wu :: forums - Print Page


    
      
        wu :: forums
        (http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi)
      

        riddles >> general problem-solving / chatting / whatever >> Willing to pay more => higher chance it is free
        
(Message started by: amichail on Apr 20^th, 2009, 5:03pm)

Title: Willing to pay more => higher chance it is free
Post by amichail on Apr 20^th, 2009, 5:03pm

Instead of charging $X, why not charge $2X with prob 1/2 and $0 with prob 1/2?

More generally, you could let them specify the pay probability p or price $Y >= $X. Given p, have them pay $X/p. Given $Y, make them pay with probability $X/$Y.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=569940

Title: Re: Willing to pay more => higher chance it is
Post by towr on Apr 21^st, 2009, 12:10am

on 04/20/09 at 17:03:47, amichail wrote:

Instead of charging $X, why not charge $2X with prob 1/2 and $0 with prob 1/2?

Because most if not all people would go somewhere else to buy.
Suppose you want to buy a house, would you really take the chance of losing twice its value for nothing?

Nevermind the problem of trust.

Title: Re: Willing to pay more => higher chance it is
Post by amichail on Apr 21^st, 2009, 12:16am

on 04/21/09 at 00:10:47, towr wrote:

This would be for small purchases. Moreover, as mentioned above, you could let them pick p or $Y.

BTW, you will want to bound the variables, say 0.1 <= p <= 1.0 and price $X <= $Y <= $10X.

Title: Re: Willing to pay more => higher chance it is
Post by Grimbal on Apr 21^st, 2009, 5:33am

People tend to like it the other way round.
They pay a fixed amount to get a small chance of getting a lot in return. That's called a lottery.

But regarding traffic offenses, it is a bit like that. You don't pay a fine for each and every traffic offense. You have some chances of paying $0 and some to pay the full fine.