I was at an event today where I decided to bring mu DSLR camera to capture some moments. Afterwards there was a meal at a restaurant and the person asked me how much the camera costs. I told them it was about $700 and the first reaction was that it was like their whole weeks worth of pay and so it seemed crazy expensive to them. What made this comment interesting to me was how this person was saying they came to this restaurant all the time which then made me think how financially they probably spent way more money in this restaurant with six months or so than I have on this camera.
I think one of the key things even when I was a child in why I could buy say a $50 video game which everyone thought was so darn expensive is that when I make “expensive” purchases it’s usually in a one time semi big way. Most people tend to buy the small items that are expensive consistently such as a piece of candy that costs one dollar and is gone with one bite. However, because it is only $1 they don’t see it as expensive at all as they base the value more on how much money they have. For example, to me that one $1 item is expensive because I have seen similar items for like a quarter. But to others they may see that they have $50 in their wallet and so $1 is nothing.
Almost everything is expensive when you think about it if you decide to let someone else create or service the item for you. I guess it’s all about priority in terms of what you want to spend your money on which you think will benefit you the most.