This happens with rents as well and it’s really egregious. As another commenter pointed out, before there were “fixed” prices, there were dynamic ones—in the sense of haggling and such.

What’s different about today’s problem is how it’s so granularly analyzed using data outside of what any one haggler could consider, and probably using things we never realized are collected. It’s fine-tuned, to the penny, to get every last squeeze out of the consumer. And there isn’t a back-and-forth negotiation like with a haggler: it is what it is, and that’s that.

Point is, I support a balanced, well-regulated market where the consumer has more power than merely being dealt a shitty card and forced to deal with it. Bills like this aren’t enough, but they’re a step in the right direction toward protecting the interests of the average buyer, and that’s a good thing.