Study: Women Pay More Than Men For Similar Products 42% Of The Time
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A recent study shows women may be paying more for virtually the same product.
The study compared 800 items with clear male and female versions.
The research was done in New York but has national implications, showing that on average, the women's' versions of a product cost seven percent more than the ones for men.
And price discrimination is not limited to retail.
CBS sent one female producer and one male producer undercover to a handful of dry cleaners. They brought nearly identical 100% cotton button-down shirts in comparable sizes and requested the same service.
The female producer was charged at least twice as much or more than half the businesses visited.
In one, she was charged $7.50 while her male counterpart was charged just $2.85. At another she paid $3 dollars more.
But it happens more than just at dry cleaners.
The study found differences in clothing like these jeans, personal care products like these razors, and toys like this scooter.
Their research showed that women paid more than men for similar products 42% of the time.
"You don't realize how badly you're getting ripped off, or being taken advantage of, as a woman, because you've become so conditioned to pay more," Tod Marks, from Consumer Reports, explained.
Part of the problem are the extra costs for women's products tacked on from the get-go.
Women's clothing, shoes and gloves often enter the country with a higher import tax than men's, according to trade lawyer Michael Cone.
"It may be $5 extra paid to Uncle Sam, but by the time it hits the shelf, it can be 10, 11, 12, 13 dollars," Cone said.
While there is no federal law that bans this practice, gender price gouging for services is illegal in New York, Miami-Dade County and California.
