$200 question

[james_bond_3rd]

Say you have a $200 ticket to the concert tonight in one pocket and a $200 phone card in another. You just discovered that the $200 phone card was stolen. You say to yourself, "Darn, I'll have to buy another phone card tomorrow." But proceed to the concert.

OTOH, if it was the ticket that was stolen, you would cancel the plan for the concert and do something else for the night instead. Even though you could buy another ticket (cancel the phone card if you don't have the money), you probably wouldn't do it.

It the same $200. Why the different reation?

 

[Longhorns]

IMO, the concert ticket is more valuable b/c it is an event that you were looking forward to watching.

 

[omniscient]

the concert. as you said, you can get another phone card and it will still cost $200. the concert has a finite number of tickets available and if tickets are still available the price may now be $250 or $450 or $1,000. if you can replace the ticket for the same cost and get the same seating area, i'd expect the reaction to be the same as the phone card.

take care

omni

 

[lynx2004]

another little example which shows that we human beings are not totally rational...

(btw, in the example, both are valued at exactly the same $200 so it is not the case that one is more valuable than the other as the previous two posts imply.)

 

[Verdais]

Not really a fair comparison. Assuming that the phone card is how you make phone calls, then one is a need and the other is a want.

You replace the phone card because you have to. You don't have to double down on the concert.

 

[CasperCRF]

Just taking this to the extreams but what if you were using that phone card to call your dying mother in the hospital in another country and now you had now way of talking to her? The fact the card is worth $200 is not the reason you would be mad for loosing it. On the other hand, lets say you lost a $200 ticket to the last Rolling Stones(or who ever) concert ever, you would be more pissed about missing the concert then loosing the $200 ticket.

There can always be more value to something then just the $ it's worth. The sentimental value can far outweigh what something is really worth. If some one offered you $5 for your deceased grandfathers WWII dog tags, you would laugh in their face, but the fact is, that's all that the dog tags are worth $ wise.

 

[traderyin]

Phonecard is sort of like a neccessity. You need a phone card for communication. Concert ticket on the order hand, its a luxury item.

 

[oil_trader]

If the tickets are to the Rolling Stones (like I have them for the 15th)
Hawk the tickets for $400 and you are back to square one. See the stones on DVD and no faul no harm done...lost nothing....

Obviously I did not vote due to the lack of "creative" options.. but feel free to "bid" on my Stones tickets (2)...via PM

 

[dac8555]

depends on which one give you more pleasure...in my case the phone card may get me out of jail!! was it marty schwartz that said "in the market, you get out of it what you want to"? one of the market wizard books anyway. one DOES have more value... just like a $10,000 short position in real estate builders is worth a lot to me, but i would have a clue what to to with someone elses $10,000 in spx contracts...

I think concerts are crowded and uneventful, and not worth the $$...the music normally sounds better in my car. i much prefer a small little pub where everyone sings along with some nobody playing a guitar.

 

[Babak]

Quote from lynx2004:

another little example which shows that we human beings are not totally rational...

(btw, in the example, both are valued at exactly the same $200 so it is not the case that one is more valuable than the other as the previous two posts imply.)

You are mistaking price with worth. Two things can have the same price but be worth different amounts (to the same person or to different people).