The Jewish Ethicist – Discounts

The Jewish Ethicist – Discounts

from aish.com by: Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir, Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem

Q. I have a standard price list, but I’m pretty liberal about giving discounts when I need to make a sale. Is this a problem?

A. Adam Smith noted that economic progress is dependent “a certain propensity in human nature,” namely “the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another”. After all, Smith notes; “Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone for another with another dog.”

However, people nowadays seem to prefer facing predictable prices over having to haggle over every exchange, and so most sellers today have standard prices which apply equally to all customers.

Continue reading