The Price Is Wrong: Understanding What Makes a Price Seem Fair and the True Cost of Unfair Pricing

Professor Maxwell asks, ""How do you know if a price is fair?"" Ultimately, Maxwell believes, fair is in the eye of the payer. What, then, is fair? Fairness can depend on a variety of factors such as local customs. In Spain, it is considered fair to charge for unordered bread if it is eaten, yet to the American visitor paying for what was never ordered, and is typically included in a U.S. meal's price, it seems unfair. Tipping is simply confusing and so is the flow of Maxwell's text. Only in the last chapter does the author offer any guidance regarding what to make of the concepts, definitions and survey results related to pricing theory. There is also a brief foray into pricing history that starts with Aristotle and includes an account of 13th century pricing analysis. Despite tables, a lengthy glossary and reference list and many, many pages of footnotes, there is little insight to be gained here by those who do much paying.