The Federal Trade Commission wants to know how firms are using surveillance pricing as ever more data on consumers is collected.

“If you don’t have any idea when or why a price might change, it creates a sense of urgency and a sense of scarcity,” says Amanda Mull at Bloomberg.

The cost of a pint of beer is going to go up at busier times in hundreds of pubs owned by the Stonegate Group.

Online retailers are changing their prices multiple times a day, raising prices when they can, lowering them when they must. Want a better deal? Wait 10 minutes.