【正文】 time； the manufacturer sends the rebate directly to the customer. Rebates have recently been popular with car makers and producers of durable goods and small appliances. Some manufacturers offer lowinterest financing， longer warranties or free maintenance to reduce the consumer39。 rock concert or sports event and some small restaurants charge a premium to large groups. Similarly， in buying antiques， it costs more to buy six plete place settings of cutlery than a single item. In this case the price will continue toincrease with volume， eight place settings costing more than six， and twelve place settings costing more than eight. Quantity premiums are more mon than people imagine， and that is why they work. Consumers expect prices to deerease with volume and so do not check unit prices. This allows retailers to slip in highmargin items. Quantity surcharge increases with the variety and plexity of pack sizes and， in some markets， over 30 per cent of ranges include some 7 quantity surcharging. A trade discount (also called a functional discount) is offered by the seller to trade channel members that perform certain functions， such as selling， storing and record keeping. Manufacturers may offer different functional discounts to different trade channels because of the varying services they perform， but manufacturers must offer the same functional discounts within each trade channel. A seasonal discount is a price discount to buyers who buy merchandise orservices out of season. For example， lawn and garden equipment manufacturers will offer seasonal discounts to retailers during the autumn and winter to encourage early ordering in anticipation of the heavy spring and summer selling seasons. Hotels,motels and airlines will offer seasonal discounts in their slower selling periods. Seasonal discounts allow the seller to keep production steady during the entire year. Allowances are another type of reduction from the list price. For example， tradein allowances are price reductions given for turning in an old item when buying a new one. Tradein allowances are most mon in the car industry， but are also given for othe rdurable goods. Promotional allowances are payments or price reductions to reward dealers for participating in advertising and salessupport programmes. (2) Segmented Pricing Companies will often adjust their basic prices to allow for differences in customers， products and locations. In segmented pricing， the pany sells aproduct or service at two or more prices， even though the difference in prices is not based on differences in costs. Segmented pricing takes several forms： * Customersegment pricing. Different customers pay different prices for thesame product or service. Museums， for example， will charge a lower admission for young people， the unwaged， students and senior citizens. Inmany parts of the world， tourists pay more to see museums， shows andnational monuments than do locals. * Productform pricing. Different versions of the product are priced differently， but not according to differences in their costs. For instance， the Dutch pany Skil prices its 6434H electric drill at DF1200， which isDF1125 more than the price .of its 6400H. The 6434H is more powerful and has more features， yet this extra power and features cost only a few more 8 guilders to build in. * Location pricing. Different locations are priced differently， even though the cost of offering each location is the same. For instance， theatres vary theirs cat prices because of audience preferences for certain locations and EU universities charge higher tuition fees for nonEU students. * Time pricing. Prices vary by the season， the month， the day and even the hour. Public utilities vary their prices to mercial users by time of day and weekend versus weekday. The telephone pany offers lower 39。 andMakro， the trade warehouse， automatically gives discounts on any product bought in bulk. Discounts provide an incentive to the customer to buy more from one given seller， rather than from many different sources. A quantity premium is sometimes charged to people buying higher volumes. In Japan it often costs more per item to buy a twelvepack of beer or sushi than smaller quantities because the larger packs are more gift able and therefore less price sensitive. Quantity surcharges can also oecur when die product being bought is in short supply or in sets for example， several seats together at a 39。. Wine merchants often give 39。 cash situation and reduce bad debts and creditcollection costs. A quantity discount is a price reduction to buyers who buy large volumes. Atypical example might be 39。2/10， 3039。Dung of the Month39。Love， Love Me Doo39。 explains president and