Editing Price discrimination (section)

====Congestion pricing====
{{main|Congestion pricing}}
Price discrimination only happens when the ''same'' product is sold at more than one price. [[Congestion pricing]] is not price discrimination. Peak and off-peak fares on a train are not the same product; some people have to travel during rush hour, and travelling off-peak is not equivalent to them.

Some companies have high [[Fixed cost|fixed costs]] (like a train operator, which owns a railway and [[rolling stock]], or a restaurant, which has to pay for premises and equipment). If these fixed costs permit the operator to additionally provide less-preferred products (like mid-morning meals or off-peak rail travel) at little additional cost, it can profit both seller and buyer to offer them at lower prices. Providing more product from the same fixed costs increases both producer and consumer surplus. This is not technically price discrimination (unlike, say, giving menus with higher prices to richer-looking customers, which the poorer-looking ones get an ordinary menu).

If different prices are charged for products that only some consumers will see as equivalent, the differential pricing can be used to manage demand. For instance, airlines can use price discrimination to encourage people to travel at unpopular times (early in the morning). This helps avoid over-crowding and helps to spread out demand.<ref name="xu2" /> The airline gets better use out of planes and airports, and can thus charge less (or profit more) than if it only flew peak hours.