Surveillance Pricing: How Coupon Shoppers Beat Higher Prices

Couponers are always up for a challenge, but with the rise of surveillance pricing, they are being forced to find new, innovative ways to save money at checkout. Shutterstock

Some couponers are casual clippers of the promotions that fill our mailboxes, while some take stacking discounts and tracking sales cycles to a higher level. In either case, a new obstacle to coupon savings is sweeping over the marketplace.

This obstacle is not readily seen. Because it moves quickly, it is a method of adjusting the prices of goods and services based on your income, shopping behavior, online activity, and other data points. This practice is known as surveillance pricing, although some refer to it as personal pricing or algorithmic pricing.

How Coupon Shoppers Are Impacted by Surveillance Pricing

Surveillance pricing specifically hurts coupon shoppers by changing how retailers calculate discounts. Traditionally, when retailers issue coupons through a circular, they always guarantee that every shopper receives the same discounted price.

However, now algorithms use your personal data to set prices and promotions that are unique to you.

This highly customized targeting means you might not get the bargains you have been used to. In certain cases, it might mean you miss out on some bargains altogether. If you have a history of consistently buying a particular product, the algorithm may infer that you will buy it without a coupon. That means paying full price.

There is a crucial lack of transparency with this algorithm-driven pricing model. That makes it harder to know whether you are getting the best available offer because surveillance pricing makes it harder to compare prices with other customers.

Even with all these roadblocks, there is still a path to bargains for shoppers who arm themselves with the right information.

Surveillance Pricing Versus Dynamic Pricing

The traditional method of pricing a product or service, called dynamic pricing, sets the same costs for every consumer. Surveillance pricing is different.

“The key difference is essentially that dynamic pricing is focused on market-level things where surveillance pricing is basically about individual shoppers,” says Gabriele Vitke, product marketing team lead at Decodo. “Dynamic pricing adjusts based on things like supply and demand, competitive pricing, things like that. Surveillance pricing adjusts based on download history, somebody’s location, and willingness to buy. So, if we take two people from the same city, searching for the exact same item at the same time, however their consumer profiles are different, they could be seeing different prices.”

A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report published last year found that an algorithmic system could collect real-time information about a person’s browsing and transaction history and present different prices for the same product to different individuals or groups. However, over a year later, the federal government has no plan for dealing with surveillance pricing.

Surveillance Under Wraps

“If you aren’t familiar with surveillance pricing, it’s because companies don’t want you to know they do it,” claims attorney Shane Lucado, Founder and CEO at InPerSuit. “All the headlines suggest it’s a looming problem, when surveillance pricing has been secretly encoded into many of our favorite e-commerce sites for years.”

The practice is growing.

“Personalized pricing has expanded far beyond airlines and ride-share, and most data-rich retailers now have at least some version of it running because the unit economics are too compelling to leave alone,” according to Jackie Swanson, managing partner at Gartner Consulting.

“Brands are doing it because the spreadsheet says they should, and the technology says they can,” continues Swanson. “The consumer trust question rarely enters the room where the decision gets made, and the brand risk piles up unnoticed.”

How Are You Being Tracked Online?

“There are quite a lot of data points that companies normally track for both dynamic and especially surveillance pricing,” Vitke told Saving Advice. “So, when it comes to surveillance pricing, specifically, the first thing would be purchase history. They can do that through loyalty programs, internet accounts, and transactions. There are also things like behavioral signals, such as your way of browsing, which items you’re looking for, whether you abandon your cart, and the time you spend on a page. There is also device and location data, and your IP address and GPS, via app permissions and social media signals.”

The way you browse sends a signal to companies and brokers watching your behavior.

“This is something companies are starting to do,” Siddiqi told Saving Advice. “They are tracking consumer behavior via algorithms and being able to say, ‘this person looks like they’re in a hurry, so let’s charge them a little bit more.”

However, there is a flip side to that analysis. The difference in behavior could get you a better price.

“A shopper clicks through a couple of things, then they go to another tab,” says Siddiqi, “We don’t know what that other tab is. We just know that they are no longer focused on this website, and then they switch back two minutes, five minutes later, so they look like they are comparison shopping.”

E-commerce and retail companies are not the only ones looking at your data, according to Vitke.

“There are also third-party data brokers who aggregate consumer profiles and sell them to companies,” says Vitke.

How Are You Being Tracked in the Real World?

Do not think you can evade surveillance pricing by staying off company websites. Your shopping in brick-and-mortar stores can also be monitored.

“So, you can say that, ‘I’m going to my favorite retailer and I’m not going to use my loyalty card, and I’m going to pay in cash. There’s no way they can track me,’” says Siddiqi. “Sure, they can’t track you, but they can track your device.”

In this context, your device could be your cell phone or even that unused loyalty card in your wallet. Siddiqi stresses that your purchases will not be tracked, but your location will.

“There are a lot of companies that develop mobile phone data,” says Siddiqi. “They don’t know it is you, but they will know that people who fit your consumer profile tend to be in a shop at this time of day, etcetera.”

Twisting the Data in Your Favor

Vitke’s company has turned the tables on major retailers by putting together a list of the best times and days to get the best prices at major retailers and e-businesses. Decodo’s Dynamic Pricing Index ‘25 is free to download from the free SavingAdvice newsletter. In addition to the download, the newsletter features a report and video on the best times and days to get the best prices at e-commerce and retail stores. Some of those stores include Amazon, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Kroger, and Publix.

Are There Laws Guarding You From Surveillance Pricing?

The federal government does not have laws specifically targeting surveillance pricing. However, an increasing number of states are taking action. Connecticut and Colorado passed bills this month. Legislation is pending in California and Hawaii. Other states, such as Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, and Virginia, have proposals under legislative consideration.

Last month, Maryland became the first state to enact a surveillance pricing ban on large grocery stores and delivery services. The law, which goes into effect on October 1, prohibits the use of personal data to increase prices for specific individuals.

Although Maryland’s law was the first to ban surveillance pricing, New York was the first state to require disclosure. The Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act became law on July 8, 2025. It requires companies using surveillance pricing to warn consumers that “This price was set by an algorithm using your personal data.”

The constitutionality of the law was challenged by the National Retail Federation (NRF). However, the suit was dismissed on October 8.

Lawsuits can go both ways, and Lucado sees class actions as a more effective way to combat surveillance pricing than prosecution.

“I believe the risk of being sued far exceeds the risk of government regulation,” states Lucado. “Consumers could bring class actions based on existing price discrimination laws…One class action lawsuit award can cost a medium-sized retailer millions in settlements. Litigation tends to change corporate actions quicker than any governing body.”

How Can You Protect Yourself From Surveillance Pricing?

Avoiding surveillance pricing may seem hopeless, but those who watch the big companies watching you say otherwise.

“There are quite a few things that consumers can go to,” says Vitke. “First, browsing in incognito mode. When you finish shopping, and especially before you start shopping online, clear your cookies and cache.”

Other recommendations from experts interviewed by SavingAdvice include:

Compare prices using different browsers. One of the browsers should not be used for social media, email, or other actions that could identify you or your data.
Block third-party cookies
Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network)
Utilize free pricing history tools such as:

CamelCamelCamel – an Amazon price checker.
Camelmart – a recently launched Walmart price tracker from CamelCamelCamel.
Keepa – another Amazon price tracker.
Google Shopping Price Insights – built into the Google Shopping tab, this tool helps you see when an item’s price is getting to its 30-day low.
Whisprice – tracks multiple retailers and includes price drop notifications.
Visualping – tracks e-commerce sites with email price-change notification.

“Avoid clicking any retargeted ads before your purchase,” adds Vitke. “They signal that you’re showing higher interest to buy, which can also trigger a price change.”

“The counter-playbook is mostly about not feeding the algorithm what it wants from you,” contends Swanson. “Wait until checkout to log in, because account-based pricing typically activates the moment the system identifies you. Watch the gap between the ’for you’ price and the public price, because the gap tells you whether the algorithm has classified you as someone willing to pay more. None of this is foolproof, but consistent application keeps a shopper outside the highest-paying segment in most pricing models.”