Why I don't offer “student discounts” | Hacker News Reader

Why I don't offer “student discounts”

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5 pointskadavy12 comments

You're comparing the courses you're offering to a Lamborghini? Cool, but I don't see why I should place as much value in your product. In fact, you might simply be going for a Veblen goods effect, just like the Lamborghini.

That's only one part of the problem in your essay.

The other part is that it assumes that:

1) every student in the world is in the US and

2) every student in the world is poor entirely because of university fees.

Frankly, whenever someone wants to shell out money for an online course, I caution them. There are tons of free resources out there, some legal, and some not, but all provide quality education.

It occurred to me (unfortunately long after I had obtained my formal education) that education could be kind of an inversion of a Veblen good - it's more valuable, and should be viewed as more valuable, the less you pay for it (in money anyway). The willingness of people to educate you for free or cheap is perhaps the most salient signal of your talent. Maybe the widespread problems people have in choosing how and where to study can be characterized as mistaking education for a Veblen good.

Lots I could address here, but I'll start with this: Where is the part where I'm comparing my courses to a Lamborghini?

I don't think hes comparing his courses to a Lamborghini. Hes just using an example of a product that people think is overvalued and yet nobody expects discounts on.

>Frankly, whenever someone wants to shell out money for an online course, I caution them. There are tons of free resources out there, some legal, and some not, but all provide quality education.

You might be correct in cautioning them but, the real problem is that the tons of good free resources are intermingled with tons of crappy free resources. A student of the subject will never be able to discern between the two without extensive study or external guidance.

If you will increase your total profits by offering a student discount, then offer a student discount. If not, then don't.

Cinemas don't offer preferential pricing to children just to be nice. They do it to maximize profits as, overall, children are more price-sensitive. And it's much easier to enforce 'child-only' prices than it is to enforce 'disposable-income-less-than-X' pricing.

Do you not believe that sometimes a principle – or something you believe in – might be more important than profit?

For example, if it were legal and profitable to sell babies to whomever wanted to buy them (no background check), would you still do it?

Yes something I believe in might be more important than profit. But my point wasn't about whether I think students deserve discounts for some moral reason.

Student discounts are almost always a price discrimination mechanism aimed at maximising profits, rather than an altruistic gesture toward a disadvantaged group or an effort to encourage further learning. With that context, I thought the complaints of the author were strange. It's rational for him to refuse a student discount, but it's also rational for a student to ask for a discount, as there is no downside if the request is refused.

As to whether I would sell babies? Probably not. But if I were to sell babies for a living, I almost certainly wouldn't offer a student discount.

Right, it probably is more profitable for me to offer student discounts.

My choice may have a lot to do with the distinction between being an independent creator and being a large company.

The large company is probably more likely to take the profit over some sort of "stand." Plus, large companies are a part of the "establishment" that higher institutions are. The large company also can handle the operational complexity of student discounts better.

This touches on a topic I ignored in the article: Is it "right" for a company like T-Mobile to offer student discounts. In other words, are they ever so slightly perpetuating credential inflation, the need for unnecessary degrees, and the resultant predatory student lending?

It may sound like a stretch. And could anyone imagine T-Mobile saying "We no longer offer student discounts because the higher education is a bully that needs to stop victimizing 17 year olds. We're taking a stand!"? Ha.

Just a thought that passed through my mind that I haven't explored a great deal.

He gives a poor and what i believe to be a dishonest reason that im not inclined to examine his courses anymore.

If you believe my reasons are dishonest, what do you think my real reason is?

Profit. You say that students are victims of overpriced education yet you punish them again by not offering a discount.

Do you not think, as discussed elsewhere in this thread, that I would make more money if I did provide a discount?

I don't want to enable the bully.

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