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The Price Tag Hasn't Always Existed, It Had To Be Invented

Most people are used to prices that don't change. You go into a store to buy some Quaker Oats, and they're going to cost the same for you as they will for whoever tries to buy them next.

But for a long time, that's not how it worked at all.

For most of human history, you had to haggle over prices before you could buy something. The Quakers were among the first people to commit to fixed prices — and they did it because it was good morals. Turned out, it was also good business. This is the strange story of the long journey of that little piece of paper.

Listen to the original Planet Money podcast episode here! Subscribe to our video series here — and, while you're at it, subscribe to our podcast.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Bronson Arcuri is an award-winning video producer and multimedia journalist. He is currently an editor and managing producer on the NPR video team. In addition to overseeing NPR's video coverage of the ongoing war in Ukraine, he also manages short-form video production for All Things Considered, Life Kit and NPR's international reporting and political coverage. He is also part of the leadership team developing news products for emerging platforms, including Instagram and TikTok.
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