I’m not going to use that vendor again. I’m not going to use that airline, I’m not going to stay at that hotel.” And think about the Bible verse we talked about today—that whole thing about dishonest scales.

So, you’ve got to ask yourself the next logical question—what are customer advocates saying? Let’s talk about this because it’s a big deal. It’s happening, and you can’t bury your head in the sand and pretend it’s not happening because it is. Customer advocates say this practice exacerbates existing inequalities. What they’re saying is that people who are already impacted by other economic factors are the ones most affected by this.

And that’s not a great thing. Another argument customer advocates make is that low-tech people pay more. Think about that—if the data aggregation shows that you go to coupon sites, you might get a lower price. But if you don’t have a connection to that tech, you’re going to pay more because you’re not in that realm of a price-sensitive buyer.

Another big issue—and this one hits home for a lot of people—is the invasion of privacy. But then you’ve got to ask yourself, do we even have privacy anyway? I’ve talked about this a little before. I don’t know how many times I’ve gone on Google to search for something, maybe for a product for my office or a service. Then, when I pop open Facebook a little while later, my feed is flooded with ads for the very thing I just searched for on Google.

People don’t believe me when I tell them this, but try it for yourself. Go onto Google and search for something really unusual. I had a client who was searching for a specific auto part for an old car. He told me, “Ralph, I didn’t believe you, but I went back on Facebook, and sure enough, there was the exact part in my feed.” He saw ads for that part popping up from different retailers. How did it get there? It got there because of that data aggregation—because that surveillance is being used.

Another argument customer advocates make is that this practice leads to discrimination based on race, gender, or economic status. Now, some people will argue about that, but to me, it’s no different than what they call location bias. For example, if a bad area of town doesn’t have a grocery store because businesses don’t want to operate there, those people are forced to shop at corner stores, where the prices are higher. Is that bias? Maybe.

So, we’ve established that surveillance pricing exists, right? You can’t argue that it’s not a thing. Like I said earlier, if you’ve got your head buried in the sand, you won’t believe it, but it’s happening. Then you’ve got to ask the question, “As a Christian, how do we navigate this?” Because if you understand Christianity, you know we’re charged to be good stewards and to treat others fairly, right? That’s the bottom line—that’s our charge as Christians.

So how can we navigate this? The first thing you’ve got to do is be aware that this practice exists. I say this on the show all the time—knowledge is power. If you know this exists, you can start changing your online behavior. I’ll talk about some tools next, but changing your behavior is the first step.

You might ask, “Ralph, how do I do that?” Well, you can use tools like incognito browsing—or maybe a VPN—because the point is to mask your digital footprint. Now, that’s a double-edged sword because, as I said earlier, data aggregators might give you better prices if they see you’re a price-sensitive buyer who visits discount or coupon sites. So, it’s kind of a trade-off. But using incognito mode or a VPN might help you access lower prices.

You might be asking, “Ralph, what is a VPN?” I’ll put a link in the show notes because I’ve done a show about VPNs and another show about online security, and I encourage you to check those out. Again, the links will be in the show notes. Another thing you can do is compare prices across devices—use your computer, your tablet, and your phone. Here’s a really cool idea: ask your friends and family to check prices too. For example, if you’re looking to buy a TV, a new watch, or some other electronic, ask your friend, “Hey, can you go online and see what kind of prices you get?” You might be surprised by the differences.

And finally, remember your Christian faith. You can drive yourself crazy with this surveillance pricing stuff, but don’t let it consume you. Remember, as Christians, our worth isn’t determined by what we own or how much we pay for it. It’s so easy to get trapped in that mindset—I was trapped in it when I was looking for that vacation—but you can’t let it consume you.

Remember what the book of Matthew 6:19-20, says: Jesus said this—“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” You can’t let this idea consume you.

I know it makes you mad. You might be thinking, “Ralph, I don’t like this infringement on my privacy. I don’t like the fact that it’s unfair, that it’s biased.” Listen, I was angry about it too—it consumed me. Let me tell you about some of my clients' experiences. Until I really got into this, I didn’t realize how widespread it was. I had another client, just like Greg—a business owner—and he was ordering office supplies. He told me, “Every time I order supplies, it seems like the price is going up.”

So, he decided to try something. He deleted his browser history, cleared his cookies, cleared his cache—whatever you call it—and shopped around again. And listen to this—he told me, “Ralph, I saved 20% on my regular orders just by clearing out my browser history.” I’m not saying it’s a magic solution for everyone, but it’s something to try.

I had another client who was a retiree on a fixed income, and he was looking for travel deals, just like my wife and I were. He told me he was talking to his grandkids about it because they were thinking of doing a multi-generational trip. He said, “Ralph, I was looking at these prices, but my grandkids told me the prices they were seeing were so much lower.” He asked, “How’s that possible, Ralph?” And I said, “Here we go—this is surveillance pricing.”

In his case, we talked about how to use comparison sites—what’s called booking through aggregators. I’ll put a link to a great article about this in the show notes. One thing the article mentions is to avoid direct booking with airlines and hotels. You don’t want to go directly to the airline or hotel—look at those data aggregators instead. But we need to be careful with those too, because if you use these aggregators, you’re not dealing with the airline or hotel directly. You’ve got to watch out for issues like cancellations or changes. Read the fine print—if you’ve listened to me, you know I always talk about reading that fine print.

But remember, the best advice I can give you is to be vigilant and proactive. In the book of Matthew 10:16, it says, “Be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.” So, what am I saying? My big takeaway here is to be aware of this. Understand it exists and look at ways to get around it—maybe by clearing your browser history or using a VPN—but maintain your integrity and faith.

Let’s do a bit of a recap. The reality in our digital age is that this surveillance pricing is happening. Is it a benefit to businesses? Yes, absolutely. They’re using it, and there are people making millions of dollars by aggregating this data. I’ve got clients who are data miners—this is what they do. You’d be surprised to hear how much data is being collected. In grocery stores, for example, they even measure where you walk, what shelves you look at, which ones you grab from, and which ones you don’t.

Does it cost consumers? Yes, because some people are paying more. The big takeaway is to be aware of it and protect yourself. As Christians, we have to do something bigger than just protect ourselves—we have to treat others fairly. That’s just the bottom line. You might be thinking, “Ralph, this modern finance stuff is driving me crazy. I’m feeling overwhelmed. How do I stay true to my faith while juggling these daily responsibilities?”

And now, you’re telling me I’ve got to watch what I’m doing online because people might be watching me and tracking what I’m doing. Yes, it’s frustrating and disheartening—I get it. But here’s the deal: I’m here to help you. We can set up a personalized consultation and examine your specific situation. Let me help you build a personalized plan, a financial roadmap that aligns your goals with your faith.

As I mentioned earlier, prices are going up, and people are sensitive to that. The cost of something that used to be X is now 30% more. A lot of us are struggling, living paycheck to paycheck. We’re trying to grow our finances, trying to grow our businesses. Or maybe you’re one of those people who’s just concerned about whether you’re on the right track—you’re not sure. Let me be your guide. Let me partner with you, and let me make it easier for you. It all starts with you going to askralph.com. You’ll see a banner—click “Book a Call,” and we’ll work together.

We’ll create a roadmap to achieve your dreams, all balanced with your faith. That’s the key to this—my whole purpose for doing this show is to balance your faith and your finances. So don’t let financial stress hold you back any longer. Act today—schedule that call right now.

Now, on tomorrow's show, I’m going to answer a doozy because I get this question a lot. I’m going to share some practical, faith-based strategies. The question is this: “How can I buy a house with no income?” You might be thinking, “Now Ralph has definitely lost his mind. How in the world am I going to buy a house if I don’t have any income?” Well, make sure you tune in tomorrow because I want to tell you how you can achieve your home-buying dream, even if you don’t have any income.

Now remember this—my passion is to help you achieve financial success. This is why I do this daily show. This is why I plan these episodes. I take your questions because I want to see you live out your dreams. I want to see you grow in your faith. This is my mission field—this is what makes me want to get up in the morning. And I know that if we work together, even with surveillance pricing, data aggregation, and all these crazy technology things that feel overwhelming and fearful, we can master your finances while keeping a Christian perspective. So, as I close today, I want to remind you to stay financially savvy. And no matter what, God bless you.

Narrator
00:20:46

Thank you for joining us on the Ask Ralph podcast, and with a simple click to subscribe, we'll invite you back to our next episode. And remember, financial issues don't have to be complicated, just ask Ralph. The information contained in this episode of Ask Ralph is based on data available as of the date of its release.

Saggio Accounting Plus and Ask Ralph Media, Inc. is under no obligation to update this content if changes occur.

Applying this information to your specific situation requires careful consideration of all facts and circumstances, and any information provided is not to be considered as financial, tax, or legal advice. Please consult your tax advisor or attorney before acting on any material covered.