Maybe you're a little bit more of a sceptic than I am. Strategies like price anchoring, premium pricing and other kinds of artificial product segmentation are ways to derive maximum value from a wider range of customers. I don't consider them a way to rip off people.

If you've got a monopoly, sure this can lead to price gauging. But in a competitive market it just means you are rewarded for your edge.

Anyway, I've only felt like I was ripped off on price a couple times. And every time it was buying something in a higher end brick & mortar store where I bought a quality item at significant mark up. Brick and mortar stores simply are something that's a luxury that is hard to justify if you're on a shoestring budget.