Price discrimination ("differential pricing",[1][2] "equity pricing", "preferential pricing",[3] "dual pricing",[4] "tiered pricing",[5] and "surveillance pricing"[6]) is a microeconomicpricing strategy where identical or largely similar goods or services are sold at different prices by the same provider to different buyers based on which market segment they are perceived to be part of.[7][8][2] Price discrimination is distinguished from product differentiation by the difference in production cost for the differently priced products involved in the latter strategy.[2] Price discrimination essentially relies on the variation in customers' willingness to pay[8][2][4] and in the elasticity of their demand. For price discrimination to succeed, a seller must have market power, such as a dominant market share, product uniqueness, sole pricing power, etc.[9]
Some prices under price discrimination may be lower than the price charged by a single-price monopolist. Price discrimination can be utilized by a monopolist to recapture some deadweight loss.[10][11] This pricing strategy enables sellers to capture additional consumer surplus and maximize their profits while offering some consumers lower prices.
Price discrimination can take many forms and is common in many industries, such as travel, education, telecommunications, and healthcare.[12]