Things You Should Know: Relative Prices.

I’ve decided to add a new category to this blog: Things You Should Know. As you’d expect, it’s going to be about useful bits of information that I think everyone should know. I’ll try to add a new post every time I talk to someone who doesn’t know something that they should and also when I learn something new that I think is kind of important.


This first entry is about relative prices. I’m not talking about a formal economic concept (though that is related). I’m just talking about knowing how much things should cost and do cost.

For example: $950 is a lot to pay for shoes. The shoes are very fucking expensive (and yes, I did notice that was a sale price). At the same time, $950 is not a lot to pay for a computer.

$100000 is a lot to pay for a car (#1 on that list as I write this: an Elfin MS8 Streamliner), but not so much for a house. (Apologies if you’re reading this after that link breaks. It’s probably for the best.)

All of this seems rather obvious, doesn’t it? Well, you’d be surprised at how many people just don’t get it. There are people who think their $1000 computers should be more capable (or have more extras included). People who think you’re always there to answer their questions, or do them favours – for free (yes, everyone’s time has a value). People who just don’t get that if you want something, you’ll have to give something up for it – and a lot of the time that thing is money.

So, how do you avoid this? It’s quite simple, really. To ascertain the value of a product, do some bloody research. Open your eyes. Look at a competitor’s products and see what they cost. Look at where the product you’re thinking of fits into the range in terms of quality, price and value. Most of all, be honest about how cheap you are. There’s nothing wrong with that – if something costs 50% as much, but lasts 80% as long, it’s still a good buy. But acknowledge that you’re getting something worth less than a similar product and don’t expect as much from it.

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  dan (at) dancooper.net.au