It appears that we are in agreement that Bob is overpaying. The point in contention seems to be whether Bob is "better off" than he was before the purchase. I a

It appears that we are in agreement that Bob is overpaying. The point in contention seems to be whether Bob is "better off" than he was before the purchase. I am unpersuaded by the circular argument "Bob made the purchase, therefore he is better off, otherwise he would have not made it". The whole point of ads is to confuse Bob into making the wrong decisions, and given the size of the ads industry, it's obviously working.