Fish and chips - how much is it worth?
Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised the family-sized takeaway fish and chips cost $120 as it wasn’t your average battered flake.
But it got me thinking about the fancy prices some of us pay for top-end versions of everyday delights such as $10 loaves of bread or $5 coffees.
Is there a cost limit you just wouldn’t go over, however rich you felt - be it a meal, a mobile phone or a pair of shoes?
The $120 marinated Murray Cod served with baps, hand cut chips etc from the latest Sydney flash fish shop, was tasty and fed four adults.
But was it three times as good as a more down market $40 feed from the corner chippy? On a special occasion, I would say yes, but not every day, or even every month. The hour-long wait outside suggested it’s popular.
You can pay top dollar for almost anything from a sourdough loaf to marbled steak and even a barista coffee if it can be marketed as an ‘experience’ and not merely a product.
For example in 2018, in Venice’s St Mark’s Square, two coffees and water seated outside cost $67, but that was an exceptional experience. Inside, for those in the know, if you’re standing up an expresso was just $1.50.
It all boils down to a calculation we all make many times a day — how much is it worth (to me)? And the answers can reveal so much about us, beyond the obvious.
There’s a rich economic and psychological literature trying to explain these choices. It’s no surprise what’s called economic value is highly subjective and can’t be quickly or directly measured
One method, see more here, is called the willingness to pay. Simply put, money is measurable, and if we exchange an amount of it for a good or service, it suggests we value that more than cash.
So what’s your willingness to pay - either for everyday goods like a coffee or fish and chips, or one-off purchases like a pair of shoes, a car or sunglasses?
For example, for me a pair of shoes should not cost more than $250, and I have got some great ones for that. A second-hand car should be up to $35,000, and a beer up to $10. Sure, it varies where and, on the quality, but it has to be very good to breach those amounts.
There are many temptations out there with a range of prices, and do you have a limit?
Any information contained in this communication is general advice, it does not take into account your individual circumstances, objectives, financial situation or needs.
