What appears to be the same chair sells for different price points on same website
Online shopping has seen massive growth over the past decade, but it really surged over the past year due to the pandemic.
Now it's easier than ever to compare prices online, but did you know the price you see could be different based on your browsing history and other factors?
A CTV News Toronto viewer searching on the Wayfair website said they found a chair for $900. Later, when he checked again, he found what appears to be the same chair for $730. He then found it again for $680 and again for $250.
CTV News Toronto reached out to the website to ask about the price discrepancy.
According to a spokesperson for Wayfair, “Though these chairs look similar, they are sold by different suppliers.”
“We realize this may cause confusion for customers, so we work to avoid similar products at different price points on site. In this case, we have taken these skus down for further review and to ensure they're accurately priced.”
University of Toronto Rotman School of Management economics professor Heski Bar-Isaac said price discrimination already exists when booking hotel rooms and airline tickets and studies have shown a price can also be higher or lower depending on the device you’re using to search a website.
As sellers gather more information about the kinds of items you shop for online he said it could become more common for websites to offer different prices to different customers.
“We are seeing more and more of this and we should expect to see more and more of this. This also ties in to how our data is being used," Bar-Isaac said.
Companies collect data from customers and can know a lot about you from your browsing history and past purchases. Prices could also be different depending on what times it is, the day of the week and your postal code.
Prices could also fluctuate depending on whether you're using a computer or a smartphone.
“Now in the online world there is this capacity to gather so much information about us and about what we want, so firms that have the ability to respond to that are choosing to do so," said Bar-Isaac.
You can use a private browser to see if the price of an item will be higher or lower. If you're on a computer, you can try searching for the same item on your phone to see if there is a price difference.
Consumers are advised to shop around to make sure they're getting the best deal possible. As for the chair sold through Wayfair, it's back on their website currently listed for $239.99.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.