Derek Thompson is troubled by research “that finds merchants charging different prices to different people based entirely on their race and gender.” He writes that the “best weapon against sexist and racist pricing tactics is to arrive at the negotiating table with a price of your own”:
A study by economists Meghan R. Busse, Ayelet Israeli, and Florian Zettelmeyer looked at car repair shops and found that women tend to be quoted consistently higher prices than men when the callers didn’t mention a price. The most reasonable explanation, as Nanette Fondas explained on TheAtlantic.com, was that repair shops believe women are less informed about prices than men. So they’re gullible. But get this. When women and men suggested a price — any price, fair or too high — both genders got the same offer. Just saying a number closed the price gap. Once the mechanic had data telling him exactly how well-informed his potential clients were, gender was no longer “a useful basis.” In fact, repair shops were more likely to offer a price concession if asked by a woman.
The Dish 