By Jackie Snow
Online shoppers are used to seeing prices change by the day or hour or minute. But what if the price you get is set for you alone -- a measure of what the retailer thinks you'll pay based on the data it has about you -- including who you are demographically, where you live and what you do online?
Businesses have long tracked customers' search behavior and buying history and used that information, along with other factors like a consumer's location, to offer promotions and discounts to motivate purchases. Dynamic pricing, where the same fare or rate shifts for everyone based on supply and demand, also has become common across industries, including airfares and ride-shares. What is different now and concerning to researchers is the possibility that online retailers could use personal data to set a higher base price for individual consumers, without their knowledge, when algorithms detect things like urgent need or high disposable income.
Driving the concern is the fact that companies now have access to much more detailed profiles of customers based on information drawn from across the Web, and pricing algorithms make it easier to adjust prices for individuals based on that data. Although companies say they aren't doing it, and lawmakers and regulators are taking steps to limit the practice, some researchers believe it is only a matter of time before online retailers start setting prices based on fine-tuned profiles of individuals.
What do shoppers need to know about personalized pricing? And is there anything they can do to protect themselves? Here's a closer look.
Is personalized pricing happening?
It is difficult to find more than isolated cases currently. However, many researchers believe personalized pricing will become increasingly common as the technology to make it possible improves.
Companies collect vast amounts of data about consumers already, including browsing history, location, device type, purchase patterns, even how long your cursor hovers over a product. Software that automates price-setting -- often driven by artificial intelligence -- can help retailers seamlessly turn that data into tailored pricing.
In early 2025, the Federal Trade Commission released initial findings of an investigation into surveillance pricing (another term for personalized pricing). It determined that companies were selling pricing and consumer-data tools to help retailers across various industries set individualized prices -- a strong indication to some researchers that retailers were headed in that direction.
In December 2025, Consumer Reports and Groundwork Collaborative conducted an investigation in which they recruited more than 400 shoppers to log onto Instacart simultaneously and fill their carts with identical groceries from the same stores. They found that three quarters of the products showed different prices for different shoppers, with some items varying by as much as 23%.
An Instacart spokesperson said the price variations were the result of randomized experiments, not personalized pricing, and it has since ended them.
What's the concern?
Some regulators worry that retailers could use customers' browsing histories or other personal information to jack up prices even for basic goods such as groceries.
There also is concern that even if companies don't intentionally price based on protected characteristics like race or ethnicity, or age or disability, algorithms can produce the same result. Pricing based on ZIP Code, for instance, often correlates with race. What's more, there are increased privacy and cybersecurity risks when businesses share a lot of customer data drawn from various sources across companies and platforms.
One of the biggest fears is that a company could take advantage of customers' urgent needs to charge them more.
If you use a ride-share service to take your children to school every morning, for example, the company knows your routine and knows you have somewhere to be at 8:30 a.m. "It would be logical to price that trip higher," says Len Sherman, a Columbia Business School professor. "They have the data."
Most states have price-gouging laws precisely because they've decided there are limits to how much companies can exploit desperate circumstances. Personalized pricing may raise a similar question, just in everyday shopping. "There's always been that appetite for reasonableness within a market system," says John Yun, a law professor at George Mason University. "I think that's where personalized pricing is butting up against what we consider a reasonable use of supply and demand."
The National Retail Federation, which represents retailers across the country, said it has no evidence any of its members are doing this and sees it as counter to the industry's basic business model.
"Without building customer trust, you have nothing," says NRF Group's Jason Straczewski, vice president of government relations and political affairs.
What are lawmakers doing?
So far in 2026, more than 50 bills across more than half of U.S. states have been introduced addressing a variety of pricing practices that involve analyzing consumer data through AI or other automated tools, according to a recent tally by the global data privacy and cybersecurity group at law firm Covington.
Maryland in April became the first state to ban food retailers and delivery services from using personal data to set higher prices.
In New York, a law took effect in November 2025 requiring companies to disclose when they use personal data to set prices. State legislators are now pushing to go further, introducing two new bills that would ban the practice outright while preserving loyalty programs and coupons, as well as discounts for veterans and seniors.
In California, a bill currently moving through committee also would ban the use of personal data to set individualized retail prices statewide.
"A ban will be more effective than a disclosure," says Grace Gedye, a policy analyst at Consumer Reports who has been tracking algorithmic-pricing legislation across the country. "A disclosure puts the onus on consumers to figure out what to do with that information. A ban means you're protected by default."
At the federal level, the FTC shut down public comment on its surveillance-pricing investigation in 2025, but the agency's chairman said in April that it is still exploring whether new disclosure rules are needed. It also sought comment on personalized pricing as part of considering new rules on food-delivery fees.
Separately, the House Oversight Committee launched a personalized-pricing investigation in March, sending letters to a variety of companies, requesting documents about their pricing practices. A committee spokesperson said the investigation is continuing.
What can consumers do?
Though it's difficult to hide your online identity, experts suggest a few steps worth trying, especially for big purchases.
-- Compare prices across devices or browsers before committing. The differences may be small but it takes minutes and is worth the check.
-- Use incognito or private browsing mode, which prevents cookies from persisting between sessions and makes it harder for sites to recognize you as a returning visitor, though many sites have tracking mechanisms other than cookies.
-- Use aggregator sites like Google Flights or Kayak before going directly to a company's own platform. Searching through an aggregator avoids triggering demand signals on a single site, which may keep prices from rising before you are ready to book.
-- Some believe a VPN can mask your location and may get you prices calibrated for a different market, particularly for international travel.
You can't eliminate your digital footprint entirely, says France Bélanger, a professor at Virginia Tech who studies cybersecurity and privacy issues, "but managing it is doable."
To be sure, hiding your digital footprint can come at a cost: There are times when you may end up paying more, not less.
That's because personalized pricing cuts both ways. The same tools that can be used to charge you more when you seem desperate also can be used to offer you a discount when you seem hesitant. If a retailer's algorithm detects that you have been browsing a product without buying, it may send you a coupon.
If it knows you are a price-sensitive shopper who compares across sites, it may offer you a better deal to close the sale. Block the cookies, hide your identity, and you may never see that offer.
"If you block your data, you only see the list price," says Ginger Zhe Jin, an economist at the University of Maryland who studies personalized pricing. "And the list price is the highest price you could pay."
Write to reports@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 03, 2026 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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