Dynamic Pricing is Not an Ethical Practice, Here’s Why

This summer, thousands of football fans were left upset by FIFA’s new usage of dynamic ticket pricing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a business strategy used to change prices due to interest and demand. This strategy is used in multiple other industries, such as ride-share, entertainment, and travel, capitalizing on personal data and demands to change prices for goods, services and events in real time. Although some may argue that it helps the market stay efficient and competitive, I don’t believe dynamic pricing is an ethical business practice.

Although dynamic pricing has become more popular since the digital age, it has always been a profit strategy in the market. Back in ancient Mesopotamia, merchants used dynamic pricing to negotiate prices based on the time of day and their customer’s appearance or social status. Today, however, many businesses use artificial intelligence, or AI, to collect vast amounts of customer data to personally change pricings.

To start, dynamic pricing can be extremely unfair. In an example of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, ticket prices for watching Argentina are the highest this summer, leaving thousands of fans devastated and unable to attend. Unfortunately, the majority of the time, many businesses, such as FIFA, take advantage of the demand instead of settling for a fair market value. Because the system is backed by demand, prices may suddenly increase out of nowhere for the exact same product or service. These sudden high prices can be extremely punishing for people who can not afford them.

Companies also use dynamic pricing based on customers’ personal data. They feed a variety of personal data, including addresses, search history, and purchase history, to their AI algorithms to personally change prices. For example, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s Chair Lina Khan, undefined Having companies use everyone’s personal data to make profit without warnings can be extremely terrifying which is why states, such as New York, now require algorithms to disclose if they use personal data.

Although dynamic pricing steals personal data and can unfairly set prices, some still argue that it can fund for infrastructure growth by allowing companies to reinvest their revenue. In reality, it is common that the extra revenue rarely ever goes to improvements, and ends up in the corporate’s pockets instead.

Even though dynamic pricing will not be an ethical practice, placing rules can improve its safety and trust-worthiness. Rules, including that retailers should always provide a disclosures and banning the usage of private data, will make dynamic pricing a better, safer, and more fair practice.