This sent me down a rabbit hole. Apparently there’s a name for companies showing different people different prices: “surveillance pricing.” So this guy tried the simplest test imaginable. He had people look up the exact same can of Spam on Target. His price was $4.59. His brother’s was $4.99. It’s only 40 cents, but that’s not what caught my attention. It’s the idea that we could be moving away from “this is what it costs” and toward “this is what we think you’ll pay.” Advertising based on what I buy is annoying enough. Quietly deciding I might pay more than the guy next to me is a line I don’t want crossed. So I just tried it myself. Target shows me $4.19. Now try yours. Don’t check the shelf price. Open Target on your phone, look up a can of Spam and post the price it shows you. Let’s see how many different prices we get.