What is the difference between "prix" and "tarif" ?

Question

From my time here in Paris it seems that tarif is more used for tickets than anything else, but I'm not 100% clear. Is it just services in general where tarif is used instead of prix?

Answer 1

Le tarif c'est l'ensemble des différents prix fixés pour une marchandise ou une prestation.

Prenons le métro parisien par exemple, il y a différents tarifs, normal, jeune, ticket+, navigo etc... Le prix du billet jeune weekend est de 4 euros.

Un artisan doit afficher le tarif de ses prestations et chacune de ses prestations a un prix (c'est à dire un coût différent).

Ce qui peut être source de confusion pour une anglophone c'est qu'en anglais on emploie price pour parler du prix/coût d'un objet, d'une prestation, et prices pour parler de tarif(s)

Answer 2

The prix is what you pay for something.

A tarif is a list giving the price or fees for available goods, services or actions (in English I think price list is used for that meaning, at least in commercial contexts). The word is also used for the price in such a list for a given item (in English list price).

The list is often the official one, but in contexts where you may expect a wide difference between the official price and the price you really pay or where different sources have vastly different prices, tarif is also used informally for the price you can expect to pay if you negotiate correctly or search for a correct source.

Answer 3

Simply, I'd say it's the difference between fee and price.