What are the most expensive things to buy?
Artificial scarcity is one of the most heinous ways that humans drive demand, and we do so primarily by eliminating alternatives and destroying competition.
Competition gives the common man an opportunity, and when it is eliminated, price becomes irrelevant. When competition is dead, price becomes irrelevant because a need must be met, and when people can not do without meeting a need, they have no choice but to pay.
Functional businesses are constantly guilty of eliminating competition.
Why?
Competition is the death of oligarchy
For example, I have been to a restaurant where you are not permitted to enter with eatable items purchased from outside; security personnel enforce this order.
Most of these restaurants raise their product prices, and when they do not allow people to buy from outside, their customers are forced to pay these higher prices. However, why do people willingly pay outrageous prices when they know they are being overcharged?
It is simple: people pay to have fun, and most of the time, we do not mind overpaying as long as the need to "have fun" is met. Fun can be inexpensive or expensive, depending on how much you want to spend.
Having fun produces this dopamine effect, and some people believe they need to reward themselves for working so hard. It is justified sometimes, because what is the point of making money when you can not just buy the "fun" that life has to offer?
They may choose to do this in a tourist attraction, a recreational center, or somewhere with cool and beautiful scenery. The only problem is that these people charge exorbitant fees, and there is no room for negotiation.
Of course not, because having fun is a choice; you either do it or you don't, and if you do, you must pay whatever is asked of you. Having fun can be costly and escalate. This is why people lose money that should be reinvested, and it is understandable given that there are no negotiation opportunities while having fun.
In a relaxation center, for example, the price of an ice cream is fixed and cannot be changed; sometimes they become excessively expensive, and most people do not have enough money to have fun, because the prices cannot be lowered.
The most expensive things to buy is "fun".
Surprised?
This is not because people cannot have fun or enjoy the most expensive things in life; rather, there are specific amounts of money, and people can overspend without realizing it.
Take a look at people who win lotteries; the notion that they have a lot of money and that it will not hurt to spend a little is frequently a mirage. People undervalue the concept of fun; when you have a false assurance that there is enough money in the bank, people can lose themselves and end up spending more than they should.
The world is full of places designed to encourage you to spend money.
This is why money is insufficient if we give in to our every desire. Money is only sufficient when we allow it, limit and control our desire for more. Wealth is nothing when fun is there to have. This is because life is filled with expensive fun.
Renting a private jet for a vacation may be one of the most expensive ways to have fun, but even the wealthiest individuals can go bankrupt if they do this on a regular basis. However this might not quickly escalate for some of the smartest people.
The exception of showbiz
For example, a person with 20 million Facebook views per month or 500k YouTube subscribers can spend a lot of money to have fun, but they can then post these videos online and recoup 100%, if not more, of their investment.
However, when fun only brings a feeling of satisfaction, people have to be careful when they're doing it on a limited budget. There are high-end business models designed to take money from people.
Access to rarity can be fun
They provide exclusive fun items and events, and most of the time, no one notices the amount they are being charged because of the overall mental satisfaction gained from participating in that fun activity.
It could be exclusive beef, steak from some of the world's best cows, or an expensive or rare fish from the world's coldest places.
In reality, most of these fun items are not worth the money that people must pay for them, but when the mind is happy, it is tricked into believing that the money spent is worth the fun. This is why businesses that allow people to have fun typically generate a lot of money, far more than the services they actually provide.
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It's like when famous chefs make you pay a average pizza 20€,its overpaid yet people go because it's "cool" and exclusive with some extra item like a live musician but it's not worth it... I'd say tough it's ok to spend reasonable price with your pocket to have fun, today you are here, tomorrow you don't know, and you won't bring your money in the graveyard
Well, I'm not rich, perhaps that's why. However, we all know that most of the ways to have fun are excessively expensive. I don't know if you know SALT BAE the celebrity chef that sells expensive steaks to people. These guys just spend excessively even when the fun is not worth the money spent..
Never heard of but we got the other famous chefs doing the same... I guess at a point it's not just fun, but ego boost to show off you can spend...
I drive people almost every night who are going to bars. They spend a total of between $20-40 on the rides to and from to avoid driving drunk. And they pay about $8 a drink, usually beer, which costs about $1 from the grocery store. Between drinks and food, they spend about $200 a night. For me, that's about two days of work. I'd rather drink a beer at home and watch a movie.
That's such a wild experience. It further proves the point they when people are having fun, they're basically careless with their money and lives. $200 a day is crazy if you ask me, but it basically validates everything in the post. Fun can escalate into irresponsibility
Businesses that provide entertainment always have a specific class of client they seek out. The extremely rich, middle class, or even people who are poor. It's part of the business model, and those catering to the lower end crowds can often make more money off volume than those only for the elites.
Personally after having raised a child I've learned that I don't really like spending money anymore. I can entertain myself in ways that aren't expensive and honestly enjoy myself more. I personally wouldn't want to be a prominent social media personality because I value my privacy, but it they don't mind all the attention and even bad things that can come with it the more power to them to spend away tons of money.
You're right about entertainment businesses having a group of clients they seek out. In Nigeria here, most of these businesses do not discriminate because they know that even people who aren't exactly their "target audience" can get hit with some dumb money and then decided to patronize them.
People want to taste things they wouldn't originally be able to afford, even if it's only once especially when they're lucky to have access to some type of money.
Just like you, I don't even do the entrainment stuff anymore, my body doesn't just allow my much of it, just I just entertainment myself by either spending time with family, or just seeing a movie.
There is these ego-centric nature we have as humans, ..we want prestige at all cost, there's this glorious pride that comes with getting the most expensive things money can buy especially if you have it, its in human to spend, thats like the spirit backing money once it enters your hand it wants to get out quickly some notion support this as well by defining it money as "currency" cause it as to flow you can't trap it...thereby conditioning the mind to believe spending is the ultimate goal for having money....right as you said instead of reinvesting it to yield greater value ...obviously this is still a mirage to many Africans ....
Fun is not bad, infact it's necessary for everyone. It mostly escalates into excessiveness and people tend to lose themselves in the process.
I agree that having access to "fun" is indeed expensive. Imagine the prize some of these shows charge for tickets and tables. You can't go to a club if your pocket isn't loaded.
Some people are broke today because they spent their money in the process of having fun. It's really crazy.
Indeed. You cannot imagine what people spend in the process of having fun. I was out with a few family friends about 3 years ago, and we were about 4 or so. We spend 80k just eating chicken and drinking. That was 3 years ago when price was still great. In today's price it could have been 300k just in 2 hours.
Hehehe, making money takes hours, days even months, but spending it takes only minutes. The money will just go like "airtel fiam" advert. 🤣
It's not something I considered, but I think its true. I spend money on games because I enjoy them. Overall, I feel I got my moneys worth. I think that the enjoyment or the pleasure that goes along with it just makes it worthwhile to them.
Yeah, people spend money on games to have fun. I think we all spent money in ways to have fun, I think the world has created businesses that are designed to take advantage of people who wants to have fun and make them overspend
Fun is the real luxury these days Boss. Good evening from here been a while, I've really missed your contents...... It’s really funny how we don’t even flinch droppin’ cash just to chase that dopamine hit, even when we know we’re gettin’ taxed hard
Yes, fun is good, the feeling it leaves is even better, so when the heart is happy it's difficult to be accountable
Who does not love to spend money?? But more important then spending make sure that first you have a good source amount of income because I have even seen people are living or credits and living life as fun
Source of income can fade, and it can happen to anyone, if it happens to a person who spends irresponsibly, then it's over for them.
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STOPThat's often the case around here. Sometimes there are exceptions, but not often, unless you spend enough over there too. I know people who reserve tables for a group and negotiate with the organizers that they spend there but they bring their own desert (from somewhere else where it's likely cheaper, and probably better too).