Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-2026
Abstract
The ability to know the price of a product or service and then compare prices of similar products or services is a foundational cornerstone of consumer choice and competitive markets. Once, buyers could more easily compare identical products across multiple sellers. However, this process has systematically degraded over time and has become increasingly difficult to do in practice. When prices are a reliable signal of product and market value, consumers can make informed purchasing decisions and sellers can compete for business by offering more attractive prices to consumers. This is a core market force that keeps price levels in check and rewards competitors who offer better product and service value. The rise of commercial surveillance and entrenched power asymmetries, facilitated in both speed and scale by rapid technological advances, increasingly enables firms to obscure pricing, undermine consumer confidence, and weaken the ability to meaningfully compare offers. By exploiting information asymmetries, firms can push prices upward and discriminate among consumers while making it harder for Americans to discern what they are truly paying.
Disciplines
Consumer Protection Law | Law | Science and Technology Policy
Recommended Citation
Stephanie T. Nguyen & Shaoul Sussman,
The Degradation of Prices: Platform Power, the Erosion of Price Comparison, and Rebuilding Comparison Shopping in the Digital Economy,
56
Seton Hall L. Rev.
1663
(2026).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/law_economy/10
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