1409: Lindsay Owens | How Your Own Data Is Used to Overcharge You

Gouged author Lindsay Owens explains how corporate America reinvented the ripoff with algorithms and surveillance pricing, and how shoppers can fight back.

Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1409

What We Discuss with Lindsay Owens:

• How price-fixing went digital. RealPage software allegedly let landlords share sensitive data and follow the same rent recommendations, complete with a hard price floor, a soft ceiling, and advice to leave units empty rather than offer discounts.
• What happened when 400+ shoppers filled identical 23-item Instacart carts at the same stores. 75% of items varied in price from person to person, by as much as 23%, and the average 7% gap costs a family of four roughly $1,200 a year.
• Why surveillance pricing, which taps your location, device, purchase history, clicks, and even what you confess to AI shopping agents, doesn’t just soak the rich — it monetizes urgency, like a sick kid, a funeral flight, or a last-minute prom dress.
• How repair locks on everything from McFlurry machines to John Deere tractors create a daisy chain of price gouging on purchases, parts, labor, and replacements — and why threatening to void your warranty over third-party repair is illegal.
• How to fight back by turning the experiment around: compare prices logged in vs. out, in the app vs. on the website vs. in store, and with or without loyalty cards. Have friends check the same fare, limit tracking, and speak up — backlash made Coke and Instacart retreat.
• And much more...

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