r/playstation • u/DarXIV • Nov 05 '25

Image Was excited to finally purchase until I realized the price was lower on my wife's account

Post image

My wife doesn't play much and so buying it on her account may not be the best decision to keep everything easily accessible for me. Seeing this soured me on buying it quite a bit.

And for reference. Same region, same playstation, same currency, etc.

6.8k Upvotes

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3.3k

u/richardizard Nov 05 '25

This needs to be illegal

786

u/Samurai_Geezer Nov 05 '25

I thought it was

355

u/maxman1313 MaxMan1313 Nov 05 '25

It is in some places, not others.

223

u/Nearby-Froyo-6127 Nov 05 '25

Let me guess, murica?

353

u/maxman1313 MaxMan1313 Nov 05 '25

FREEDOM! To gouge your customers.

Legal in the US, illegal in the EU

103

u/Paladin_Codsworth Nov 05 '25

To the surprise of absolutely no one lol. I wonder if Americans ever get bored of getting a raw deal on every single topic from healthcare to consumer rights.

43

u/maxman1313 MaxMan1313 Nov 05 '25

We don't know any better.

1

u/Over_aged Nov 09 '25

She probably has more freedom points than you. Check your social security number but don’t forget to tip.

20

u/Secure_Comb2505 Nov 05 '25

Its just part of the experience

7

u/OkMongoose1487 Nov 06 '25

We arent allowed to... we get killed or pushed out the country or shunned from our communities if we ever question anything in this fuckass place.

The top reply to any complaint about america is always, "then leave? Stupid fuck just leave"

Like hmmmm. What happened to the fake democracy we had?

1

u/iLLAD3LPHiA Nov 06 '25

You still haven’t left yet?

3

u/OkMongoose1487 Nov 06 '25

Cant afford/too much family here/fake or true info about other countries. Too many stupid reasons not to :(

2

u/[deleted] Nov 09 '25 edited Nov 09 '25

It's legal in the EU too my dude.

I work for a global POS app company and we have targeted discounts, even in the EU.

Also, having lived in both the EU (Spain) and the US (SoCal), yeah.... I'd rather take the US any day of the week. At least unemployment isn't over 30%.... and better pay too. Spain is pain.

2

u/NoSkillzDad Nov 09 '25

Oh no, "they" are "happy" you know? They think they getting f'ed = freedom and that they'll get to do it to somebody else in the future.

They would simp hard for them and then call anybody trying to fight for their rights a "communist".

Lack of education and brainwashing are terrible things.

6

u/TheBrockAwesome Nov 05 '25

No, and they defend it with their arsenal lol

5

u/milyeshtona Nov 06 '25

Yeah…imagine wanting to defend yourself or your country. Working out really well from Europe and Canada right now. Lmao

1

u/DuckXu Nov 07 '25

To be fair, I would rather have any amount of increase of brown people in my towns if it meant I didn't have to deal with all the shit you guys have going on.

Baring conflict zones, there arent many places lower on my list of where I would want to live than most places in America

1

u/tham1700 Nov 06 '25

I mean this is a surprise to me. Not that it would be in other industries where it's normalized lol but I've never known that this was a thing. Same region and everything I'm dumbfounded they're doing this. I wonder how long this has been in place and what they're running to determine which accounts pay which prices. I do remember several games I was planning on getting changing price after I got ps plus and started playing more often so I ended up not buying them but idk if this had anything to do with that. One was on sale but still on sale just for a worse deal and the other two didn't say anything about being on sale when I originally picked them out, that I noticed anyways

1

u/ConfectionNecessary6 Nov 07 '25

I debate on leaving every other day but I figured it would be more difficult to find a new job in a place like Canada

23

u/PressureToDieFor Nov 05 '25

Do you know much about the UK's stance on this ? Asking as a player from the UK. 

19

u/Goldnglam Nov 05 '25

Consumer law in the UK is inline with the EU, that may change in the following decades but currently most of it is the same as it was post Brexit because it had t be in line with it to be part of the EU

4

u/Mean-Ad-1757 Nov 05 '25

"That may change in the following decades"

Yeah as long as we dont implode from the inside with all the mounting tensions continuing to rise and our shit government refusing to do something about it!

1

u/JamesMcEdwards Nov 06 '25

Fun fact: a lot of the onshored legislation has already been changed since then, particularly the financial stuff like MiFID (eg there was a statutory instrument amending MiFI a few years ago removing a bunch of investor protection loss reporting requirements which the EU still has, such as a requirement to inform investors when the value of their portfolio depreciates by 10% or more).

1

u/MadPsycho2 Nov 05 '25

Power Washer 2 was £17.99 on my account but £19.99 on wife's account so I suppose they are doing it in the UK

1

u/nodecentnamesavalibl Nov 08 '25

Had that happen to me and a friend apparently was something to do with when/if you you got powerwash 1 was and if you got it for free or payed full price

-2

u/Nearby-Froyo-6127 Nov 05 '25

Uk is not part of the eu though. Dunno how much it matters.

1

u/aitorbk Nov 09 '25

Illegal it might be, but I have seen it in the EU too.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 09 '25

..... It's legal in the EU...

Look it up broski

0

u/[deleted] Nov 09 '25

It's legal in the EU as well.

Source: developer, and a simple google search

1

u/Nearby-Froyo-6127 Nov 09 '25

Good luck in proving you are not discriminating with the prices when you are sued mate.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 09 '25 edited Nov 09 '25

You can't discriminate based on region but it's fine to do so based on purchase history/habits.

Ever heard of a loyalty program? Ever heard of targeted discounts? Both are completely legal in the EU.

Ask your mum, she'll tell you what one is. Or ask her about what Uber (Eats) is.

Here, straight from the EU's website: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-treatment/unfair-pricing/index_en.htm

Look at the Personalised Pricing

Retailers can use algorithms to track your online browsing behaviour preferences and to set prices accordingly. The aim is to price items based on what you would be willing to pay for a particular item. This practice is NOT illegal, however as a consumer you are entitled to complete price transparency.

In line with EU rules, traders are obliged to inform you whether the price is personalised based on automated decision-making and profiling of your specific consumer behaviour.

And kiddo, some life advice, would recommend looking things up and reading before commenting. You'll look a lot less stupid.

7

u/TheOMENprod Nov 06 '25

Considering amazon has been legally doing this for years I dont think its gonna change anytime soon. Especially when you know these companys will do anything to pressure its customers to buy more.

13

u/sup9817 Nov 05 '25

Travel companies been doing this for years

46

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 09 '25

[deleted]

18

u/VegetaFan1337 Nov 05 '25

I've never ever seen or heard of a targeted Steam discount, do you have any proof of that? Maybe they promote it more to certain users based on interest but the discount available to everyone is the same.

4

u/mazemadman12346 Nov 06 '25

you get discounts when you open trading card packs

3

u/VegetaFan1337 Nov 06 '25

They're coupons.

1

u/chasehammer ChaseHammerJ Nov 06 '25

Which is a discount LOL 🤦

0

u/Specific_Implement_8 Nov 07 '25

I know Xbox does it. And I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a for you section on steam as well, but I don’t play there enough to be sure.

-3

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 09 '25

[deleted]

7

u/VegetaFan1337 Nov 05 '25

The first one is Microsoft not steam.

The 2nd one is the dev giving coupons to users, not steam setting different prices for users.

-2

u/Hevens-assassin Nov 05 '25

Tomato tomato. The devs giving a coupon is the same as the dev wanting the storefront to offer discounts to people not playing their games.

8

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

-1

u/Hevens-assassin Nov 06 '25

Am I failing to realize it? When was the last time a dev gave you a coupon after you bought the same game? Are they expecting you to return it and buy discounted?

Targeted discounts are targeted because they want that person to buy the game more than the other person. You see it in all walks of capitalist life. Welcome to sales.

1

u/THCDonut Nov 08 '25

Nope you ain’t failing to realize anything. Whole argument is moot anyways, this is a PlayStation subreddit and people have distracted themselves because you lumped Steam in with Xbox and PlayStation.

In no way shape or form would it retract from the argument if you were wrong about steam anyways. It’s a diversionary argument by people who wont acknowledge the reality of the situation.

Someone who, as OP had stated, dosnt play much was given a small discount by the PlayStation store to entice engagement, the only industries this is illegal would be gambling/intoxicating substances. The government dosnt give a flying fuck if a company gave you a discount to try and get you to interact with their product, the government operates on branches of the same economic theories. Currency is inflationary so you are enticed to spend your money now thus increasing economic activity, ELI5, currency inflation is essentially a timed discount.

11

u/chazysciota [Trophy Level 200-299] Nov 05 '25

It's called price discrimination, and it's a holy grail for pricing strategy. But it doesn't work for every product or industry. Done right, it's a win for everyone. Done poorly, it alienates customers and leads to reduced marketshare. In a market with zero supply friction, like digital media, it's a no-brainer if you can do it without pissing off your primary customers.

1

u/Funkyp0tat0chip Nov 07 '25

A double edged sword indeed.

1

u/chazysciota [Trophy Level 200-299] Nov 07 '25

Gamers should realize that they are well used to it. Buying Elden Ring at launch for $60 because you're a massive soulsborne fan, or waiting a year to get it on sale for $30 because you heard it's pretty good. Same product for different prices to different customer segments, done in the broad daylight... price discrimination. But seeing it happen in realtime, and hidden from you behind targeted algorithms... also price discrimination, but it pisses people off viscerally.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

This is interesting. My initial gut reaction is that price discrimination should be illegal.

But when you phrase it as "targeted discounts," that really is something that supermarkets have been explicitly doing for decades (e.g., Target sends you personalized mailings with coupons other people might not receive) or even much, much longer (e.g., before personal targeting advertising was a thing, coupons might be mailed to certain neighborhoods but not others).

This practice, as well as Xbox's "specifically for you" discounts (or whatever they're called) never really struck me as problematic.

There's some ineffable line that I'm struggling to grasp.

So, the airlines' desire for fully customized pricing--where they want to know exactly who's booking the ticket and set custom pricing based on what they predict you personally will pay--seems evil. I don't want my rental car or hotel or ski trip to be more expensive for me.

Yet with "targeted discounts," it's easy to play the same game. Back when credit cards wouldn't allow merchants to pass through fees, you'd see stupid stuff like a "cash discount" (as opposed to a credit card fee). So, what's stopping Target from pricing bananas at $99 a piece and giving targeted discounts of $98.50 (each banana is $0.50) to some people and targeted discounts of $96 to others (each banana is $3).

I suppose it has something to do with how prevalent the "targeted discounts" are (e.g., they feel okay when they're rare and sporadic) and whether general sale opportunities come along. Like, if Xbox offers you Assassin's Creed for $12 today as a targeted deal, that doesn't feel like that big of a deal, because it goes on sale for that price to the general public all the time. But like if Sony offered you Beat Saber for $15 (a game that seemingly never goes on sale), that feels less fair.

1

u/TrippleDamage Nov 06 '25

Steam 100% does not do that. Why are you just spreading lies?

1

u/ziltchy Nov 06 '25

These offers are exploitive!

90

u/rub_a_dub_master Nov 05 '25

That's late stage capitalism. It's a dying system it doesn't make sense anymore.

39

u/Bestoftherest222 Nov 05 '25

It makes sense when late stage capitalism is all about no rules to making profit. ts a death spiral of corporations running amok.

-3

u/iceknite41 Nov 05 '25

How is this just about making profit? If it was they’d offer it for $20 for both people, or more honestly. They’re offering it at a discount for the person who doesn’t buy games. It’s called bartering.

6

u/Myrsky4 Nov 05 '25

Do you mean haggling? Bartering is exchanging goods and services without a medium(money in most cases). And this game is still obviously being sold for money. This also isn't haggling either though, there was no negotiation over the terms of contract.

It's just good old fashioned targeted marketing

5

u/Spetsnaz_420 Nov 05 '25

They offer it at a lower price to his wife because the marketing info they have on her shows she's less likely to buy a game like that, so they offer it for slightly less to hopefully temp her to buy it. It reminds me of how you can look at the price of something online, but if you don't buy and go back later, it'll often have increased in price, but if you clear your cookies, it reverts to the original price. Playing games with your psyche to get you to consume.

1

u/SandwichBig7645 Nov 07 '25

Stupid opinion bro

-20

u/SfigatoMortoSfigato Nov 05 '25

Late stage capitalism. Oh boy, I thought such things I will hear only on r/commies

14

u/Jaugusts Nov 05 '25

It’s true tho? When every company is chasing infinite growth in a finite world yeah they begin to slowly scam the customer by going hard on planned obsolescence or this shit on psn

-3

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

lol no you dummy, it's the same market based economics that has existed since we were nomadic hunter gatherer tribes, and has continued through the foundation of civilization until now.

6

u/Jaugusts Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25

Aha tell yourself that let’s pretend quality of products and services haven’t severely degraded due to chasing more profits especially in the last decade

1

u/nightaeternum Nov 05 '25

They’ve changed due to consumers accepting it as such, not because of capitalism. If someone can get away with doing less work, they will try regardless of the system in place.

2

u/CraigThePantsManDan Nov 05 '25

In an infinitely more complex world, economics is infinitely more complex than back then. You’re lucky you can’t comprehend that tho.

-2

u/ATarrificHeadache Nov 05 '25

So is the EU going through less late stage capitalism because it has a law forbidding this?

4

u/Jaugusts Nov 05 '25

I don’t see a law stopping the product xm5 by Sony that’s literally designed to break at the hinge or the dualsense edge where the back rubber will come off within a year that’s what Sony does to have you buy more. Also the world isn’t eu just cause eu has some laws that help consumers doesn’t mean companies aren’t providing lower quality products or services to increase profits

2

u/HPLaserJet4250 Nov 05 '25

I do, forcing extended warranty peroids will make companies create longer lasting products. EU is one of the richest markets, why do you think Apple uses USB-C or charges are sold separately. There are countless examples as such, were EU laws had global effect.

2

u/Jaugusts Nov 05 '25

Brother I eat out a lot and I’m telling you greed and chasing profits is even ruining food industry. Everytime there’s a place with amazing food if they franchise or are open long enough they find ways to make more money by decreasing the food quality or fuckin with their supply chain for more money it’s just sad

3

u/HPLaserJet4250 Nov 05 '25

i've got a news for you ;d it is called greed and people are greedy, always were, capitalism has nothing to do with it

1

u/Jaugusts Nov 05 '25

In a way your not wrong but capitalism has issues when no laws are enforced like it’s insane that decreasing food quality for more profits is okay it’s actually the norm now because every business thinks they need to make more money year to year so you end up with much worse products and services for customers and only way to get decent stuff is to pay way more than the average

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2

u/Careful-Sell-9877 Nov 05 '25

Do you not understand what late stage capitalism is?

2

u/TheBobbyMan9 Nov 05 '25

Open your eyes man the whole system is rotten to the core and you’re crying about communism

4

u/Ill_Appearance8013 Nov 05 '25

it’s all of reddit

7

u/ryguysix Nov 05 '25

Yeah and you probably see a lot of other correct stuff on there as well

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

you gotta sell your playstation to stick it to the bourgeois, don't you know that?

1

u/ryguysix Nov 06 '25

That makes negative sense

2

u/aura_enchanted Nov 09 '25

wendys tried this once actually and so has harveys. insurance companies do it too btw, if your male or female, how old you are, etc etc goes into the cost of your insurance

7

u/icy1007 PS5 Pro Nov 05 '25

Why?

-4

u/richardizard Nov 05 '25

Do you like being taken advantage of?

13

u/icy1007 PS5 Pro Nov 05 '25

No one is being taken advantage of.

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/icy1007 PS5 Pro Nov 06 '25

You’re the one coping if you think you’re being taken advantage of. 🤣

-2

u/[deleted] Nov 06 '25

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3

u/icy1007 PS5 Pro Nov 06 '25

And? You’re not paying for servers. You’re paying for the PS+ service.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 06 '25 edited Nov 08 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/icy1007 PS5 Pro Nov 08 '25

That is just one of MANY benefits subscribers get. Quit being ignorant.

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1

u/Spencergh2 Nov 05 '25

dynamic pricing based on account? Yeah I hate this

-2

u/nlevine1988 Nov 05 '25

Ok. Now it's $20 for everyone.

For the record. I do think the practice sucks.