Quote:
Originally Posted by troll05
And a merchant would be bad at his job, if he wouldn't try to pry the max price out of his customers, regardless where he or they live  |
Yes and no.
Product pricing is more black art than science with a lot of linked variables (availability, margin, sales volume, follow-up sales, etc) but a merchant's duty is to maximize net profit. Sometimes, maximum profit can be found at a lower per-unit price point.
About the locality effect: I used to see something much like it ten, twelve years ago before online commerce became mainstream.
It's not uncommon for people to stick with the familiar long past the point it's been superceded; not everybody is as comfortable with new approaches as early adopters.
It takes time for new paradigms to reach the mainstream and beyond.
And some people never do buy in.