Variable Pricing Law and Legal Definition
Variable pricing is a marketing approach that allows different rates to be charged to different customers for the same goods or services. Variable pricing is common among street vendors, antique dealers, and other small, independently owned businesses but is not practical for direct marketers, who rely upon preprinted promotion forms. The real estate market also functions with the use of variable pricing. Even where fixed pricing is the standard, variable pricing may come into play when the customer is committing to the purchase of large volumes of goods or services. One of the main disadvantages of variable pricing is the loss of customer goodwill when one customer discovers another paid less. In the U.S., federal and state laws protect competing retailers from discriminatory pricing that gives competitors an unfair advantage.
