in the previous program we've assumed that every product or service has a price all customers pay the same price in this store everybody pays the same price for a particular thing like a mug but in many markets not everyone pays the same price for the same good or service some people pay more others less for instance people on this aircraft are paying different prices even though they're on the same Journey this is my first experience of flying with EasyJet I paid about £125 for the return flight but there were people on this flight who paid substantially more and others who paid substantially less so on just one flight there's a whole range of different prices comp companies all over the world are looking for ways to maximize profits and one of the ways that some of them do this is through the process of price discrimination this pig farm in Texas is owned by a Japanese meat company they sell the same pork in the US and in Japan but in Japan the prices they charge are much higher this holiday company sells the same holiday to different customers at different prices rail companies in Europe charge different prices to commuters and students for the same Journey firms commonly charge different prices for the same product to different customers this is true in hotels it's true on airlines it's true on the railways people who are traveling are not all paying the same price for the journey the principle of charging different prices for the same product we call price discrimination this program examines the practice of price discrimination explores the circumstances in which companies are able to do it and asks whether this practice is beneficial for the company and for the consumer