I pointed this out in a Newcomb’s Problem discussion, but being willing to pay $X in time and expenses to save less than $X on an item can be thought of as a variation on Newcomb’s problem. If you precommit to drive long distances to save money on the sticker price, stores will predict your behavior. Those stores will then realize that they must compete in price against stores that are long distances away. This greater competition will lead the stores to lower their prices more than they would otherwise and you will see lower sticker prices, both far away and close by. Being willing to drive long distances is sort of like picking one box—Omega/the stores will predict your action and make it more profitable than it would otherwise be (although it becomes more profitable in different ways).
Of course it’s different in that it’s also a collective action problem—stores predict that consumers in general will drive long distances, not you specifically. But then, driving long distances to save small amounts on the sticker price is a behavior of consumers in general.
I pointed this out in a Newcomb’s Problem discussion, but being willing to pay $X in time and expenses to save less than $X on an item can be thought of as a variation on Newcomb’s problem. If you precommit to drive long distances to save money on the sticker price, stores will predict your behavior. Those stores will then realize that they must compete in price against stores that are long distances away. This greater competition will lead the stores to lower their prices more than they would otherwise and you will see lower sticker prices, both far away and close by. Being willing to drive long distances is sort of like picking one box—Omega/the stores will predict your action and make it more profitable than it would otherwise be (although it becomes more profitable in different ways).
Of course it’s different in that it’s also a collective action problem—stores predict that consumers in general will drive long distances, not you specifically. But then, driving long distances to save small amounts on the sticker price is a behavior of consumers in general.