Author Topic: The value of things (in real life, not money)?  (Read 2981 times)

The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« on: 08 June, 2021, 10:15:44 pm »
I was going through today's brochure from Mr Leclerc's (the grocer, not the racing driver!) excellent emporium and I observed that the price of a MTBSO (fully suspended) is 10 bottles of Jack Daniels. Putting aside the observation that 10 bottles of Jack would last me a lot longer than the MTBSO does the panel think that this reflects the true value of the goods in question?

I find myself looking at prices these days and converting them into "real" equivalents - my new camera for example comes out at 7 MacDo's delivered under pandemic rules (much easier to justify like that!). What other odd exchange values do people use?

Wowbagger

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #1 on: 08 June, 2021, 10:27:59 pm »
I seem to recall some years, or possibly decades, ago, a car manufacturer expressing the value/price of their car as so many sets of golf clubs. That was pretty meaningless to me as I would never have bought either.
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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #2 on: 08 June, 2021, 11:27:04 pm »
I often think of something I heard somewhere when someone was wondering how much something they were thinking of selling was worth and they got the answer, "what someone's prepared to pay for it".  This is particularly true of bikes and vintage musical instruments - and it's usually far less than you were thinking or what is said on shows like Antiques Road Show.

But I like the idea of valuing stuff against what the price would have bought instead - like Jack Daniels.  Maybe we could have a little diversion about what people would choose as their trading currency - sets of guitar strings, haircuts (wow, you need to take inflation into account as you have them so rarely),Park tools, 1000 piece jigsaws....... what's your poison?

Mr Larrington

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #3 on: 08 June, 2021, 11:48:01 pm »
I happened to be looking for something entirely different the other day and discovered that the RRP of a new* Martin D45 guitar – wot is a fairly ordinary looking six-string acoustic job – is of the order of ten grand :o. Which then led me to wonder whether it's really £7000 better than the same manufacturer's D28 model.  That's enough JD to last Lemmy for more than a week, or would have been if he hadn’t gone and died on us.

* pre-WW2 models go for exceptionally silly money, especially if they’ve been owned by Someone Famous.
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Kim

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #4 on: 08 June, 2021, 11:50:01 pm »
The Tank Of Petril is surely the canonical unit of money squandered on bike-related toys.

Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #5 on: 09 June, 2021, 06:55:36 am »
Late 70s/early 80s with mortgagee interest rates high, my "value judgement" was the canteen meal at work.  Do I really need a new tyre right now when it is the equivalent to 5 canteen meals?

bhoot

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #6 on: 09 June, 2021, 07:22:54 am »
I think Mars bars and Big Mac's have been used as units of currency to compare relative costs across countries with differing wealth, the idea being that they are items available in many countries around the world.

Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #7 on: 09 June, 2021, 07:33:35 am »
I tend to use 'the price of a pint'.
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citoyen

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The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #8 on: 09 June, 2021, 08:38:22 am »
The Tank Of Petril is surely the canonical unit of money squandered on bike-related toys.

I was thinking about this only yesterday - but in relation to swimming. Because if I were to spend a total of about £200 on certain bits of kit, it would make cycling to the pool/beach a much more comfortable experience, thereby making me less inclined to use the car instead.

The difficulty is spending that much all in one go, rather than spread over the cost of however many car journeys.

(One of the bits of kit I “need” is a new trisuit - nothing wrong with the one I already own, just that it was bought when I was 14kg lighter than I am now…)
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #9 on: 09 June, 2021, 08:40:59 am »
"The cost of a coffee" seems to be the unit of choice for anyone trying to persuade you to sign up to their Patreon. Maybe that's the modern equivalent of the price of a pint.

Kim

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #10 on: 09 June, 2021, 10:49:54 am »
When I studies economics A level at evening classes I learned this as the opportunity cost of something. This principle has scuppered my having holidays for much of my life as I decided that most things I could buy would outlast a week's holiday.

+1

Cudzoziemiec

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #11 on: 09 June, 2021, 02:18:13 pm »
I don't drink whisky, so I'd rather have the MTBSO. But I don't really want the MTBSO either, so if I had the 10 bottles of Jack Daniels I could probably exchange them for something I did want. But I'm not sure what or who with. Nevertheless, they seem more liquid (sorry!) than the MTBSO.
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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #12 on: 09 June, 2021, 03:17:42 pm »
I tend to use 'the price of a pint'.
Thing is if you measure in pints costs have gone down massively as most things have only double in price whereas the modern Pint now costs what a round used to.

When I studies economics A level at evening classes I learned this as the opportunity cost of something. This principle has scuppered my having holidays for much of my life as I decided that most things I could buy would outlast a week's holiday.

+1
Though they do reckon that possessions don't make you happy, experiences do. So owning something that will outlast a holiday will not make you as happy as the holiday.  (This of course misses the obvious regular pleasure you get from buying the right thing that you use all the time).
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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #13 on: 09 June, 2021, 03:54:47 pm »
When I was a smoker I justified expenses by a promise not to buy smokes for a specific period.
Well hello, Trek 520. I became a right sponger for 4 months.

Mr Smith has done similar with wine, in the pre-freebie times. 100 days of sobriety= £700 of bike. Giving up drinking now just means I bring it home for temporary storage in the garage, not the house.


ravenbait

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #14 on: 09 June, 2021, 04:15:31 pm »
Though they do reckon that possessions don't make you happy, experiences do. So owning something that will outlast a holiday will not make you as happy as the holiday.  (This of course misses the obvious regular pleasure you get from buying the right thing that you use all the time).

Yebbut, last time I made that choice, I went for the Pompino, and have had many happy experiences upon him since.

Was it the Lovejoy books that turned everything into a proportion (or multiple) of a month's salary?

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #15 on: 09 June, 2021, 08:40:09 pm »
When I studies economics A level at evening classes I learned this as the opportunity cost of something. This principle has scuppered my having holidays for much of my life as I decided that most things I could buy would outlast a week's holiday.

+1

Opportunity Cost was the term that wouldn't come into my head last night, so thanks RR and Kim. (Mind you my "A" level and 1st yr uni economics was rather a long time ago - but still post-Lipsey and Samuelson)

I don't drink whisky, so I'd rather have the MTBSO. But I don't really want the MTBSO either, so if I had the 10 bottles of Jack Daniels I could probably exchange them for something I did want. But I'm not sure what or who with. Nevertheless, they seem more liquid (sorry!) than the MTBSO.

But the whisky equivalent would be 11 bottles of Glenfiddich, on promotion from one of Mr Leclerc's competitors (although Google's advertisers seem undecided on the spelling for Jack; a pity considering that they can't read their own publicity photos!)

ian

Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #16 on: 09 June, 2021, 08:47:55 pm »
I use beer, though it's a variable commodity, and I've paid more than £20/pint. Thought that mostly distill down to something looking like several expensive nights out that started at lunchtime. Someone asked me what I earn the other day, and it turned out that I don't know. I have, in US parlance, a ballpark figure.

I don't do things, I'm experiential. I'd rather spend money doing something, going somewhere, eating good food, drinking something nice. These are ephemeral and more than the sum of what they cost but then so is life itself. We're snowballs of experiences.

I get no thrill out of owning things. I have a couple of bikes, but nothing that cost more than £450, a fifteen-year-old car, and a fairly modest house (for Surrey, though we're tentatively thinking of upgrading, though I like having next to no mortgage). When it comes to stuff, I'm functional. As a result, I spend very little money, our biggest expenditure was holidays and for some reason their have not been many of those recently. Which leaves me where I came in: beer.

Cudzoziemiec

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #17 on: 09 June, 2021, 09:02:50 pm »
I don't drink whisky, so I'd rather have the MTBSO. But I don't really want the MTBSO either, so if I had the 10 bottles of Jack Daniels I could probably exchange them for something I did want. But I'm not sure what or who with. Nevertheless, they seem more liquid (sorry!) than the MTBSO.

But the whisky equivalent would be 11 bottles of Glenfiddich, on promotion from one of Mr Leclerc's competitors (although Google's advertisers seem undecided on the spelling for Jack; a pity considering that they can't read their own publicity photos!)
Well I don't really like whisky or whiskey, or indeed gin, vodka, brandy or other alcoholic spirits; I'm quite dispirited...

I don't do things, I'm experiential. I'd rather spend money doing something, going somewhere, eating good food, drinking something nice. These are ephemeral and more than the sum of what they cost but then so is life itself. We're snowballs of experiences. holidays and for some reason their have not been many of those recently. Which leaves me where I came in: beer.
Ermm... yeah, we know what you mean. But... yeah!  :P :D
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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #18 on: 10 June, 2021, 07:28:40 am »
I think it's a very personal thing.  Like Wow says, a car or golf clubs ain't his thing and likewise whisky isn't a thing for many.  My current monetisation barometer is running shoes which I tend to spend a stupid amount buying mainly because I have flippers for feet and wide shoes rarely come discounted.   The price of these shoes has doubled in the past 20 years which isn't so bad when compared to some things but is horrendous when compared to others.

Incidentally, my favourite scotch single malt is currently two pairs of running shoes.  The scotch tends to be enjoyed on occasion over the course of a year whilst the shoes will be battered to death also within a year alongside a second pair in rotation.  Essentially I spend the equivalent of a bottle of my favourite scotch on running shoes every year, and vice versa.

woollypigs

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #19 on: 10 June, 2021, 08:35:07 am »
There is the Big Mac index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index

This reminds me of time too, which is very relative to whom, what and when. f.ex years ago I meet a fella who had a massive lawn and I had seen his ride on lawnmower/tractor thing with extra wings/arms that would be lowered out. I asked how long does it take with that. He answered about 5-6 Stella's. Now the next question I never got to ask how fast was he mowing, how fast was he drinking and was it 330ml or 500ml etc
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Cudzoziemiec

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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #20 on: 10 June, 2021, 09:04:52 am »
See also The Monkey Wrench Gang.
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Re: The value of things (in real life, not money)?
« Reply #21 on: 10 June, 2021, 09:54:22 pm »
The Tank Of Petril is surely the canonical unit of money squandered on bike-related toys.
Or experimental kitchen miscelleny, like when trying out home-mincing; or sufficient decorating supplies we either like or could put up with; or a new (cheap) jigsaw, plus blades, plus a fresh set of masonry bits. My rough calculation is it's ok to spend a tank on finding out if an idea is valid.
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