How Much Can You Charge?
March 30th, 2007 by Bob Bly
When you set your product prices or service fees, do you consider only what price is going to make you the most money?
Or does the idea of whether the price is fair and reasonable — and whether people can afford it — play a role in your pricing.
Reason I ask: an article in The Week (4/6/07, p. 13) reports that Halliburton billed the federal government $27.4 million for a shipment of natural gas from Kuwait that cost the company $82,000.
According to the article, Halliburton claimed the extra charges were justified by the danger of transporting gas over Iraq’s sniper-infested, booby-trapped roads.
Do you think Halliburton is:
A. Being fairly compensated for the risk involved?
A. Price-gouging?
B. Ripping off the American government and people which, given its White House connects with Dick Cheney, should be investigated with an eye toward prosecution?
And the bigger picture question: can pricing for a product or service be so high it becomes at best unseemly or at worst downright immoral?
If so, at what point does that occur?
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