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This reminds me of people who aren't willing to drive across town to save $250 on a $15000 car purchase, but who make sure to buy their groceries when they are

by dwiel 15y ago

This reminds me of people who aren't willing to drive across town to save $250 on a $15000 car purchase, but who make sure to buy their groceries when they are on sale to save money ... Just because you recently spent $15,000 doesn't mean the next $80 are worth less.

ghshephard 15y ago
False comparison - You buy a new car once every 5-7 years. You buy groceries 2-3 times a week.
- AgentConundrum 15y ago
  It's not a false comparison, and luckily I don't have to explain it, because this is covered in my personal favorite TED talk, "Dan Gilbert on our mistaken expectations".[1] It's a bit long for a TED talk, running for about half an hour, but I'd recommend at least reading the transcript if you can't watch the video. The relevant portion comes after Gilbert sets up a situation not unlike the one being discussed here. People won't shlep across town to save $100 on a $31k car, but they will to save $100 on a $200 stereo. He explains the cognitive mistake as follows: > This kind of thinking drives economists crazy, and it should. Because this 100 dollars that you save -- hello! -- doesn't know where it came from. It doesn't know what you saved it on. When you go to buy groceries with it, it doesn't go, I'm the money saved on the car stereo, or, I'm the dumb money saved on the car. It's money. And if a drive across town is worth 100 bucks, it's worth 100 bucks no matter what you're saving it on. [1] https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_researches_happiness.html https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_researches_happiness.h...
  - ghshephard 15y ago
    The reason people go to so much effort to save money on smaller purchases, is they make them so much more frequently. You make a $31k purchase once a decade, so saving $100 on that purchase is way down on the list of priorities - location is much more important if you are visiting the dealership for the next 10 years. Time and gas alone to go an extra 5 miles will add up to hundreds of dollars. If i can save $100 every two-three months, with no downstream liability as a result (like the cost of taking my car the extra distance to the dealership) then I've profited $4000 over 10 years.
kenrikm 15y ago
@pavel_lishin. Ouch, I'm not sure I would like to be one of your users. I was calling tech support because there was an Issue with their software not the machines. If there is something fundamentally flawed with the software you sold me for $15,000 you don't charge me $79 just to talk to someone, it's the principle not the money. It's not the way you treat customers, Period.

by dwiel 15y ago

ghshephard 15y ago

False comparison - You buy a new car once every 5-7 years. You buy groceries 2-3 times a week.

AgentConundrum 15y ago
It's not a false comparison, and luckily I don't have to explain it, because this is covered in my personal favorite TED talk, "Dan Gilbert on our mistaken expectations".[1] It's a bit long for a TED talk, running for about half an hour, but I'd recommend at least reading the transcript if you can't watch the video. The relevant portion comes after Gilbert sets up a situation not unlike the one being discussed here. People won't shlep across town to save $100 on a $31k car, but they will to save $100 on a $200 stereo. He explains the cognitive mistake as follows: > This kind of thinking drives economists crazy, and it should. Because this 100 dollars that you save -- hello! -- doesn't know where it came from. It doesn't know what you saved it on. When you go to buy groceries with it, it doesn't go, I'm the money saved on the car stereo, or, I'm the dumb money saved on the car. It's money. And if a drive across town is worth 100 bucks, it's worth 100 bucks no matter what you're saving it on. [1] https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_researches_happiness.html https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_researches_happiness.h...
- ghshephard 15y ago
  The reason people go to so much effort to save money on smaller purchases, is they make them so much more frequently. You make a $31k purchase once a decade, so saving $100 on that purchase is way down on the list of priorities - location is much more important if you are visiting the dealership for the next 10 years. Time and gas alone to go an extra 5 miles will add up to hundreds of dollars. If i can save $100 every two-three months, with no downstream liability as a result (like the cost of taking my car the extra distance to the dealership) then I've profited $4000 over 10 years.

kenrikm 15y ago

@pavel_lishin. Ouch, I'm not sure I would like to be one of your users. I was calling tech support because there was an Issue with their software not the machines. If there is something fundamentally flawed with the software you sold me for $15,000 you don't charge me $79 just to talk to someone, it's the principle not the money. It's not the way you treat customers, Period.