A price tag looks like a fact about a product. Personalised pricing can turn it into a guess about the person looking at it.

The US Federal Trade Commission sought public comment on a draft enforcement policy statement about personalised pricing: using personal data to estimate what an individual customer is willing to pay. The agency warns that a retailer may mislead people if it implies a displayed price is static while secretly changing it according to the individual. The comment period closed on 18 September 2026. The statement is a draft, not a blanket ban or a final finding against a particular retailer.

The FTC explicitly says it lacks authority to prohibit personalised pricing in every circumstance. Its concern is the gap between what a seller represents and how the price is actually set, including undisclosed use of personal data. A discount tied to a disclosed membership is different from an apparently ordinary price quietly calculated from browsing history or buying behaviour.

A price needs a provenance too

Online shops already vary prices by time, inventory and demand. Personalisation adds a less visible input: the customer's profile. Without a clear explanation, two people may see different offers yet have no practical way to know whether the difference reflects a promotion, location, account status or a model predicting willingness to pay.

That uncertainty changes comparison shopping. If the same shop can adjust the number based on what it knows about you, the listed price is not enough evidence to judge the bargain. Clear disclosure would let customers understand the basis for a price and decide whether to share the data that shapes it.

How to check a changing price

For a meaningful purchase, compare the final total while signed in and signed out, if the service permits it, and against another retailer. Keep the date, product, delivery terms, promotion and total together in a screenshot; a difference alone does not prove personalised pricing. Taxes, stock, shipping and location may explain it.

Businesses considering personalisation should document which data changes a price, what customers are told and how a customer can challenge an error. The FTC draft is about US enforcement, and any final policy or case would need to be assessed on its own terms.

Sources & further reading

  1. US Federal Trade CommissionFTC seeks comment on enforcement policy statement regarding personalized pricing

Sources establish the reported facts above. Analysis and conclusions are enshit.club’s own.