# Should merchants be made to stop adding fees to your purchase and instead roll all that into their prices? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 11, 2024, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-merchants-be-made-to-stop-adding-fees-to-your-purchase-and-instead-roll-all-that-into-their-prices/1001421 "2024-05-11T18:44:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-merchants-be-made-to-stop-adding-fees-to-your-purchase-and-instead-roll-all-that-into-their-prices/1001421/61 "2024-05-14T19:01:09Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > You literally then have to pay more for an actual seat on the plane No you don’t. You only have to pay if you want to _choose_ your seat ahead of time. You can skip that part and you will be assigned a random seat when you check in (although it will almost certainly be a middle seat). Although it wouldn’t surprise me if Spirit’s website obfuscates the fact that that fee isn’t actually mandatory. I wouldn’t know; I’ve never flown Spirit before. But back to the OP, a few years ago California started requiring restaurants to offer health insurance to their employees. In response to this requirement, a few restaurants started adding a “California benefits fee” to customer’s bills rather than simply rolling the cost into the prices. IMO they’re trying to make a political statement through that fee. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-merchants-be-made-to-stop-adding-fees-to-your-purchase-and-instead-roll-all-that-into-their-prices/1001421/62 "2024-05-14T19:36:16Z")
Nitpick: That was the city of San Francisco that implemented the health insurance requirement. Not the whole state of California. So it’s really only restaurants in SF that have the benefits fee added to the tab. Usually listed as something like “San Francisco health ordinance”. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-merchants-be-made-to-stop-adding-fees-to-your-purchase-and-instead-roll-all-that-into-their-prices/1001421/63 "2024-05-14T19:54:23Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > No matter how much you educate us, consumers are never going to be as savvy as the people ripping them off. They do it for a living - we don’t. That’s why regulations are necessary. I agree with you and I hope merchants are forced to stop it with all the stupid fees. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-merchants-be-made-to-stop-adding-fees-to-your-purchase-and-instead-roll-all-that-into-their-prices/1001421/64 "2024-05-14T21:20:40Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Nitpick: That was the city of San Francisco that implemented the health insurance requirement. Not the whole state of California. So it’s really only restaurants in SF that have the benefits fee added to the tab. Usually listed as something like “San Francisco health ordinance”. Yeah, like giving their employees health insurance is some terrible horrible thing. However, the value in having healthy employees- those that arent taking off sick, or spreading disease among other workers or customers, far outweighs the cost- not to mention the social value. > **[BFI\_WP\_2021-33.pdf](https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/BFI_WP_2021-33.pdf)** > > 474.82 KB _Based on published estimates of its price elasticity of demand and of tax wedges, as well as the_ _method of revealed preference, I estimate that the annual social value of ESI is about $1.5 trillion_ _beyond what policyholders, their employers, and taxpayers pay for it. The private component of_ _that value, which in some respects is the other side of “job lock,” derives in part from group_ _plans, with the group determined by many characteristics other than the demand for healthcare._ _With voluntary groups formed this way, adverse risk selection is reduced, the groups can be_ _effective at obtaining substantial discounts and rebates for their members, and division of labor_ _employed in shopping for health providers. ESI is also a mechanism for employers to act on their_ _incentives for a healthy and productive workforce. External effects include tax externalities (in_ _both directions), encouraging work, and easing government expenditure obligations by helping to_ _prevent people from going without health insurance._ ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-merchants-be-made-to-stop-adding-fees-to-your-purchase-and-instead-roll-all-that-into-their-prices/1001421/65 "2024-05-14T21:58:49Z")
**Moderating** (lightly) Please, no replies about the Health Care, not really in the scope of this thread. Thank you ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-merchants-be-made-to-stop-adding-fees-to-your-purchase-and-instead-roll-all-that-into-their-prices/1001421/66 "2024-05-15T23:20:46Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > I thought Ryanair tried doing that? That seems like the kind of thing that would rapidly backfire in a very disgusting way. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-merchants-be-made-to-stop-adding-fees-to-your-purchase-and-instead-roll-all-that-into-their-prices/1001421/67 "2024-05-16T13:15:22Z")
I could get behind making retailers in WA post the shelf label price of, say, a handle of store-brand vodka _including_ the distilled spirits tax. I drove to Vancouver once after work to pick up some liquor at a Fred Meyer. I was delighted to see the price label showing $9.99 for 1.75L of vodka, and horrified that they added the nation’s highest alcohol tax _at the register_. When I was in California, I saw lovely notes on my checks at Norm’s, Pizza Hut, and Claim Jumper informing me that they were adding what amounted to a (piddling little) doing-business-in-California fee to everyone’s bill to defray the “extra costs” of doing business in California. My response was to stop patronizing those establishments. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-merchants-be-made-to-stop-adding-fees-to-your-purchase-and-instead-roll-all-that-into-their-prices/1001421.md?page=3)